The Clancarty story rests on a family belief that they descend from a Huguenot exile – Frederic de la Tranche – who left France in about 1575; and his son and grandson who went to Ireland in the early 1600s. A fresh look, however, suggests that the connection may be no longer credible.
William Power Keating Trench – Billy to his friends, Willy to relatives – had a great deal of ascribed authority – landowner, Member of Parliament, military commander and holder of peerage titles, but with all those stripped away he was something of a lightweight preoccupied with status. He matured quickly however on a wintry December morning in Bantry in December 1796 when he looked out into the bay and saw 17 French warships with hundreds of soldiers ready to destroy him and his world. William grew closer to the English governors of Ireland later in his life and was rewarded accordingly, though he enjoyed his earldom for just two years – from 1803 until his death aged 64 in 1805.
Archbishop Power Le Poer Trench the second son of William and his wife Anne
Rear Admiral William Le Poer Trench the fifth son of William and Anne
Archdeacon Charles Le Poer Trench the sixth son of William and Anne
The attempted French invasion of December 1796
Richard Power Le Poer Trench was the Earl of Clancarty for 32 years, 1805 to 1837. He was by far the most eminent member in the family story and played a small but crucial part in European history in 1813-15. An ally of two of England’s greatest statesmen, Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of Wellington, he was not in their league (and he would be the first to acknowledge that) but he was loyal, helpful, conscientious, and at his best a skilled and successful negotiator and administrator. Castlereagh admire his talents. As Britain’s ambassador to The Netherlands, he was a key figure for a decade, but eventually however, he forgot his place and his bossy temper offended the King and cost him his job. He withdrew to the comfort of his prejudices and his world in Galway where he was answerable to nobody, grew out of touch with the changes occurring around him, and was eventually deserted, blustering alone in the House of Lords while his peers went to dinner.
Sir Robert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh
Key players at the Congress of Vienna late 1814 - June 1815
King George IV coronation portrait
King William I of the Netherlands 1819
Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
William Thomas Le Poer Trench the Earl of Clancarty for 35 years from 1837 to 1872, had a hard act to follow. His father Richard was a diplomat and politician of great stature, and his uncles Archbishop Power, Archdeacon Charles, and Admiral William were renowned protagonists for the family’s Protestant landlord values. There was more than just one big pair of shoes to fill. William did them proud though and was arguably the Earl who made the biggest contribution to the family in Ireland, though he has not attracted the same attention as his father and the fifth and eighth Earls. He was a constructive and sympathetic estate owner, and in public life he spoke regularly in the House of Lords – albeit with great stubbornness – on the big issues of his day – land ownership, social policy, religion, education, the waning power of the Church of Ireland. He bemoaned the plight of his class as England’s leaders sidelined him and his kind and followed their own agenda. Sadly, but perhaps predictably he could only loudly repeat the beliefs with which he grew up, blinkered and impervious to the changes steadily eroding his world.
Sarah Juliana Butler 3rd Countess of Clancarty
The decapitated head from statue of William Thomas Le Poer Trench 3rd Earl of Clancarty May 1921
Richard Somerset Le Poer Trench was the Earl of Clancarty for 19 years from 1872 to 1891. Born in 1834 he grew up in an era when the Trenches like other landed families held power and privilege in Ireland, but in his lifetime, he saw that power steadily evaporate, his kind despised, and his position attacked. His health gave way in his 50s and buckled finally after the fight he and his wife had with their son and heir Fred over his secret marriage to the beautiful show-girl Belle Bilton. Liked by many of his tenants, nonetheless the fourth Earl gave up on Ireland, and goes down in history as a heartless autocrat.
Richard Somerset Le Poer Trench as Viscount Dunlo
The young Adeliza Hervey, later the 4th Countess of Clancarty
William Frederick Le Poer Trench was the Earl of Clancarty for 38 years from 1891 to 1929, and the final Trench occupier of the Garbally estate. Known as Fred, he was the most colourful of all the Earls and he was in the public domain on several occasions – usually for the wrong reasons. Fred’s great-grandfather and grandfather made significant contributions to public life in Ireland and England. His father was willing but unable. Fred was neither willing nor able. Fulfilling his personal wishes was the only thing that mattered, and if that meant using other people’s money or not telling the full story so be it: he could try and repair the damage later. He wasted money on gambling and high living, and insisted on an aristocratic lifestyle, assuming his parents or the family estate would always pay the bills, blithely ignoring control or discipline. Debts and bankruptcy made no difference and eventually his disregard for the strictures placed on him resulted in a prison sentence. To balance the ledger Frederick was a caring landlord, and when it finally counted he stood up for the wife he loved but had woefully mistreated and defied his father even at the cost of being financially abandoned.
Belle Bilton the stage actress – she and Fred created upheaval in the Trench family dynasty
"Illustrated Police News" front cover Saturday 2 August 1890
Countess Belle with twin sons born 27 December 1891. Richard standing became the 6th Earl. Power on his mother's lap died 1894
Countess Belle in formal dress before coronation of Edward VII 1902
Mary Ellis married Fred in October 1908
Richard Frederick John Donough Le Poer Trench was the Earl of Clancarty for 42 years from 1929 to 1971, the longest of those who held the title. He was the least visible of his line, and his story the saddest. By temperament modest, musical, and low in the characteristic Trench self-esteem he was hit hard by some of the events he had to deal with in his life and withdrew into a recluse’s shell.
Edith Rawlinson first wife of Richard Le Poer Trench the 6th Earl of Clancarty
Cora Spooner 2nd wife of Richard Le Poer Trench the 6th Earl of Clancarty
Richard and his mother Belle 1892
The 6th Earl was a flying enthusiast but mystery surrounds the loss of his pilot’s licence
The 6th Earl of Clancarty 1933
Greville Sydney Rochfort Le Poer Trench was the 7th Earl of Clancarty for just four years, from 1971 to 1975, but enough time to restore some substance to the title. Born in December 1902 he was the youngest of William and Belle’s five children, and the last of the family to be born at Garbally. He and his wife had a wealthy lifestyle, and the means to support it, but what isn’t clear is just where their wealth came from. Did he unlock the family assets?
Beatrice known as Betty the Countess of Clancarty
It is easy to mis-judge William Francis Brinsley Le Poer Trench the Earl of Clancarty for 20 years from 1975 to 1995, well within the living memory of many readers. His early sympathy for Adolf Hitler and Nazism before the Second World War, and his enthusiastic beliefs about flying saucers and aliens living in the centre of the earth would see him quickly dismissed as deluded if not a total crank. To do that, however, is to miss the achievements of his remarkable life.
William Francis Brinsley Le Poer Trench at his wedding to Diana Younger June 1940
Diana Younger 27 April 1945
Unity Mitford
Cover of the first issue of Flying Saucer Review 1955
Nicholas Power Richard Le Poer Trench has been the Earl of Clancarty since he succeeded his uncle Brinsley in May 1995, and as things stand at time of writing he will be the last to hold the title. Be that as it may, Nick is not going quietly. Modest he may be but he is a regular and forthright speaker in the House of Lords and if the issue is about arts or Europe or those on society’s margins he will be on his feet sooner or later. His forebears would be horrified that an artist with left wing views carries the title of Clancarty but unlike some of his predecessors he is very much in tune with his times and not bound by doctrines of the past.
