John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare

The Right Honourable The Earl of Clare PC (Ire)
portrait by Gilbert Stuart
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
In office 20 June 1789 – 28 January 1802
Monarch	George III
Preceded by	The Viscount Lifford
Attorney-General for Ireland
In office 29 Nov 1783 – 20 June 1789
Preceded by	The Viscount Avonmore
Succeeded by	The Viscount Kilwarden
Member of Parliament for Kilmallock
In office 1783–1790 Serving with John Armstrong
Preceded by	John Finlay William Christmas
Succeeded by	Charles Bury John Armstrong
Member of Parliament for Dublin University
In office 1778–1783 Serving with Walter Hussey-Burgh
Preceded by	Walter Hussey-Burgh Richard Hely-Hutchinson
Succeeded by	Lawrence Parsons Arthur Browne
Personal details
Born	1748 Donnybrook, Dublin, Kingdom of Ireland
Died	28 January 1802 (aged 53) 6 Ely Place, Dublin, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Resting place	St. Peter's Churchyard
Alma mater	Trinity College Dublin Christ Church, Oxford
Profession	Lawyer, Politician

John FitzGibbon, 1st Earl of Clare PC (Ire) (1748 – 28 January 1802) was Attorney-General for Ireland from 1783 to 1789 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1789 to 1802.

He remains a deeply controversial figure in Irish history, being described variously as an old fashioned anti-Catholic Whig political party hardliner and an early advocate of the Act of Union between Ireland and Great Britain (which finally happened in 1801, shortly before his death). He is said to have been an early and extremely militant opponent of Catholic Emancipation (the end of religious persecution, and the limited relaxation of both the religious discrimination and civil disabilities placed upon Catholics throughout the British Isles and the British Empire). The Earl may also have been the first person to suggest to King George III that granting Royal Assent to any form of Catholic Emancipation would violate his coronation oath.