Richard FitzPatrick, 1st Baron Gowran

Richard FitzPatrick, 1st Baron Gowran (died 9 June 1727), was a British naval officer and Irish peer. He was the second son of John Fitzpatrick of Castletown, Queen's County, and Elizabeth (daughter of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, and widow of James Purcell of Loughmoe).

FitzPatrick entered the Royal Navy and was appointed commander of HMS Richmond on 14 May 1687. He was promoted to captain of HMS Assurance on 24 May 1688. In 1689, he was transferred to HMS Lark, which he cruised against the French in the North Sea. He gained prominence by capturing a French frigate off Rame Head on 18 July 1690. The French ship had 36 guns, and the engagement lasted four hours; the French suffered forty casualties, and the ship was heavily damaged, requiring towing into Plymouth.

During the 1690–1691 period, FitzPatrick drove ashore two French frigates and participated in the seizure of fourteen merchantmen from a convoy of twenty-two. He commanded HMS St Albans, a fourth-rate vessel, starting from 11 January 1690.

In 1696, FitzPatrick served under Lord Berkeley aboard HMS Burford, a 70-gun ship, and was involved in amphibious operations, including a descent on Groix, an island near Belle Île off Brittany's coast. He successfully took thirteen hundred head of cattle, along with horses, boats, and small vessels.

With the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession, FitzPatrick was promoted to command HMS Ranelagh, an 80-gun ship. He participated in the 1702 expedition against Cádiz under James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, which was considered poorly managed, and was involved in the successful attack on Vigo. He shortly thereafter retired from naval service.

In 1696, King William III granted FitzPatrick the town and lands of Grantstown and other estates in Queen's County as a reward for his service.

FitzPatrick entered the Irish House of Commons in 1713, representing Queen’s County. He was elevated to the Irish peerage as Baron Gowran of Gowran, Kilkenny, on 27 April 1715, taking his seat on 12 November of that year. Two days later, he helped prepare an address to the king congratulating him on his accession.

He married Anne, the younger daughter of Sir John Robinson of Farmingwood, Northamptonshire, in 1718. They had two sons, John and Richard. Lady Gowran lived with her son John in Grosvenor Square after FitzPatrick’s death. John FitzPatrick was later promoted to the Irish earldom of Upper Ossory on 5 October 1751 and was the father of Richard Fitzpatrick.

Richard FitzPatrick died on 9 June 1727.