Earl of Kenmare
and earlier Viscount Kenmare, peerage extinct in 1953

The title of Earl of Kenmare was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1801. It became extinct upon the death of the 7th Earl in 1952.
All of the Earls bore the subsidiary titles of Viscount Castlerosse (1801), Viscount Kenmare (1798), and Baron Castlerosse (1798) in the Peerage of Ireland. The 2nd Earl was created Baron Kenmare, of Castlerosse in the County of Kerry in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1841, but this title became extinct upon his death. His brother and successor, the third earl, was again created Baron Kenmare, of Castlerosse in the County of Kerry in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1856, and this title survived until the extinction of the earldom in 1952.
The Browne line
Sir Valentine Browne, knight (died 1589)
Sir Nicholas Browne (died 12 December 1606)
Baronets Browne of Molahiffe, County Kerry (1622)
Sir Valentine Browne, 1st Baronet (died 7 September 1633)
Sir Valentine Browne, 2nd Baronet (died 25 April 1640)
Valentine Browne, 3rd Baronet (1638–1694)
Viscounts Kenmare, Barons Castlerosse (1689)
The third Baronet Browne was created first Viscount Kenmare and Baron Castlerosse (Ireland) on 20 May 1689, by King James II, after his deposition by the English Parliament, but while he still possessed his rights as King of Ireland. At the time James was presiding over the short-lived Patriot Parliament. The peerage remained on the Irish patent roll in a constitutionally ambiguous position, but was not recognized by the Protestant political establishment.
Sir Valentine Browne, 1st Viscount Kenmare, 3rd Baronet (1638–1694), attainted 1691
Sir Nicholas Browne, 2nd Viscount Kenmare, 4th Baronet (died April 1720)
Sir Valentine Browne, 3rd Viscount Kenmare, 5th Baronet (March 1695 – 30 June 1736)
Sir Thomas Browne, 4th Viscount Kenmare, 6th Baronet (1726 – 9 September 1795)
Earls of Kenmare (1801)
The seventh Baronet Browne was created first Baron Castlerosse and first Viscount Kenmare on 12 February 1798, with the earlier peerages not being recognised. He was created first Earl of Kenmare on 3 January 1801.
The public source identifies “Earl of Kenmare” as and earlier Viscount Kenmare, peerage extinct in 1953. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Earl, Kenmare and earlier.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5326300. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1801, 1952, 1798 and 1841.
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This entry incorporates text from “Earl of Kenmare” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.