Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland [ lɔ ː d lɛftɛnənt əv aɪələnd ] (plural: Lords Lieutenant, Irish Fear Ionaid at Rí ), also known as the judiciar the early Middle Ages or as Lord Deputy to the 17th century, was the representative of the English king 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 as head of a theoretically independent Irish kingdom, the Lord Lieutenant was (or judiciar or Lord Deputy ) do not always answer a representative of the British crown and had before the Irish Parliament or the Irish people.

Or deputy king (Deputy King ) known, the holder of the office, which over time had three different official title, in common parlance as viceroy (from the French vice roi viceroy ) was.

The first Lord Deputies were Irish nobles. Since the Middle Ages were, with very few exceptions, the incumbent English or British nobles.

Tasks

The royal representative had a number of overlapping tasks:

• Representation of the king
• Head of the executive branch in Ireland
• (partially) a member of the English or British Parliament
• Commander in Chief in Ireland
• Grand Master of the Order of Saint Patrick

Prior to the Act of Union in 1800, which abolished the Irish Parliament, proclaimed the Lord Lieutenant in the throne speech, the government guidelines. The Lord Lieutenant had effective control of the Parliament and awarded titles of nobility, the baronet, and various state honors. Therefore, critics accused several incumbents to have bought the Parliament with the help of titles of nobility; in July 1777 the Lord Lieutenant John Hobart transported (2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire ) five Viscounts to Earls and barons seven viscounts and barons appointed 18 new. The title award was also used to persuade members of parliament to support of the Act of Union.

Constitutional structures

The Lord Lieutenant was discussed within the government of the Irish Council of State (Irish Privy Council ), a body that usually gathered in Dublin Castle. The Lord Lieutenant was also supported by the following offices:

• Chief Secretary for Ireland - originally the first adviser to the Lord Lieutenant; since the end of the 19th century, but in principle the Prime Minister of the Government with the Lord Lieutenant as a sort of constitutional monarch.
• Under Secretary for Ireland - Chairman of the Public Service in Ireland
• Lord Justice - three incumbents who acted in his absence, in the name of the Lord Lieutenant. The Lords Justice were before 1800, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the Archbishop of Armagh Church of Ireland, known as the Primate of All Ireland

Term of Office

Lord Lieutenant had no fixed term of office, but stayed so long in office, as it pleased the British government. After the fall of a government usually also the Lord Lieutenant was replaced by a supporter of the new government.

Office bearer

Until the 1500s dressed in Irish or Anglo-Irish nobles (eg Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald, 8th Earl of Kildare ) traditional English, the office of Lord Deputy, but after the beginning of the Plantations the office went from a few exceptions to aristocrats. The last Irish Catholic in this office was from 1685 to 1691 Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconell.

Until the 1780s no English Lord Lieutenant lived in Ireland. Instead, they traveled only to meetings of the Irish Parliament in Dublin, which every two years was the case for a few months. Only after the British Cabinet decided that a permanent presence in Ireland was necessary for the Office to regulate public affairs in Ireland.

Only English or British nobles were the Lord Lieutenant. After the Glorious Revolution, only Anglicans could hold this office, although the majority of Irish people were Catholics. It was not until 1921, with Edmund Fitzalan - Howard, 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent again a Catholic Lord Lieutenant; he was the last incumbent.

Importance

The importance of the office fluctuated over time. Sometimes the post was merely a siding for English politicians who had fallen out of favor in the Parliament at Westminster, in other years it was an important step in his career. Two Lords Lieutenant ( William Cavendish and William Henry Cavendish Bentinck - ) moved from Dublin to London as prime minister.

In the middle of the 19th century the political importance of the office was reduced to a symbolic post, watching over the Irish administration, but does not commanded. Instead, the Chief Secretary of Ireland gained more and more importance.

Residence

The official residence of the Lord Lieutenant was Dublin Castle. Summer residences were Abbeville in Kinsealy, Chapelizod House and St. Stan's in Lucan Wolf. The Lord Deputy Gearoid Mór Fitzgerald and Gearoid Óg Fitzgerald (both native Irish ) lived among others in their castle in Maynooth in County Kildare.

After the Lord Lieutenant had to live permanently in Ireland, a change of the quarter was necessary. 1781 the British government bought a residence in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, which they rebuilt and renamed the Viceregal Lodge ( now the residence of the Irish President: Áras an Uachtaráin ). But the building was regularly inhabited by the Lords Lieutenant until the 1820s.

• Irish history
• British History