Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick
| The 2nd Earl of Limerick | |
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| 5th Colonial Governor of New York | |
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In office August, 1683 – 11 August 1688 |
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| Preceded by | Edmund Andros |
| Succeeded by | Edmund Andros (as Governor-General of the Dominion of New England) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1634 Castletown Kildrought, Kingdom of Ireland |
| Died | 14 December 1715 (aged 81) London, England |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Signature |  |
Thomas Dongan, (pronounced "Dungan")2nd Earl of Limerick (1634–14 December 1715), was a member of the Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and Governor of the Province of New York. He is noted for having called the first representative legislature in New York, and for granting the province's Charter of Liberties.
He was born in 1634 into an old Gaelic and Anglo-Irish family in Castletown Kildrought (now Celbridge), County Kildare, in the Kingdom of Ireland, the seventh and youngest son of Sir John Dongan, Baronet, Member of the Irish Parliament, and his wife Mary Talbot, daughter of Sir William Talbot, 1st Baronet. As Stuart supporters, after the overthrow of King Charles I, the family went to King Louis XIV's France, although they managed to hold on to at least part of their Irish estates. His family gave their name to Dongan Dragoons, a premier military regiment.
While in France, he served in an Irish regiment with Turenne. He stayed in France after the Restoration and achieved the rank of colonel in 1674.
After the Treaty of Nijmegen ended the French-Dutch War in 1678, Dongan returned to England in obedience to the order that recalled all English subjects fighting in service to France. Fellow officer James, Duke of York, arranged to have him granted a high-ranking commission in the army designated for service in Flanders and a pension. That same year, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Tangiers, which had been part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza.
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