Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross

General Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross (23 November 1725 – September 1802), known as Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet from 1746 until 1764, subsequently as The Lord Gore until 1768 and then as The Viscount Belleisle until 1772, was an Irish soldier, politician and peer.

Background

Born at Belle Isle Castle, he was the second son of Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet and his second wife Elizabeth, only daughter of St George Ashe, at that time Bishop of Clogher. Gore was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and in 1744, he purchased a lieutenantcy in the 33rd Regiment of Foot. In 1746, he succeeded his older brother St George as baronet.

Military career

In the middle of the War of the Austrian Succession, Gore joined the regiment in Flandern in 1745 and took over a company. At the Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May, he was hit on his right arm by a shot, however quickly recovered. During the Battle of Lauffeld on 2 July 1747 all his superior officers were killed or severely wounded, so command of the battalion fell to Gore, who performed so well, that on the following day he received the thanks of the British commander Prince William, Duke of Cumberland.

In 1760, he raised the 92nd Regiment of Foot (Donegal Light Infantry) and became its lieutenant-colonel until the regiment's dissolution three years later. Gore was promoted to colonel in 1772 and to major-general in 1777. Two years thereafter he was admitted to the Irish general staff and in 1781 obtained colonelship of the 32nd (Cornwall) Regiment of Foot. In the following year, he was made a lieutenant-general and in 1788 during the absence of Sir William Augustus Pitt was acting Commander-in-Chief, Ireland. Gore was promoted to a full general in 1796.

Political career

In 1747, Gore entered the Irish House of Commons, sitting for Donegal County, the same constituency his father and brother had represented before, until 1764, when on 30 June, he was ennobled in the Peerage of Ireland with the title Baron Gore, of Manor Gore, in the County of Donegal. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords in 1767 and was created Viscount Belleisle, of Belleisle, in the County of Fermanagh on 25 August 1768. Gore was finally advanced as Earl of Ross, in the County of Fermanagh on 4 January 1772. He served as High Sheriff of Donegal in 1755 and as High Sheriff of Fermanagh in 1760.

Family

On 23 February 1754 he married firstly Katherine, eldest daughter of William Conolly. After her death in 1771, Gore remarried Alicia Clements, youngest daughter of Nathaniel Clements on 22 August 1773. His only son by his second marriage, predeceased him in 1789. Alicia died in 1795 and was buried like her son at Clifton Church in Bristol. Gore survived her until 1802 and was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew Ralph; his other titles became extinct.

Belle Isle

Belle Isle had been in the Gore family for generations, but it was Lord Ross' father who built the castle. His son, who was born there, spent many years improving and expanding Belle Isle Castle and creating a magnificent garden.