Earl Belmore is a title in the Peerage of Ireland created in 1797 for Armar Lowry-Corry, 1st Viscount Belmore, who had previously represented County Tyrone in the Irish House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Belmore, of Castle Coole in County Fermanagh, in 1781 and Viscount Belmore in 1789, also in the Peerage of Ireland. Born Armar Lowry, he was the son of Galbraith Lowry, Member of the Irish House of Commons for County Tyrone, and his wife Sarah, daughter of Colonel John Corry. In 1774 he assumed by Royal licence the additional surname of Corry. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He represented County Tyrone in both the Irish and British House of Commons, sat in the House of Lords as an Irish Representative Peer from 1819 to 1841 and served as Governor of Jamaica from 1828 to 1832.
His eldest son, the third Earl, represented County Fermanagh in Parliament. On his early death the titles passed to his eldest son, the fourth Earl. He was an Irish Representative Peer between 1857 and 1913 and served under the Earl of Derby as Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department between 1866 and 1867. From 1867 to 1872 Lord Belmore was Governor of New South Wales. The line of the fourth Earl failed on the death of his younger son, the sixth Earl, in 1949, and he was succeeded by his first cousin once removed, the seventh Earl. He was the son of Major Adrian Lowry-Corry, fifth son of Admiral the Hon. Armar Lowry-Corry, himself the second son of the third Earl. As of 2012 the titles are held by his son, the eighth Earl, who succeeded in 1960.
Several other members of the Lowry-Corry family have also gained distinction. The Conservative politician the Honourable Henry Lowry-Corry, First Lord of the Admiralty from 1866 to 1867, was the second son of the second Earl. His younger son was Montagu Corry, 1st Baron Rowton, private secretary to Benjamin Disraeli. The Honourable Armar Lowry-Corry (1836–1919), second son of the third Earl, was an Admiral in the Royal Navy. The Honourable Henry Lowry-Corry, younger son of the third Earl, was also a politician.
The seat of the Lowry-Corry family is Castle Coole in County Fermanagh. The house was handed over to the National Trust in 1951 with the family retaining the interior, furniture and various private domains.
Read more about Earl Belmore: Earls Belmore (1797)
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