John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare

The Earl of Clare
portrait by Gilbert Stuart
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
In office
20 June 1789 – 28 January 1802
MonarchGeorge III
Preceded byThe Viscount Lifford
Attorney-General for Ireland
In office
29 Nov 1783 – 20 June 1789
Preceded byThe Viscount Avonmore
Succeeded byThe Viscount Kilwarden
Member of Parliament
for Kilmallock
In office
1783–1790
Serving with John Armstrong
Preceded byJohn Finlay
William Christmas
Succeeded byCharles Bury
John Armstrong
Member of Parliament
for Dublin University
In office
1778–1783
Serving with Walter Hussey-Burgh
Preceded byWalter Hussey-Burgh
Richard Hely-Hutchinson
Succeeded byLawrence Parsons
Arthur Browne
Personal details
Born1748
Donnybrook, Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland
Died28 January 1802 (aged 53)
6 Ely Place, Dublin, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Resting placeSt. Peter's Churchyard
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
Christ Church, Oxford
ProfessionLawyer, Politician

John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare PC (Ire) (1748 – 28 January 1802) was Attorney-General for Ireland from 1783 to 1789 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1789 to 1802.

He remains a deeply controversial figure in Irish history, being described variously as an old fashioned anti-Catholic Whig political party hardliner and an early advocate of the Act of Union between Ireland and Great Britain (which finally happened in 1801, shortly before his death). He is said to have been an early and extremely militant opponent of Catholic Emancipation (the end of religious persecution, and the limited relaxation of both the religious discrimination and civil disabilities placed upon Catholics throughout the British Isles and the British Empire). The Earl may also have been the first person to suggest to King George III that granting Royal Assent to any form of Catholic Emancipation would violate his coronation oath.