George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough (c. 1620 – 11 December 1683) was an Irish politician.
He was the son of Sir Richard Lane, 1st Baronet, of Tulsk, by his wife Mabel Fitzgerald.
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Career
He was attached to the exiled Court of Charles II of England, and was knighted by him at Bruges in 1657. The honour must have seemed a hollow one to Lane who, like most of the exiles who remained faithful to the King, was reduced to a state of near destitution: he spoke of his "torment" in being unable to get money to care for his sick wife and children.
After the Restoration he seems to have had considerable influence at Court: Samuel Pepys in his Diary in 1663 refers to Lane as "the man below stairs at Court".
From 1662 to 1666 he was Member of Parliament for County Roscommon. In November 1664 he was appointed to the Privy Council of Ireland, and on 5 October 1668, he succeeded his father as the second Baronet. He was created Viscount Lanesborough in the Peerage of Ireland on 31 July 1676. He was Secretary of State (Ireland) from 1665 until his death. According to Samuel Pepys, he was notorious for "selling offices". In fairness to Lane it must be remembered that only a few years earlier he and his family had been close to starvation, and he may well have felt that he had the right to make sure that they would have a secure future.