Viscount Clermont, ofClermont in theCounty of Louth, was a title in thePeerage of Ireland. It was created in 1776 forWilliam Fortescue, 1st Baron Clermont, withspecial remainder in default of male issue of his own to his brotherJames Fortescue and theheirs male of his body.
He was the son ofThomas Fortescue (1683–1769), an IrishMember of Parliament and a descendant of the prominent and widespread family of Fortescue ofWhympston in the parish ofModbury in Devon, England, the earliest Fortescue seat in the British Isles.[2] Of the many branches of the Fortescue family which remained in Devon, that seated atFilleigh inherited in 1721 the ancient titleBaron Clinton in thePeerage of England and subsequently obtained new titles in thePeerage of Great Britain ofBaron Fortescue (1746),Earl Clinton (1746),Viscount Ebrington (1789) andEarl Fortescue (1789).
William Henry Fortescue had already been madeBaron Clermont, of Clermont in the County of Louth, in the Peerage of Ireland in 1770, withnormal remainder to heirs male, and in 1776 was again madeBaron Clermont, of Clermont in the County of Louth, in the Peerage of Ireland, at the same time he was granted the viscountcy, but withspecial remainder to his brother James Fortescue. By that date it was apparent that he was unlikely to produce his own son and heir, hence the special remainder was granted. In 1777 he was further honoured when he was madeEarl of Clermont, in the County of Louth, in the Peerage of Ireland, with normal remainder to heirs male. Lord Clermont died without male issue in 1806 when the barony of 1770 and earldom became extinct. He was succeeded in the barony of 1776 and viscountcy according to the special remainder by his nephew William Fortescue, the 2nd Viscount Clermont and 2nd Baron Clermont, the son of his aforementioned brother James Fortescue. The 2nd Viscount Clermont representedCounty Louth in both the Irish and British Parliaments and was anIrish representative peer. He died unmarried in 1829 when the barony and viscountcy became extinct.
The Clermont title was revived in 1852 whenThomas Fortescue was madeBaron Clermont. He was a descendant of Chichester Fortescue, brother of William Fortescue, grandfather of the first Earl of Clermont.
William Henry Fortescue (1722–1806), the first holder of an Irish title using the nameClermont (the titleLord Clermont was used in thePeerage of Scotland), was afrancophile with connections in the royal court of France, and it is believed for that reason adopted a French-sounding title,[3] meaning literally "clear mountain", and a common place name in France. Sir Nathaniel Wraxall wrote on this subject as follows in his memoirs:[4]
The very title of "Clermont" which he assumed when raised to the peerage — and which might be esteemed fictitious, as no such place I believe existed in Ireland — assimilated him to the blood royal of France; a younger branch of the illustrious line ofCondé having been denominated "Comtes de Clermont". Probably he was not oblivious of this fact, in his selection of the title.
However, his biographer and kinsman Lord Clermont (d.1887), countered this suggestion and stated:[5]
I cannot suppose that Lord Clermont was influenced by any such motive. The name, common among French towns, probably struck him as well-sounding, and he changed the appellation of one of his seats in Ireland to it, calling Reynoldstown "Clermont Park" and afterwards took his title from his residence. The fact of the name of Fortescue being made up of two French words may have suggested the idea of giving a French name to his estate.
However the same author had stated previously that the Earl's father, Thomas Fortescue, had purchased an estate near Dromiskin in Ireland, named Randalstown, which he renamed "Clermont Park".[6] Clermont Park is an estate within County Louth and is near to Lurgangreen, Mooretown and Blackrock and Dromiskin.[7][8] The mansion house was burned down by armed men in February 1923[9] when owned by Col. Charles Davis Guinness, county representative of theIrish Unionist Alliance,[10] in one of the many politically motivated arson attacks at that period. An Industrial estate known as "Clermont Business Park" now occupies the site. Only the gatehouse survives, next to St Paul's Church,Haynestown.[11][12] ANeolithicchambered cairn dating from about 4000–3500 BC, survives atopBlack Mountain in theCooley Mountains inCounty Louth, in which was situated Fortescue's estate, known in native Irish asCarnán Mhaighréid Náir,[13] also known asBlack Mountain Chambered Cairn andClermont Cairn.
In 1701,Charles Middleton, previously 2nd Earl of Middleton, was awarded theJacobite peerages of Earl of Monmouth and Viscount Clermont in the Peerage of England. The titles, such as they were, became extinct on the death of his son in 1747.