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The 8th Earl of Wicklow

William Cecil James Philip John Paul Howard, 8th Earl of Wicklow (styled Viscount Clonmore from his birth until succeeding to the earldom in 1946) was received into the Church at the age of thirty in 1932. Having attended Mass with the family’s Catholic servants, he was banished from visiting the family home on Sundays in addition to being disinherited. He later married the architect Eleanor Butler who served in Seanad Éireann from 1948-1951. Above is one of three photographs of Viscount Clonmore in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

Published at 11:38 am on Tuesday 25 October 2011. Categories: Church Errant Thoughts Ireland Nobility Tags: , , , .
Comments

He was also the Clonmore side of the publishing firm Clonmore & Reynolds who were the only serious Catholic publishers in Dublin from 1948 or so until 1968. Oddly enough they vanished without trace, mores the pity.

— Éamonn 2 Jan 2012 6:56 pm

Wasn’t he much ‘chased’ by admirers in his Anglican days (not that the Anglo-Irish went in for that much)? And one of Betjeman’s dim Irish peers? Interesting he married Eleanor Butler, a cradle Catholic.

— Ruari Abu 16 Dec 2012 9:19 pm

Lady Wicklow was indeed a cradle Catholic, the daughter of an architect who herself practiced the art.
A Socialist, she had no time for reactionaries like myself. I dined with her (along with a splendid pair of Dublin socialites (sic) and a wet and bearded cleric at her house in Dalkey back in 1984. I became lifelong friends with the Noel Coward like couple (they had in fact entertained him in their Pembroke Road townhouse) but saw the Countess only once more. We smiled politely but did not reminisce.

— L Gaylord Clark 18 Dec 2012 9:12 pm

Can anyone tell me where he lived after Shelton Abbey. This
too was near Arklow. Neville Wilkinson’s Titalia’s
Palace was housed there. I visited it many times in my
childhood, but Co. Wicklow is not mentioned in any of its
history sites I’ve seen>

— Georgina 28 Nov 2014 9:55 am

Just finished today reading “Pope Pius XI and World Peace” by Lord Clonmore (later Earl of Wicklow) and found it fascinatingly insightful, considering he wrote it back in 1937 when Lord Clonmore was only 35. Thank you for posting your paragraph on the 8th Earl of Wicklow and for including the three photographs. Only just discovered this enigmatic figure. Much appreciated.

— EAMONN MULCAHY 27 Dec 2021 8:11 pm
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