page_title: Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork
section_title: Acquisition of property, rank, and titles
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork / Acquisition of property, rank, and titles
caption_attribution_description: Photograph, taken by me, of Lismore Castle, Lismore, Co. Waterford, Republic of Ireland
context_page_description: Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork, also known as the Great Earl of Cork, was an English-born politician who served as Lord Treasurer of the Kingdom of Ireland.
  Lord Cork was an important figure in the continuing English colonisation of Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries, as he acquired large tracts of land in plantations in Munster in southern Ireland. Moreover, his sons played an important role in fighting against the Irish Catholic rebellion in the 1640s and 1650s, assisting in the victory of the British and Protestant interest in Ireland.
  In addition to being the first Earl of Cork, he was the patriarch of the Boyle family through his many prominent descendants, whose titles included Earl of Orrery, Earl of Burlington and Earl of Shannon.
context_section_description: In 1602, Richard Boyle bought Sir Walter Raleigh's estates of 42,000 acres (170 km²) for £1,500 (£345,340 in 2019) in the counties of Cork  (including Myrtle Grove), Waterford (including Lismore Castle) and Tipperary. He made these purchases on the insistence of Sir George Carew. Boyle made Lismore Castle his principal seat after purchasing it and turned it into a magnificent residence with impressive gabled ranges each side of the courtyard. He also built a castellated outer wall and a gatehouse known as the Riding Gate for the castle. The principal apartments  of the castle were decorated with fretwork plaster ceilings, tapestry hangings, embroidered silks, and velvet. Boyle also had a substantial residence at Youghal, besides Myrtle Grove, known today as "The College", close to the Collegiate Church of St Mary Youghal. Order on the Boyle estates was maintained in 13 castles which were garrisoned by retainers.
  The town of Clonakilty  was formally founded in 1613 by him when he received a charter from King James I of England.
  Boyle was then returned as a burgh commissioner (Member of Parliament) for Lismore in the Irish Parliament of 1614, (held at Dublin Castle) on 18 May 1614. He ascended to the Irish Peerage as Lord Boyle, Baron of Youghal on 6 September 1616.
  Lord Boyle claimed to have built the town of Bandon in County Cork, but in fact the town was planned and built by Henry Beecher, John Archdeacon, and William Newce. The land on which Bandon was built had been granted by Queen Elizabeth I to Phane Beecher in 1586, and inherited by his eldest son Henry who then sold it to Boyle in November 1618. In Bandon, Boyle founded iron-smelting and linen-weaving industries and brought in English settlers, many from Bristol.
  Lord Boyle was created Earl of Cork and Viscount Dungarvan on 26 October 1620. He then occupied the office of Sheriff from 1625 to 1626. On 26 October 1629, he was appointed as a Lord Justice, and on 9 November 1631, he became the Lord Treasurer of Ireland. Although he was not a Peer in the English Parliament, it is nonetheless recorded that he was "by writ called into the Upper House by His Majesty's great grace", and he subsequently took up the honored position of an "assistant sitting on the inside of the Woolsack."
  Oliver Cromwell is reported to have said of Lord Cork 'If there had been an Earl of Cork in every province, it would have been impossible for the Irish to have raised a rebellion.' One of Lord Cork's major political allies during the era was Piers Crosby.
  It is a mistake to see Lord Cork's 'empire' as merely being exclusively confined to the development of the 'Raleigh estates': for instance, his acquisition of the entirety of the town of Bandon was not completed until 1625. Other towns which also form part of Lord Cork's municipal development legacy (which records employment of over 4,000 people during his lifetime) include Midleton, Castlemartyr, Charleville and Doneraile.
  By 1636, Lord Cork had opted to live in the West Country to see out the rest of his days. He purchased from The 3rd Earl of Castlehaven, for £5,000, the manor of Stalbridge in Dorset which became his English seat, and in 1637, he laid out a further £20,000 for Temple Coombe Manor, close by in Somerset. Lord Cork, at the insistence of the Howards, also bought Annery House near Bideford in 1640 for £5000. The Earl was most delighted with Annery House and the living that came with the estate; he was also delighted that he could easily travel to Youghal from Bideford. Annery House was left to his sixth son Francis Boyle upon his death in 1643. Lord Cork had also been left the manor of Salcombe in Devon by his friend Thomas Stafford, the illegitimate son of George Carew, 1st Earl of Totnes. Salcombe, along with Halberton Manor, was also left to his son Francis and his wife Elizabeth Killigrew.
caption: Lismore Castle, County Waterford
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