Earl of Clare was a title of English nobility created three times: once each in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and Ireland.
The title derives from Clare, Suffolk, where a prominent Anglo-Norman family was seated since the Norman Conquest, and from which their English surname sprang from possession of the Honour of Clare. The Norman family who took the name 'de Clare' became associated with the peerage as they held, at differing times, three earldoms (Gloucester, Pembroke, and Hertford).
Read more about Earl Of Clare: The Honour of Clare, Possible Medieval Earls, Earl of Clare, First Creation (1624), Earls of Clare, Second Creation (1714), Earls of Clare, Third Creation (1795)
Famous quotes containing the words earl and/or clare:
“In the case of scandal, as in that of robbery, the receiver is always thought as bad as the thief.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Spirit of her I love,
Whispering to me,
Stories of sweet visions, as I rove,
Here stop, and crop with me
Sweet flowers that in the still hour grew,”
—John Clare (1793–1864)