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The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (plural: Lords Lieutenant), also known as the Judiciar in the early mediaeval period and as the Lord Deputy as late as the 17th century, was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland (1171—1541), the Kingdom of Ireland (1541—1800) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801—1922). Even when heading the executive of a theoretically independent Irish kingdom, the Judiciar, Lord Deputy or Lord Lieutenant was both the agent and representative of the King or Queen of England (until 1707) or King or Queen of Great Britain (1707—1800) and was never answerable to either the Irish parliament or people.

The office, under its various names, was often more generally known as the viceroy, from the French vice roi or deputy king, with his consort known as the vicereine.

Though earlier Lords Deputy had been Irish noblemen from the Middle Ages, with the very odd exception, only English or British noblemen were appointed to the office.

Role

The King's representative possessed a number of overlapping roles. He was
  • the representative of the King (the 'viceroy');
  • the head of the executive in Ireland;
  • (on occasion) a member of the English or British cabinet;
  • the font of mercy, justice and patronage;
  • (on occasion) commander-in-chief in Ireland.
  • Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick

Prior to the Act of Union 1800 which abolished the Irish parliament, the Lord Lieutenant formally delivered the Speech from the Throne outlining his Government's policies. His Government exercised effective control of parliament through the extensive exercise of the powers of patronage, namely the awarding of peerages, baronetcies and state honours. Critics accused successive viceroys of using their patronage power as a corrupt means of controlling parliament. On one day in July 1777, John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire as Lord Lieutenant upgraded 5 viscounts to earls, 7 barons to viscounts, and created 18 new barons.Joseph Robins, '"Champagne and silver Buckles: The Viceregal Court at Dublin Castle 1700—1922'' p.66. The power of patronage was used to bribe MPs and peers into supporting the Act of Union 1800, with many of those who changed sides and supported the Union in parliament awarded peerages and honours for doing so.

Constitutional structure

The Lord Lieutenant was advised in the governance by the Irish Privy Council, a body of appointed figures and hereditary title holders, which met in the Council Chamber in Dublin Castle and on occasion in other locations. The chief constitutional figures in the viceregal court were the

Period in office

Lords Lieutenant were appointed for no set term but served for "His/Her Majesty's pleasure". In reality that meant for as long as wished by the British government. Where a ministry fell, he was usually replaced by a supporter of the new ministry.

Who held the office

Until the 1500s Irish or Anglo-Irish noblemen such as Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Gearoid Óg Fitzgerald, 9th Earl of Kildare traditionally held the post of Judiciar or Lord Deputy. Following the plantations however English noblemen were given the post. The last Irish Catholic to hold the position was Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell from 1685-91, during the brief Catholic Ascendancy in the reign of James II that was ended by the Williamite war in Ireland. Until the 1780s none of the latter lived full time in Ireland. Instead they resided in Ireland during meetings of the Irish parliament (a number of months every two years). However the Great British cabinet in 1765 that full time residency had become a requirement associated with the post to enable the Lord Lieutenant to keep a full time eye on public affairs in Ireland.ibid. p.56.

In addition to the restriction that only English or British noblemen could be appointed to the viceroyalty, a further restriction following the Glorious Revolution excluded Roman Catholics, though it was the overwhelming faith of the majority on the island of Ireland, from holding the office. The office was restricted to members of the Anglican faith. The first Catholic appointed to the post since the reign of the Catholic King James II was in fact the last viceroy, Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent in April 1921.

Importance of the post

The post ebbed and flowed in importance, being used on occasion as a form of exile for prominent British politicians who had fallen foul of the Court of St. James or Westminster. On other occasions it was a stepping stone to a future career. Two Lords Lieutenant, Lord Harrington and William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland went from Dublin Castle to 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister of Great Britain, the former in 1756 and 1783 respectively.

By the mid to late 19th century the post had declined from being a powerful political office to that of being a symbolic quasi-monarchical figure who reigned, not ruled, over the Irish administration. Instead it was the Chief Secretary of Ireland who became central, with he, not the Lord Lieutenant, sitting on occasion in the British cabinet.

