The Earl of Shannon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Speaker of the Irish House of Commons | |
| In office 1733–1756 | |
| Monarch | George II |
| Preceded by | Sir Ralph Gore |
| Succeeded by | John Ponsonby |
| Member of Parliament for Midleton | |
| In office 1707–1713 | |
| Preceded by | St John Brodrick Robert Foulke |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Hyde Jephson Busteed |
| Member of Parliament for Kilmallock | |
| In office 1713–1715 | |
| Preceded by | John Ormsby Robert Oliver |
| Succeeded by | Kilner Brasier George King |
| Member of Parliament for County Cork | |
| In office 1715–1756 | |
| Preceded by | Sir John Perceval Alan Brodrick |
| Succeeded by | Arthur Hyde Charles Boyle |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1682 Castlemartyr, County Cork |
| Died | 28 December 1764 (aged 81–82) Dublin, County Dublin |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Coote (m. 1715) Lady Henrietta Boyle (m. 1726) |
| Children | 6, including Richard and Robert |
| Education | Christ Church, Oxford |
Henry Boyle, 1st Earl of Shannon, PC (Ire) (1682 – 28 December 1764), was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer who served as the speaker of the Irish House of Commons from 1733 to 1756. A prominent parliamentarian who sat for almost fifty years in the Parliament of Ireland, Boyle frequently defended Irish interests against British Crown officials, eventually leading to a legal crisis which saw him step down as speaker in return for a peerage.
Born c. 1682 in Castlemartyr, Ireland to an Anglo-Irish family, Boyle was educated in England at Westminster School and the University of Oxford. In 1705, Boyle inherited the family estates in Ireland after his elder brother died. Two years later in 1707, Boyle entered the Irish political scene, being elected to the Parliament of Ireland and successively representing the constituencies of Midleton, Kilmallock and County Cork for almost five decades.
In 1733, Boyle, by now the leader of a large group of Irish politicians known as the "Munster squadron", was elected as speaker of Ireland's House of Commons. He was appointed to the Irish revenue board two years later, and was also chosen to serve as a Lord Justice of Ireland fifteen separate times throughout his career. For the next two decades, Boyle effectively presided over Irish political affairs as one of the leading politicians in Ireland.
A legal crisis broke out in 1753 when the incumbent viceroy, the Duke of Dorset, dismissed Boyle due to the failure of a money bill. This triggered a standoff which was not resolved until the Marquess of Hartington was appointed as viceroy in 1755, who negotiated a settlement with Boyle that saw him step down as speaker in return for being raised to the peerage as the Earl of Shannon. Boyle eventually died of a gout attack in Dublin in 1764.