Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery

The Right Honourable The Earl of Orrery
Privy Council of England
In office 26 May 1661 – 21 April 1679 [a]
Lord Lieutenant of Clare
In office 1661–1672
Lord President of Munster
In office 1661 – 31 July 1672 [b]
Constable, Limerick Castle
In office 1661 – October 1679  †
Member of Parliament for Arundel
In office 1660–1679
President of the Council in Scotland
In office March 1655 – March 1656
Member of the Protectorate Parliament for County Cork
In office 1654 – 10 December 1657
Personal details
Born	25 April 1621 Lismore Castle, County Waterford
Died	16 October 1679(1679-10-16) (aged 58) Castlemartyr, County Cork
Spouse	Margaret Howard (1641 to his death)
Relations	Robert Boyle
Children	Margaret (1644–1683); Roger (1646–1682); Henry (1648–1693); Barbara;
Parent(s)	Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork; Catherine Fenton Boyle
Education	Trinity College, Dublin
Military service
Years of service	1641 to 1651
Battles/wars	Irish Confederate Wars Battle of Liscarroll Battle of Macroom Siege of Limerick Battle of Knocknaclashy

Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery,^[c] 25 April 1621 to 16 October 1679, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician. A younger son of the Earl of Cork, the largest landowner in Munster, like many Irish Protestants he supported the Dublin Castle administration during the Irish Confederate Wars, a related conflict of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.

Boyle was noted for his anti-Catholicism, and consistently opposed concessions to Irish Catholics. A skilled politician, he believed maintaining the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland required support from the ruling government in London, whatever its composition. As a result, he held senior positions under the Commonwealth and Charles II, following the 1660 Stuart Restoration.

A noted writer on 17th-century warfare, Boyle helped design Charles Fort outside Kinsale. He also produced a number of plays and poems, which were well regarded by contemporaries but have since faded into obscurity.
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