| Honorific-Prefix: | The Right Honourable |
| The Earl of Desart | |
| Office: | Member of Parliament for Bossiney |
| Alongside: | James Stuart-Wortley |
| Term Start: | 13 December 1808 |
| Term End: | May 1817 |
| Predecessor: | Peter Thellusson James Stuart-Wortley |
| Successor: | James Stuart-Wortley William Yates Peel |
| Birth Date: | 20 February 1788 |
| Education: | Eton College |
| Parents: | Earl of Desart Lady Anne Browne |
| Children: | John Cuffe, 3rd Earl of Desart |
| Relations: | Earl of Altamont (grandfather) |
John Otway Cuffe, 2nd Earl of Desart (20 February 1788 – 23 November 1820) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer.
Born on 20 February 1788, Cuffe was the son of Lady Anne Browne, daughter of Peter Browne, 2nd Earl of Altamont and Otway Cuffe, 1st Earl of Desart. His father was the second son of John Cuffe, 1st Baron Desart, a High Sheriff of County Kilkenny, by his second wife, Dorothea Gorges.
He was educated at Eton College (1802), Christ Church, Oxford (1805) and the University of Edinburgh (1807). He succeeded to his father's titles in 1804.[1]
Desart served as Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Bossiney, in Cornwall, between 13 December 1808 and May 1817. He held the post of one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury in 1809–10.
He had a home at Desart Court, County Kilkenny, Ireland, and was Mayor of Kilkenny for 1809–10.[2]
On 7 October 1817, Catherine O'Connor (–1874), the daughter and co-heiress of Maurice Nugent O'Connor of Mount Pleasant, King's County, and Maria Burke, daughter of Sir Thomas Burke, Bt. Together, they were the parents of one son:
The Earl of Desart died on 23 November 1820 and was succeeded in his titles by his only son and heir, John Otway O'Connor Cuffe, who became the 3rd Earl of Desart.[4] After his death, his widow remarried to Rose Lambart Price, son and heir apparent to Sir Rose Price, 1st Baronet.[5]