It was created in 1789 for John Creighton, 2nd Baron Erne,[1] who had earlier represented Lifford (Parliament of Ireland constituency) in the Irish House of Commons.

He had already been made Viscount Erne, of Crom Castle in the County of Fermanagh, in 1781,[2] also in the Peerage of Ireland, and sat from 1800 to 1828 as an Irish representative peer in the British House of Lords.

The title of Baron Erne, of Crom Castle in the County of Fermanagh, was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1768 for his father Abraham Creighton.

An earlier title of Baroness Fermanagh in the Peerage of Ireland was created for Mary Verney on 13 June 1792, but became extinct on her death on 15 November 1810.

Styled formally as Viscount Crichton from birth, he was educated at Sunningdale School, Shiplake College, Henley-on-Thames, and at L'Institut de Touraine, in Tours, France.