Doneraile

Doneraile was enfranchised by a 1640 charter of 15 Chas I, granted to Sir William St Leger. It was a manor borough, and no corporation was created. In 1767 St Leger Aldworth (0026) succeeded to the estates of his uncle, Hayes, 4th Viscount Doneraile; he assumed the name St Leger and was elevated to the peerage in 1776 as Lord Doneraile and advanced to a viscountcy in 1785. In 1713 it was said that Lord Doneraile (1852) 'has the whole interest' for Doneraile, and at the 1790 election the then Lord Doneraile was reputed to have sold the seats. In 1800 he received £15,000 in compensation for its disfranchisement.