Donough [Donagh] MacCarthy, 4th Earl of Clancarty (1668, Blarney – 1 October 1734, Praalshof near Altona, Germany) was an Irish supporter of James II, banished after the victory of William of Orange; His peerage was attained in 1691. MacCarthy lived out his life in exile in Germany and on the Elmersmastede in Hoogkerk, Netherlands. He was part of the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty.
As the heir of his father's massive Irish estates at Cork and Kerry (inherited 1676, age 8) MacCarthy's upbringing was a matter of high policy. He married Elizabeth Spencer, daughter of Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, in 1684, then principal secretary of state in England [1]. The marriage was a legal construct, and went unconsummated for years.
Imprisoned in the Tower for his part in the Jacobite resistance in Ireland, MacCarthy escaped in 1694 to James II's court on the continent. He returned to England in the new year 1698, to finally begin his married life, only to be turned in by his brother in law, Lord Spencer. Months later, MacCarthy was permitted to flee to exile in Altona, near Hamburg, with his wife [2].