Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross

Ralph Gore, 1st Earl of Ross (23 November 1725 – September 1802), known as Sir Ralph Gore, 6th Baronet, from 1746 until 1764, subsequently as The Baron Gore until 1768, and then as The Viscount Belleisle until 1772, was an Anglo-Irish soldier, politician and peer.

Background Born at Belle Isle Castle in County Fermanagh in Ulster, he was the second son of Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet, and his second wife Elizabeth, only daughter of St George Ashe, at that time Church of Ireland Bishop of Clogher. Gore was educated at Trinity College Dublin and, in 1744, he purchased a lieutenancy in the 33rd Regiment of Foot.

Military career In the middle of the War of the Austrian Succession, Gore joined the regiment in Flanders in 1745 and took over a company. At the Battle of Fontenoy on 11 May, he was hit on his right arm by a shot, however quickly recovered. In the following year, he was made a lieutenant-general and in 1788, during the absence of Sir William Augustus Pitt, was acting Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.

Political career In 1747, Gore entered the Irish House of Commons, sitting for County Donegal, the same constituency his father and brother had represented before, until 1764, when on 30 June, he was ennobled in the Peerage of Ireland with the title Baron Gore, of Manor Gore, in the County of Donegal. He took his seat in the Irish House of Lords in 1767 and was created Viscount Belleisle, of Belleisle, in the County of Fermanagh on 25 August 1768. Gore was finally advanced as Earl of Ross, in the County of Fermanagh, on 4 January 1772. He served as High Sheriff of Donegal in 1755 and as High Sheriff of Fermanagh in 1760.

Belle Isle Belle Isle (previously known, in Gaelic times, as Ballymacmanus Island or Senadh-Mic-Maghnusa or, simply, Senad ), near Lisbellaw, had been in the Gore family for generations, but it was Lord Ross's father who built the castle. His son, who was born there, spent many years improving and expanding Belle Isle Castle and creating a magnificent garden.