Sir Arthur Forbes, 2nd Earl of Granard

Alfred Webb

A Compendium of Irish Biography

1878

Forbes, Sir Arthur, 2nd Earl of Granard, son of preceding, was born about 1656. He served in the French army under Turenne. In 1686 he was made Colonel of the Royal Regiment of Ireland (now the 18th Royal Irish), raised by his father. He adhered to the fortunes of James II., and was by William III. committed to the Tower. In confinement he is said to have refused a present of £300 from William, and on his release to have declined a commission in the army; and so late as 1702, although appearing at court, he refused the government of Jamaica. Afterwards he accepted a pension of £500 a year (which appears never to have been paid) from his friend Godolphin, and in 1715 was made Lord-Lieutenant of the County of Longford. He died at his mansion at Simmonscourt, near Dublin, 24th August 1734, and was interred at Castleforbes.

Sources

153. Granard, Earls of, Memoirs: Edited by the Earl of Granard. London, 1868.

216. Lodge's Peerage of Ireland, Revised and Enlarged by Mervyn Archdall. 7 vols. Dublin, 1789.

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