Official Residence

The official residence of the Lord Lieutenant was the Viceregal Apartments in Dublin Castle, where the Viceregal Court was based. Other summer or alternative residences used by Lord Lieutenant or Lords Deputy included Abbeyville in Kinsealy (now the home of former Taoiseach Charles Haughey), Chapelizod House, in which the Lord Lieutenant lived while Dublin Castle was being rebuilt following a fire but which he left due to the building being supposedly haunted, and St. Wolfstan's in Lucan.ibid. p.66. The Geraldine Lords Deputy, Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald and Gearoid Óg Fitzgerald being native Irish both lived in, among other locations, their castle in Maynooth, County Kildare. The Earl of Essex owned Durhamstown Castle near Navan in County Meath, a short distance from the residence of the Lord Bishop of Meath at Ardbraccan House.

The decision to require the Lord Lieutenant to live full time in Ireland necessitated a change in living arrangements. As the location of the Viceregal Court, the Privy Council and of various governmental offices, Dublin Castle became a less than desirable full time resident for the viceroy, vicereine and their family. In 1781 the British government bought the former ranger's house in Phoenix Park to act as a personal residence for the Lord Lieutenant. The building was rebuilt and named the Viceregal Lodge.It is now known as Áras an Uachtaráin as is the residence of the President of Ireland. It was not however until major renovations in the 1820s that the Lodge came to be used regularly by viceroys.Robins, op.cit p.66.

By the mid 19th century Lords Lieutenant only lived in the Castle during the 'Social Season' (early January to St. Patrick's Day, March 17), during which time they held social events; balls, drawing rooms, etc.

Irish Attitudes towards the Lord Lieutenant

The office of Lord Lieutenant, like the English and British government in Ireland was generally unpopular with Irish nationalists, though it was supported with varying degrees of enthusiasm by the Irish unionist community. Some Lords Lieutenants did earn a measure of popularity in a personal capacity among nationalists. From the early nineteenth century, calls were made frequently for the abolition of the office and its replacement by a Secretary of State for Ireland. Though on one occasion, a Bill was even introduced by one government to make this change, the office survived right down until the end of British rule in most of Ireland.

Irish nationalists throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries campaigned for a form of Irish self-government. Daniel O'Connell sought Repeal of the Act of Union, with the re-establishment of a Kingdom of Ireland, while later nationalists like Charles Stewart Parnell sought a more moderate form of home rule within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Both made clear however, that the office of Lord Lieutenant could not survive in a restructured system of Irish government. The last of the four Home Rule bills, the Government of Ireland Act 1920, did provide for the continuation of the office. The Act divided Ireland into two devolved entities inside the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. Two institutions were meant to join the two; a Council of Ireland (which was hoped would evolve into a working all-Ireland parliament) and the Lord Lieutenant who would be the nominal chief executive of both regimes, appointing both prime ministers and dissolving both parliaments. In fact only Northern Ireland functioned, with Southern Ireland being quickly replaced by the Irish Free State. The powers meant to have been possessed by the Lord Lieutenant were delegated by amendment to a new Governor of Northern Ireland, while the role of representative of the Crown in the Free State went to a new Governor-General of the Irish Free State. The Lord Lieutenancy as a result was abolished.

By tradition the coat of arms of each Lord Lieutenant was displayed somewhere in the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle; some were incorporated into stained glass windows, some carved into seating, etc. Dubliners noted that the last available space was taken by the last Lord Lieutenant, Lord Fitzalan. Fitzalan was the first Roman Catholic appointed as a representative of the Crown since the Glorious Revolution that brought William and Mary to power in 1688.

Notes

See also

Further reading

  • Joseph Robins, Champagne and Silver Buckles: The Viceregal Court and Dublin Castle 1700-1922 (Lillyput Press, 2001) ISBN 1901866580

History of Ireland | Lords Lieutenant of Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland | Lordlöjtnant av Irland

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Lord Lieutenant of Ireland".

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