The title Baron of Dunsany or, more commonly, Lord Dunsany, is one of the oldest (1439 or 1462) dignities in the Peerage of Ireland, one of just a handful of 13th- to 15th-century titles still extant, having had 21 holders, of the Plunkett name, to date. Other surviving medieval baronies include Kerry (1223, now a subsidiary title of the Marquess of Lansdowne), Kingsale (1344, feudally 1223), Trimlestown (1469), Baron Louth (second creation, 1541),[1] and Dunboyne (1541, feudally 1324).[2]
- ^ Note: also held by a line of Plunketts.
- ^ Note: Irish earls existed before there were barons, nine created in the 1205 to 1542 Lordship of Ireland period - all but Waterford are extinct or forfeited. By 1500 the revival of Gaelic Ireland chiefdoms created a competing, and sometimes overlapping, system.