It was created in 1793 for Sir Cornwallis Maude, 3rd Baronet, who had earlier represented the borough of Roscommon in the Irish House of Commons.

His son, the fourth Viscount, was an Irish Representative Peer from 1862 to 1886 and served as a government whip from 1866 to 1868 and from 1874 to 1880 in the Conservative administrations of the Earl of Derby and Benjamin Disraeli.

In 1886 the fourth Viscount was created Earl de Montalt, of Dundrum in the County of Tipperary, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.

In 1776 he was created Baron de Montalt, of Hawarden in the County of Tipperary, in the Peerage of Ireland.

However, this title became extinct on his death in 1777 while he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his younger brother, the aforementioned third Baronet, for whom the barony was revived in 1785.