Arms: Quarterly: 1st & 4th, Argent, a Lion passant Gules, between three Fleurs-de-lis Azure, on a Chief Azure, a Sun0in-Splendour Or (for Trench); 2nd & 3rd, Argent, a Chief indented Sable (for Le Poer); over all an Inescutcheon Or, ensigned with the Coronet of a Marquis of the Netherlands, and charged with a Wheel of six spokes Gules (for the Marquessate of Heusden). Crests: Centre: A Lion rampant Or, imperially crowned proper, and holding in the dexter paw a Sword Argent, pommel and hilt Or, in the sinister paw a Sheaf of Arrows Or; Dexter: An Arm in Armour embowed holding a Scimitar, all proper (for Trench); Sinister: A Stag’s Head cabossed Argent, attired Or, between the attires a Crucifix proper (for Le Poer). Supporters: Dexter: A Lion Gules, semée of Fleurs-de-lis Or; Sinister: A Stag guardant proper, attired Or, between the attires a Crucifix and supporting with the sinister forepaw a Lance resting bendwise over the shoulder proper, thereon a Banner Argent, charged with a Chief indented Sable (being the arms of Le Poer).
CONSILIO ET PRUDENTIA (By counsel and prudence) DIEU POUR LA TRENCHE QUICONTRE (If God is for Trench, who can be against)
Earldom of Clancarty (1st creation)
Arms: Argent, a Stag trippant Gules, attired and ungiled Or. Crest: A dexter Arm in Armour proper, cuffed Argent, erect and couped at the wrist holding in the hand a Lizard proper. Supporters: On either side an Angel proper, vested Argent, habited Gules, winged Or, holding in the exterior hand a Shield thereon a Human Head erased affrontée.
The title was created for a second time in 1803 in favour of William Trench, 1st Viscount Dunlo.[1] He had previously represented County Galway in the Irish Parliament and had already been created Baron Kilconnel, of Garbally in the County of Galway, in 1797,[2] and Viscount Dunlo, of Dunlo and Ballinasloe in the Counties of Galway and Roscommon, in 1801.[3] These titles were in the Peerage of Ireland. Trench was a descendant of a daughter of the first Viscount Muskerry, hence his choice of title when elevated to an earldom in 1803. Lord Clancarty had nineteen children and was succeeded by his eldest son, the second Earl. He was a prominent politician and diplomat. Lord Clancarty notably served as President of the Board of Trade and as Ambassador to The Netherlands and sat in the House of Lords as an Irish Representative Peer from 1808 to 1837. In 1815 he was created Baron Trench, of Garbally in the County of Galway, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom,[4] and in 1823 he was further honoured when he was made Viscount Clancarty, of the County of Cork, also in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.[5] On 8 July 1815 he was entered into the Netherlands Nobility by King William I of the Netherlands and granted by Royal Decree the title Marquess of Heusden (Dutch: Markies van Heusden).[6]
Lord Clancarty's great-grandson, the fifth Earl, is notable for marrying an English music-hall singer Belle Bilton (1867–1906)[7] in July 1889 against the opposition of his father who sold off much of the estate in retaliation.[8][9][10] The fifth Earl's eldest son, the sixth Earl, died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his younger brother, the seventh Earl (the fourth son of the first marriage of the fifth Earl). He died childless and was succeeded by his half-brother, the eighth Earl. He was a ufologist. As of 2017[update] the titles are held by his nephew, who succeeded in 1995. He is the only son of the Hon. Power Edward Ford Le Poer Trench, second son of the fifth Earl from his second marriage. The Earls of Clancarty sat in the House of Lords as Viscount Clancarty until the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 and was re-elected as a Cross-Bench Peer on 23 June 2010.[11][12]
Trench Town in Jamaica gets its name from its previous designation as Trench Pen, 400 acres of land once used for livestock by Daniel Power Trench, an Irish immigrant of the 18th century (descendants of the Earls of Clancarty).
^"BELLE BILTON DEAD.; Ex-Actress's Husband, Earl of Clancarty, Was Disowned for Wedding Her."New York Times 1 January 1907. The Countess, who had enjoyed the title since 1891, died at Garbaldy Park, Ballinasloe, County Galway, Ireland. The article notes that the 4th Earl had left all the unentailed property away from his son, but that the entailed property was sufficient for the needs of the new Earl and Countess.
^"Countess of Clancarty"Archived 21 August 2016 at the Wayback MachineWashington Post 10 January 1905. Retrieved 30 November 2008. This mentions the Countess suffering from cancer, and her popularity among the tenantry and landed gentry. It also contains details of the 4th Earl's will:
When the will was opened it was found that [the 4th Earl] had left everything he possibly could away from his oldest son and heir, with whom he had been at daggers drawn since the divorce suit. The possession of the entailed estates, however, was sufficient to relieve Lady Dunlo, who had now become Countess of Clancarty, from any further necessity of remaining on the stage. A lawsuit was started by the new earl to upset his father's will, and ultimately a compromise was effected, whereby he recovered much of the nonentailed residuary property of his father.
Lord and Lady Clancarty have now four sons, the oldest of them twins, and a girl of eleven years of age. Their eldest boy bears the name of Lord Kilconnel. The countess, I may add, is likewise Marshioness Huesden, in the Netherlands.
Location of Garbally House, in Ballinasloe Town, County of Galway, Ireland situated on the River Suck and seat of the Trench family, later the barons Kilconnel, earls of Clancarty (second creation) and marquesses of Heusden
