John Michael Henry Hely-Hutchinson, 7th Earl of Donoughmore (12 November 1902 – 1981), known until 1848 by his courtesy title Viscount Suirdale, was a British politician who later sat as a hereditary peer

Hereditary peer

Hereditary peers form part of the Peerage in the United Kingdom. There are over seven hundred peers who hold titles that may be inherited. Formerly, most of them were entitled to sit in the House of Lords, but since the House of Lords Act 1999 only ninety-two are permitted to do so...

 in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

.

Donoughmore is perhaps most famous for being kidnapped from Knocklofty House, Clonmel

Clonmel

Clonmel is the county town of South Tipperary in Ireland. It is the largest town in the county. While the borough had a population of 15,482 in 2006, another 17,008 people were in the rural hinterland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian army which sacked both...

, in June 1974, with his wife by the IRA as a political hostage, being released after a week.

Lord Donoughmore was the son of Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore

Richard Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore

Richard Walter Hely-Hutchinson, 6th Earl of Donoughmore KP, PC , styled Viscount Suirdale until 1900, was an Irish peer and Conservative politician...

. He was Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

 from 1943–1945. In 1948 he succeeded to all his father's peerages. In the military Donoughmore gained the rank of Colonel in the service of the Royal Armoured Corps

Royal Armoured Corps

The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...

 (Territorial Army). He was chosen Grandmaster of the Grand Lodge of Ireland

Grand Lodge of Ireland

The Grand Lodge of Ireland is the second most senior Grand Lodge of Freemasons in the world, and the oldest in continuous existence. Since no specific record of its foundation exists, 1725 is the year celebrated in Grand Lodge anniversaries, as the oldest reference to Grand Lodge of Ireland comes...

 in 1964, a post he held until his death.

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