Viscount Taaffe

The title of Viscount Taaffe was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1628. The Viscount bears the subsidiary title of Baron of Ballymote (1628).

Family History

The family history presents points of unusual interest. From the 13th century the Taaffe's had been one of the leading families in the north of Ireland. In 1628 Sir John Taaffe was raised to the peerage as Baron of Ballymote and Viscount Taaffe of Corven. He left fifteen children, of whom the eldest, Theobald, took a prominent part in the English Civil War, accompanied Charles II in exile, and on the Restoration was created Earl of Carlingford. He was sent on missions to the duke of Lorraine and to the emperor, by which was established the connection of his family with the house of Habsburg and Lorraine, which has continued to this day. His eldest son was killed in the Turkish wars. He was succeeded in the title by his second son Nicholas, who had served in the Spanish wars and was killed at the Boyne. The next brother, Francis, the third earl, was one of the most celebrated men of his time: he was brought up at Olmtitz, at the imperial court, and in the service of Duke Charles of Lorraine, whose most intimate friend he became. He rose to the highest rank in the Austrian army, having greatly distinguished himself at the siege of Vienna and in the other Turkish campaigns, and was a member of the Order of the Golden Fleece. He was sent on many important diplomatic missions, and at the end of his life was chancellor and chief minister to the duke of Lorraine.

Notwithstanding the Jacobite connections of his family, his title to the earldom of Carlingford was confirmed by William III, and the attainder and forfeiture of the estates incurred by his brother was repealed. This favor he owed to his position at the court of the emperor, William's most important ally. On his death the title and estates went to his nephew Theobald, whose father had fallen during the siege of Derry, and who himself had served with distinction in the Austrian army.

On his death the title of earl of Carlingford became extinct; both the Austrian and Irish estates as well as the Irish viscountcy went to a cousin Nicholas (1677-1769). Like so many of his family, he was brought up in Lorraine and passed into the Austrian army; he fought in the Silesian war, rose to be field-marshal, and was made a count of the Empire. His Irish estates were, however, claimed under the Act of 1703 by a Protestant heir: a lawsuit followed, which was ended by a compromise embodied in a private act of parliament, by which the estates were sold and one-third of the value given to him. With the money he acquifed the castle of Ellischau, in Bohemia; he had also inherited other property in the Austrian dominions. He was naturalized in Bohemia, and left on record that the reason for this step was that he did not wish his descendants to be exposed to the temptation of becoming Protestants so as to avoid the operation of the penal laws. A Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords in 1860 recognized the right of the family to hold the Irish title.

See Würzbach, Biographisches Lexicon Österreichs. Memoirs of the Family of Taaffe (Vienna, 1856), privately printed; article in the Contemporary Review (1893), by EB Lanin. The Prague Politik published in December 1904 contains some interesting correspondence collected from Taaffe's papers.

Viscounts Taaffe (1628)

• Sir John Taaffe, 1st Viscount Taaffe (d. before 1641/2).
• Theobald Taaffe, 2nd Viscount Taaffe, 1st Earl of Carlingford (d. 1677)
• Nicholas Taaffe, 3rd Viscount Taaffe, 2nd Earl of Carlingford (d. 2 July 1690, at the Battle of the Boyne).
• Francis Taaffe, 4th Viscount Taaffe, 3rd Earl of Carlingford (1639-1704), an Austrian Field-marshal and knight of the Golden Fleece
• Theobald Taaffe, 5th Viscount Taaffe, 4th and last Earl of Carlingford (d. 24 November 1738); fought against the Turks.
• Nicholas Taaffe, 6th Viscount Taaffe (abt 1685 - 30 December 1769). General Feldwachtmeister, Count of the Holy Roman Empire, chancellor of duke Leopold of Lorraine, he entered Austrian service, and lost his Irish estates to a Protestant relative under the reign of Queen Anne.
• Count Rudolph Taaffe, 7th Viscount Taaffe (6 October1762 - 7 June1830), returned to Ireland and was summoned to Parliament in 1798 but as a Roman Catholic could not take his seat.
• Francis John Charles Joseph Rudolph Taaffe, 8th Viscount Taaffe (23 May 1788 - 8 February 1849), served in the Austrian army.
• Count Louis Patrick John Taaffe, 9th Viscount Taaffe, Count of the Holy Roman Empire (25 December1791-21 December1855), was a chamberlain to the Austrian Emperor.
• Count Charles Rudolph Francis Joseph Clement Taaffe, 10th Viscount Taaffe (26 April 1823 - 19 November1873).
• Count Edward Francis Joseph Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe (24 February1833-29 November1895), Minister-President of Austria from 1879 to 1893.
• Henry Taaffe, 12th Viscount Taaffe (22 May1872-25 July1928). His peerage became forfeit, under terms of the Titles Deprivation Act, in consequence of having borne arms against Britain in World War I.