Constituency : Galway County 1867-71
Hubert took over at Galway County on the death of his brother, Lord Dunkellin.
Hubert was educated at Harrow then entered the diplomatic service sending ten years as an attache at Turin.
Hubert was a connoisseur of art treasures and jewels.
After four years as an MP Hubert resigned his seat in protest at Gladstone's Irish Land Act.
In 1874 Hubert succeeded his father as Marquess of Clanricarde. He soon acquired a reputation as one of the worst of Ireland's absentee landlords. He was known in Ireland as Lord Clanrackrent. He is thought to have only visited the estate on the occasion of his father's funeral. He was miserly and reclusive , dressed like a tramp and was completely intransigent in the face of any reform proposals or attempts to smooth over his disputes with the tenants. He would not countenance rent reductions and instructed his land agent John Blake to proceed with evictions on default. In 1882 Blake was murdered but Hubert was unrepentant. The Irish National League made him a particular target and other landlords blamed him for fuelling the agitation. The local clergy, both Protestant and Catholic , urged him to reduce his rents in 1885 to no avail. The 1886 Plan of Campaign where rents were collected by trustees was started on his estates.
In 1888 the Conservative government urged Hubert to compromise but he told Balfour , "the Western Irish cannot be kept up to their contracts without the liability of eviction." Balfour described him as a lunatic. In 1891 the Congested Districts Board began the process of trying to compulsorily purchase the estate in the face of dogged resistance from Clanricarde. In 1907 he was deprived of his rights to administer the estates by Parliament due to incompetency. They were eventually purchased in 1915.
He died the following year aged 83.
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