Earl of Kerry


Baron Kerry is an ancient title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created circa 1223 for Thomas Fitzmaurice.
In 1325, Maurice FitzMaurice, 4th Baron of Kerry, murdered Diarmaid Óg MacCarthy in the courtroom at Tralee. For this act, Maurice was tried and attainted by the parliament in Dublin and his lands forfeited, but after his death they were restored to his brother John FitzMaurice, 5th Baron of Kerry.
In 1537 the eleventh Baron was created Baron Odorney and Viscount Kilmaule in the Peerage of Ireland. However, these titles became extinct on his death in 1541 while he was succeeded in the Barony of Kerry by his younger brother. The twenty-first Baron was created Earl of Kerry in the Peerage of Ireland in 1723. His younger son John Petty was created Earl of Shelburne in the Peerage of Ireland in 1753 and his son, the second Earl of Shelburne, was created Marquess of Lansdowne in 1784. In 1818 the latter's son, the third Marquess, succeeded his cousin as 4th Earl of Kerry and 24th Baron Kerry.

Barons Kerry (1223)

See Marquess of Lansdowne for further Earls of Kerry.