The son of Richard Boyle, second Earl of Shannon; he was educated at Winchester and was an Irish MP (1793-97) and was MP for County Cork (1801-07) in the British Parliament; he succeeded to the title in 1807 and was Lord Lieutenant of Cork (1831-42).

REFERENCES TO Henry Boyle, third earl of Shannon:

Sir Walter Scott to Walter Scott, jun., 31 May 1820 in Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart. 7 vols (Edinburgh: Robert Cadell, 1837)