Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim (born 3 February 1935) is the son of the late Randal John Somerled McDonnell, 8th Earl of Antrim (1911 to 1977). As the heir to his father's titles, he was styled Viscount Dunluce from his birth until 1977. He lives mostly at his ancestral home, Glenarm Castle

Glenarm Castle

Glenarm Castle, Glenarm, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, is the ancestral home of the Earls of Antrim.There has been a castle at Glenarm since the 13th century, and it is at the heart of one of Northern Ireland’s oldest estates....

, County Antrim

County Antrim

County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

Education

Antrim was educated at Downside School

Downside School

Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, between Norton Radstock and Shepton Mallet in Somerset, south west England. It is attached to Downside Abbey...

, Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

 and the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art. He subsequently worked as an art restorer

Art restoration

Art restoration is related to art conservation. Restoration is a process that attempts to return the work of art to some previous state that the restorer imagines was the "original". This was commonly done in the past...

 for the Tate Gallery

Tate Gallery

The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...

.

Family

He married twice, and has four children:

• Lady Flora Pennybacker
  Lady Flora McDonnell
  Lady Flora Mary McDonnell , also known by her married name Flora Pennybacker, is an artist, illustrator, and prize-winning author of children's books.-Family:...
  
   (born 1963)
• Lady Alice McDonnell
  Lady Alice McDonnell
  Lady Alice Angela Jane McDonnell , married name Lady Alice Gwinn, is an Anglo-Irish aristocrat.-Education:Lady Alice was educated at St Mary's Convent, Shaftesbury; Gresham's School, Holt; and St Hilda's College, Oxford .-Family:The daughter of Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell, 9th Earl of Antrim...
  
   (born 1964)
• Randal Alexander St John McDonnell, Viscount Dunluce
  Randal Alexander St John McDonnell, Viscount Dunluce
  Randal Alexander St John McDonnell, Viscount Dunluce is the son and heir of the Earl of Antrim in the Peerage of Ireland. As the heir apparent to his father's titles, he uses the courtesy title Viscount Dunluce....
  
   (born 1967)

Appointments

• Director of Ulster Television
  UTV
  UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
  
  
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
  Royal Society of Arts
  The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...
  
  
• Member of the Marine Biological Association
• Patron of the Arts Society of Ulster

Sources

• The Complete Peerage, volume 14 (1998)
• Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th Edition (1999)
• 9th Earl of Antrim at thepeerage.com