Arthur Saunders Gore, 2nd Earl of Arran, KP, PC (Ire) (25 July 1734 – 8 October 1809), styled The Honourable Arthur Gore from 1758 to 1762 and Viscount Sudley from 1762 to 1773, was an Irish peer and politician.

Early life

Arran was the eldest son of Arthur Gore, 1st Earl of Arran, and Jane Saunders. His younger brothers were Hon. Richard Gore, MP and Hon. Paul Gore, who married Anne Leonard (a daughter of William Leonard). His sisters were Lady Joanna Gore (wife of Philip Doyne and, after his death, Michael Daly) and Lady Elizabeth Gore (wife of Sir John Evans-Freke, 1st Baronet). His paternal grandparents were Sir Arthur Gore, 2nd Baronet, and the former Elizabeth Annesley (a daughter of Maurice Annesley of Sherlock v Annesley infamy). His aunt, Anne Gore, was married to the 1st Earl of Altamont. His maternal grandfather was Richard Saunders (a grandson of Henry Whitfield, MP). Upon his grandfather's death, his father became the 3rd Gore Baronet of Newtown. After his father was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Saunders of Deeps in the County of Wexford, and Viscount Sudley of Castle Gore in the County of Mayo in 1758, he was styled The Honourable Arthur Gore. When his father was made the Earl of Arran in 1762, he assumed the courtesy title of Viscount Sudley for himself.

Career

He was elected to the Irish House of Commons for Donegal Borough in 1759, a seat he held until 1761 and again from 1768 to 1774 and also represented County Wexford between 1761 and 1768. In 1773, he succeeded his father as second Earl of Arran and entered the Irish House of Lords. Arran was also appointed High Sheriff of County Wexford in 1757 and High Sheriff of Mayo in 1765. He was admitted to the Irish Privy Council in 1771 and in 1783 he was invested as one of the original sixteen Knights of the Order of St Patrick.

Personal life

On 14 July 1760, Lord Arran married Hon. Catherine Annesley (1739–1770), the only daughter of the 1st Viscount Glerawly and Lady Anne Beresford (eldest daughter of the 1st Earl of Tyrone). They had six children: In 1771, he remarried to Anne Knight, a daughter of Rev. Boleyn Knight of Otley. Before her death in 1779, they were the parents of three children: In February 1781, he remarried for the third, and final, time to Elizabeth Underwood, a daughter of Richard Underwood and Christiana (née Goold) Underwood (a daughter of Caleb Goold of Dublin). Together, they had seven children: Lord Arran died in October 1809, aged 75, and was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Arthur. His widow, the Dowager Countess of Arran, died in 1829.