Viscount Dillon, of Costello- Gallen in the County of Mayo, is a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

. It was created in 1622 for Theobald Dillon,

Lord President of Connaught The Lord President of Connaught was a military leader with wide-ranging powers, reaching into the civil sphere, in the English government of Connacht, Connaught in Ireland, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The office was created in 1569 ...

. The Dillons were a

Hiberno-Norman From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans fro ...

landlord family from the 13th century in a part of County

Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = , subdivis ...

called 'Dillon's Country'. His great-grandson, the seventh Viscount, was a supporter of the Catholic

King James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

and was outlawed after the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

. He founded ' Dillon's Regiment' of the Irish Brigade in the French Army, which was supported by the Wild Geese and achieved success at Fontenoy in 1745. However, his son Henry, the eighth Viscount, managed to obtain a reversal of the outlawry in 1694 and later served as Lord Lieutenant of County Roscommon. His younger brother, Lieutenant-General Arthur Dillon, was given the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

title of ''Count Dillon'' in 1711 and was also created "Viscount Dillon" and "Earl of Dillon" by

James Francis Edward Stuart James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...

, the Jacobite claimant to the throne. His son Henry, the eleventh Viscount, was a Colonel in the

French Army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

, but Dillon's Regiment was disbanded in 1793 due to the turmoils of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. His son Charles, the twelfth Viscount, notably represented Westbury in Parliament and conformed to

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of t ...

ism in 1767. His son Henry Augustus, the thirteenth Viscount, sat as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring District, Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-w ...

and

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the yew trees") is a county in Ireland. In the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Counci ...

. His great-grandson, the nineteenth Viscount, was a

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

in the Army. the title is held by the latter's great-grandson, the twenty-second Viscount, who succeeded his father in 1982.

Viscounts Dillon (1622)

Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon Theobald Dillon, 1st Viscount Dillon (died 1624), was an Irish military commander and adventurer. He held extensive lands in eastern Connacht and north-western Leinster, some acquired by sharp practices. He was a loyal supporter of Elizabeth I o ...

(died 1624) *Lucas Dillon, 2nd Viscount Dillon (1610–1629) *Theobald Dillon, 3rd Viscount Dillon (1629–1630) *

Thomas Dillon, 4th Viscount Dillon Thomas Dillon, 4th Viscount Dillon PC (Ire) (1615–1673) held his title for 42 years that saw Strafford's administration, the Irish Rebellion of 1641, the Irish Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland. He was a royalist and s ...

(1615–1672) *Thomas Dillon, 5th Viscount Dillon (died 1674) *

Lucas Dillon, 6th Viscount Dillon Lucas Dillon, 6th Viscount Dillon (died 1682) was an Irish peer who obtained favours from King Charles II. Birth and origins Lucas was born in Ireland as the eldest son of Theobald Dillon and his wife Sarah Bourke. His father was the third s ...

(died 1682) * Theobald Dillon, 7th Viscount Dillon (died 1691) *

Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon Henry Dillon, 8th Viscount Dillon (died 1714) was an Irish soldier and politician. In 1689 he sat in the Patriot Parliament. He fought for the Jacobites during the Wiiliamite War, defending Galway against Ginkel and surrendering it in 1691 ...

(died 1713) *Richard Dillon, 9th Viscount Dillon (1688–1737) *

Charles Dillon, 10th Viscount Dillon Charles Dillon, 10th Viscount Dillon (1701–1741) fought in the War of the Polish Succession for France under Berwick as colonel-proprietor of Dillon's Regiment at the Siege of Kehl in 1733 and the Siege of Philippsburg in 1734. After the a ...

(1701–1741) *

Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon Henry Dillon, 11th Viscount Dillon (1705–1787) was an Irish peer and a soldier in French service. He was the colonel proprietor of Dillon's Regiment, an Irish regiment of foot in French service, in 1741–1744 and again in 1747–1767. In the ...

(1705–1787) *

Charles Dillon, 12th Viscount Dillon Charles Dillon-Lee, 12th Viscount Dillon, KP, PC (Ire) (1745–1813) conformed to the established religion in 1767. Birth and origins Charles was born on 6 November 1745 in London. He was the eldest child of Henry Dillon and his wife Cha ...

(1745–1813) * Henry Augustus Dillon, 13th Viscount Dillon (1777–1832) * Charles Henry Dillon, 14th Viscount Dillon (1810–1865) *Theobald Dominick Geoffrey Dillon, 15th Viscount Dillon (1811–1879) *Arthur Edmund Denis Dillon, 16th Viscount Dillon (1812–1892) * Harold Arthur Dillon, 17th Viscount Dillon (1844–1932) *Arthur Henry Dillon, 18th Viscount Dillon (1875–1934) * Eric FitzGerald Dillon, 19th Viscount Dillon (1881–1946) *Michael Eric Dillon, 20th Viscount Dillon (1911–1979) *Charles Henry Robert Dillon, 21st Viscount Dillon (1945–1982) *Henry Benedict Charles Dillon, 22nd Viscount Dillon (b. 1973) The

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

is the present holder’s son, Hon. Francis Charles Robert Dillon (b. 2013)

Notes

References

* *Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990, * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon Viscountcies in the Peerage of Ireland Viscountcies in the Jacobite peerage Noble titles created in 1622

Viscounts Dillon (1622)

See also

Notes

References