Viscount Midleton

Viscount Midleton, of Midleton in the County of Cork, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1717 for Alan Brodrick, 1st Baron Brodrick, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland and former Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Brodrick, of Midleton in the County of Cork, in 1715, also in the Peerage of Ireland. His grandson, the third Viscount, represented Ashburton and New Shoreham in the British House of Commons. His son, the fourth Viscount, sat as a Member of Parliament for Whitchurch. In 1796 he was created Baron Brodrick, of Peper Harrow in the County of Surrey, in the Peerage of Great Britain, with a special remainder to the heirs male of his father, the third Viscount. On the death of his son, the fifth Viscount, this line of the family failed.

He was succeeded by his first cousin, the sixth Viscount. He was the eldest son of Charles Brodrick, Archbishop of Cashel, fourth son of the third Viscount. His nephew, the eighth Viscount, briefly represented Mid Surrey in the House of Commons as a Conservative and served as Lord Lieutenant of Surrey between 1896 and 1905. His son, the ninth Viscount, was a prominent Conservative politician and government minister. In 1920 he was created Earl of Midleton and Viscount Dunsford, of Dunsford in the County of Surrey, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. However, these titles became extinct on the death of his son, the second Earl, in 1979. The Irish titles and barony of Brodrick was passed on to his second cousin, the eleventh Viscount. He was the grandson of Reverend the Hon. Alan Brodrick, youngest son of the seventh Viscount. As of 2010 the titles are held by the eleventh Viscount's son, the twelfth Viscount, who succeeded in 1988.

The ancestral seat of the Brodrick family was Peper Harrow near Godalming, Surrey. However, the house was sold in 1944 by the second Earl of Midleton.