This article is a list of viscountcies in the peerages of Britain and Ireland, including the England, the Scotland, the Ireland, the Great Britain and the Peerage of the United Kingdom, listed in order of creation, including extant, extinct and abeyant titles.
A viscount is the fourth rank in the peerage of the United Kingdom, Great Britain, England, Scotland and Ireland.
[n 1] The term "viscount" (vice-comes) was originally a judicial honorific, long used in Anglo-Norman England to refer to a county sheriff.
In practice, however, very few maintain this style, instead using the more common version "The Viscount [X]" in general parlance.
Many extant viscountcies are used as courtesy titles; a specifically British custom is the heir apparent of an earl or marquess being referred to as a viscount, if the second most senior title held by the head of the family is a viscount.