Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor

Bernard Ward, 1st Viscount Bangor (18 August 1719 – 20 May 1781) was an Irish politician and peer.

He was the only surviving son of Michael Ward of Castle Ward, County Down and his wife Anne Catharina Hamilton, daughter of James Hamilton.

Ward entered the Irish House of Commons in 1745, representing Down, the same constituency his father had been returned, until 1770, when he was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Bangor, of Castle Ward, in the County of Down. In 1761, he was also elected for Killyleagh and in 1768 for Bangor, however chose not to sit both times. Ward was further honoured in 1781, when he was created Viscount Bangor, of Castle Ward, in the County of Down.

In December 1747, he married Lady Ann Magill, daughter of John Bligh, 1st Earl of Darnley and his wife Theodosia Bligh, 10th Baroness Clifton and the widow of Robert Magill of Gill Hall, and had by her four sons and four daughters:

Ward died, aged 61, at his seat Castle Ward. He was succeeded in his titles by his oldest son Nicholas, later placed under disability due to insanity. Both, his third son Edward and fourth son Robert sat in the Parliament of Ireland.

He rebuilt Castle Ward in the early 1760s in a style which represented a compromise between the Viscount's favoured Gothic style and his wife's favoured classical style. He also enlarged the estate by purchasing adjacent land and remodelled it in a more open style with a deerpark.

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