Henry Agar (1707–1746) was an Irish politician, and the father of the 1st

Viscount Clifden Viscount Clifden, of Gowran in the County of Kilkenny, Ireland, was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 12 January 1781 for James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden, James Agar, 1st Baron Clifden. He had already been created Baron Cli ...

and the 1st

Earl of Normanton Earl of Normanton is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1806 for Charles Agar, 1st Viscount Somerton, Archbishop of Dublin. He had already been created Baron Somerton, of Somerton in the County of Kilkenny, in 1795 and Visco ...

. 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 Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

. From 1727 to 1746, he was MP for

Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is in the centre of Gowran, close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course are one kilometre from the centre of ...

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 The Bishop of Meath is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient Kingdom of Meath. In the Catholic Church it remains as a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bishopric. History Until the ...

and Diana Briscoe, and sister of

Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip Welbore Ellis, 1st Baron Mendip, PC, FRS (15 December 1713 – 2 February 1802) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons for 53 years from 1741 to 1794 when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Mendip. He held a number of po ...

. They were the parents of five sons, including

James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden James Agar, 1st Viscount Clifden (25 March 1734 – 1 January 1789), was an Peerage of Ireland, Irish peer and politician and held the office of one of the joint Postmasters General of Ireland. Family He was the second son of Henry Agar, a f ...

, Charles Agar, 1st Earl of Normanton,

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

, 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 Callan is a given name and surname of Irish and Scottish origin. It can derive from Ó Cathaláin, meaning ''descendant of Cathalán''. Callan can also be an Anglicized form of the Gaelic Mac Allin or Mac Callin. Notable people with the name includ ...

, 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 Henry Flood (1732 – 2 December 1791) was an Irish people, Irish politician, statesman and Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench for Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and afterwards at Christ Church, Oxford, where he becam ...

killed James in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

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