Arthur Forbes, 1st Earl of Granard

Arthur Forbes, 1st Earl of Granard (1623–1696) was a Scottish soldier in Ireland.

Forbes was the eldest son of Sir Arthur Forbes of Corse Castle and Castle Forbes in Aberdeenshire; who went to Ireland in 1620 with the Master of Forbes's regiment, of which he was lieutenant-colonel, and was granted large estates in Leitrim and Longford by King James I. His mother was Jane, daughter of Sir Robert Lauder of the Isle of Bass, and widow of Sir Alexander Hamilton of Killeshandra, co. Cavan. His father was killed in a duel in 1632, and he was brought up by his mother.

During the rebellion of 1641 Jane Forbes was besieged in Castle Forbes, the family seat, for nine months, and Forbes raised men for her relief, though only eighteen years old. He is next heard of in Scotland, serving under James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose in the cause of King Charles I. On the defeat of Montrose in 1645, Forbes was taken prisoner, and for two years he was confined in Edinburgh Castle.

On his release he made efforts to restore the Stuarts, and then returned to Ireland in 1655.

In 1660 he was sent to Charles at Breda to assure him that if he would only go over to Ireland the whole kingdom would declare for him. At the Restoration he was appointed a commissioner of the court of claims in Ireland, and received additional grants of land in Westmeath. In 1661 he entered the Irish House of Commons as member for County Tyrone.

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