Denis Daly (Galway politician)

Denis Daly.

Denis Daly (1748 – 10 October 1791) of Dunsandle, Loughrea, County Galway, was an Irish landowner and politician.

His father was James Daly of Carrownakelly and Dunsandle and his mother was Catherine Gore, daughter of Sir Ralph Gore.

Daly owned estates in County Mayo, County Galway, County Clare, and County Limerick. He had to sell off half of these estates to pay debts, but on his marriage to Henrietta Maxwell, the only daughter of Robert Maxwell, 1st Earl of Farnham, his fortunes once again increased. His residence was Carrownakelly Castle, in the parish of Kiltullagh, but moved some four miles south towards Loughrea where he built Dunsandle House, sometime in the mid-18th century. In 1769 and 1772 he served as Mayor of Galway

Daly was a friend of Henry Grattan and sat also in the Irish House of Commons. Between 1767 and 1768, he was Member of Parliament for Galway Borough. Subsequently he represented Galway County until 1790, and then again Galway Borough until 1792. In 1783, he was also elected for the latter constituency, however chose not to sit.

His eldest son James represented Galway County in the Parliament of the United Kingdom and was later raised to the peerage. A younger son, Robert, was a leading Irish evangelical who became Bishop of Cashel and Waterford.

References

•  Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1888). "Daly, Denis". Dictionary of National Biography. 13. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 
• The Lords of Dunsandle, James Noel Dillon, in Kiltullagh/Killimordaly: As the Centuries passed: A history from 1500-1900, pp. 43–67, ed. Kieran Jordan, 2000.
• Clare bards, Galway gentry, Patrick Melvin, The Irish Genealogist, 2002
• The Daly Chronicle, Dermot Daly,The Irish Genealogist, 2002