The Blennerhassett Baronetcy of Blennerville in the County of Kerry, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 22 September 1809 for Rowland Blennerhassett, the member of a family that was originally settled in Cumberland

Cumberland

Cumberland is a historic county of North West England, on the border with Scotland, from the 12th century until 1974. It formed an administrative county from 1889 to 1974 and now forms part of Cumbria....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, and subsequently at Frenze, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, and Barsham, Suffolk

Barsham, Suffolk

Barsham is a village and civil parish in the Waveney district of Suffolk, England. It is about two miles west of Beccles in the district of Waveney, and is on the edge of The Broads...

. Members of the family represented Carlisle

Carlisle (UK Parliament constituency)

Carlisle is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election. It was a Labour seat from 1964 until 2010, although the Conservatives came close to victory in the elections in...

 in almost every Parliament from the reign of Richard II

Richard II of England

Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...

 to the reign of James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

. This branch of the family settled in County Kerry

County Kerry

Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...

 during the reign of James I and its members frequently represented County Kerry and Tralee in the Irish House of Commons

Irish House of Commons

The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...

. The first Baronet's son, the second Baronet, was High Sheriff of Kerry

High Sheriff of Kerry

The High Sheriff of Kerry was the British Crown’s judicial representative in County Kerry, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and...

 in 1823. He was succeeded by his son, the third Baronet. He served as High Sheriff of County Kerry in 1820. His son, the fourth Baronet, was a Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician. As of 2008 the title is held by the latter's great-grandson (the baronetcy having descended from father to son), the seventh Baronet, who succeeded in 1940.

Rowland Blennerhassett

Rowland Blennerhassett (Irish politician)

Rowland Ponsonby Blennerhassett KC, JP was an Irish politician.He was the only son of Richard Francis Blennerhassett and his wife Honoria Ponsonby, daughter of William Carrique Ponsonby. Blennerhassett was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and at Christ Church College, Oxford...

, grandson of Rowland Blennerhassett, fourth son of the first Baronet, represented County Kerry

Kerry (UK Parliament constituency)

A former UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning two Members of Parliament. In 1885, it was split into four constituencies. From the time of Irish independence, the area was no longer represented in the UK Parliament, as it was no longer part of the United Kingdom.-Boundaries:This...

 in the House of Commons

British House of Commons

The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...

.

Blennerhassett Baronets, of Blennerville (1809)

• Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 1st Baronet (1741–1821)
• Sir Robert Blennerhassett, 2nd Baronet (1769–1831)
• Sir Arthur Blennerhassett, 3rd Baronet (1794–1849)
• Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet
  Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet
  Sir Rowland Blennerhassett, 4th Baronet PC , JP was an Irish baronet and Liberal Party politician from County Kerry....
  
  (1839–1909)
• Sir Arthur Charles Francis Bernard Blennerhassett, 5th Baronet (1871–1915)
• Sir Marmaduke Charles Henry Joseph Blennerhassett, 6th Baronet (1902–1940)
• Sir (Marmaduke) Adrian Francis William Blennerhassett, 7th Baronet (b. 1940)