[1] He was the eldest son of Robert Clements, 1st Earl of Leitrim and the former Lady Elizabeth Skeffington.
[1] He was educated at a private school in Portarlington and Oriel College, Oxford, graduating in 1788.
Two years later he was elected to the Irish House of Commons as Whig member for Roscommon as well as Carrick, but chose to sit for the latter.
Having served as High Sheriff of Leitrim in 1796,[1] Clements became Colonel of the Prince of Wales's Own Donegal Militia on 22 June 1796, and retained the command even after its disembodiment in 1816.
[4][5] In 1798 he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Leitrim, but subsequently failed in his attempts to be elected to the House of Lords as an Irish representative peer.