Henry Agar (1707–1746) was an
Irish politician, and the father of the 1st
Viscount Clifden and the 1st
Earl of Normanton.
Agar was the eldest son of
James Agar of
Gowran Castle and his second wife Mary Wemyss, daughter of Sir Henry Wemyss of Danesfort. He was educated at
Trinity College, Dublin. From 1727 to 1746, he was
MP for
Gowran in
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...
.
He married Anne Ellis, daughter of
Welbore Ellis,
Bishop of Meath and Diana Briscoe, and sister of
Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip. They were the parents of five sons, including
James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden,
Charles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton,
Archbishop of Dublin, and
Welbore Ellis Agar, a notable art collector.
[Rebecca Lyons, "Selling the collection of Welbore Ellis Agar" in Susanna Avery-Quash, Christian Huemer, eds., ''London and the Emergence of a European Art Market, 1780–1820'' (Getty Publications, 6 August 2019)]
p. 176
/ref>
Agar extensively rebuilt Gowran Castle and also acquired substantial interests in Dublin by marriage. He died in 1746: his widow remarried George Dunbar of County Fermanagh. She died in 1761.
Political control of the town of Callan, as well as the parliamentary seat of Gowran, passed to Henry's brother James Agar. This led to a bitter feud with the rival Flood faction, whose leader Henry Flood killed James in a duel in 1769.
References
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Irish MPs 1727–1760
Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Kilkenny constituencies
People from Gowran
Politicians from County Kilkenny
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agar, Henry