Mulholland, Charles Edward Henry John (1933–93), 4th Baron Dunleath , businessman and politician, was born 23 June 1933 in London, the only son of Charles Henry George Mulholland, 3rd Baron Dunleath, and his second wife, Henrietta Grace, daughter of C. F. Darcy (qv), archbishop of Armagh. He was educated at Elm Park School, Co. Armagh, and specialised in science at Eton. After service with the 67th Training Regiment of the Royal Armoured Corps, the Mons officer cadet training unit, and the 11th Hussars, he took an agricultural degree at Trinity College, Cambridge. Returning to his interest in the military, he joined (1954) the North Irish Horse, a Territorial Army regiment, and served as lieutenant-colonel commanding (1967–9). In 1971 he became one of the first captains in the Ulster Defence Regiment, and his military honours included a Territorial Army decoration and a UDR medal.
He succeeded his father as 4th Baron Dunleath in 1956 and took his seat in the house of lords the following year. He gave up his attachment to the Unionist party to serve as national governor of the BBC 1967–73, and during this time he became increasingly attracted to the policies of the Alliance party. He was subsequently returned to the 1973 NI assembly as an Alliance representative for North Down. He also represented the party in the 1975 constitutional convention and served as assistant speaker of the 1982 NI assembly until its dissolution (1986). At local government level, he served as a member of Ards borough council from 1977 to 1985.
As an Alliance member, he took a more active role in the house of lords and was the sole voice of the party at Westminster for many years. In 1977 he successfully sponsored legislation in the lords to provide for integrated education for protestant and catholic schoolchildren whenever there was sufficient demand from parents. He also brought forward a bill to bring NI divorce law broadly into line with that of England and Wales, which led the government to pass similar legislation for NI on 26 May 1978. He represented the Alliance party at the inaugural meeting of the British–Irish parliamentary body in February 1990 but stood down permanently in November of that year due to his appointment as a DL for Co. Down.
His business interests, apart from the chairmanship of Dunleath Estates Ltd., were numerous. Between 1974 and 1993 he was chairman of Carreras Rothmans (N.I.) Ltd, a director of Crossle Cars Ltd, an NI director of the Eagle Star Group, and chairman of Templefinn Estates Ltd, Ulster and General Holdings, and the Northern Bank. For seven years he was a director of Victor (Cars) Ltd, and from 1979 to 1984 he was chairman of Northern Ireland Independent Television Ltd.
He also found time for many voluntary activities. He was president of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society and the Road Safety Council of Northern Ireland, and county vice-president of the British Legion. Included among the many charities he sponsored and represented were the Northern Ireland Children's Cancer Unit Fund, the Chest, Heart and Stroke Association, the Northern Ireland Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders and the Northern Ireland Association for Mental Health. He was also a member of both the Northern Ireland committee of the National Trust and the Rural Industries Development Committee.
A former vice-president of the Railway Preservation Society of Ireland, he listed the restoration of steam engines as one of his hobbies. He was also chairman of the Ulster Vintage Car club and maintained a fine collection of vintage and post-vintage cars at Ballywalter Park. His commitment to music and the arts was reflected in his presidency of the Grand Opera Society of Northern Ireland, the Society of Professional Musicians, and Bangor Drama Club. His most absorbing interest, however, was the restoration of organs. He made a vital contribution to the restoration of the Down cathedral organ and assisted in the refurbishment of the Ulster Hall's grand organ, which was presented in 1861 by his great-great-grandfather, Andrew Mulholland (qv). He was also a committee member of the St Albans international organ festival and chairman of the Music in May organ festival.
Prominently associated with the Church of Ireland, he was a member of Ballywalter parish church choir and represented the Down and Dromore diocese in the general synod. He married (5 December 1959) Dorinda Margery, only daughter of Lt-gen. Arthur Ernest Percival (1887–1966) of Hertfordshire, former intelligence officer of 1st Battalion, Essex Regiment, in Co. Cork during the war of independence, and C.-in-C. at Singapore when it fell to the Japanese in 1942. Dunleath died on 9 January 1993 at his residence, Ballywalter Park, Co. Down, after a long battle with cancer. His personal papers are held at PRONI (D/4179).