Under-Secretary for Ireland

The Under-Secretary for Ireland (Permanent Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) was the permanent head (or most senior civil servant) of the British administration in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922.

The Under-Secretary's residence was at Ashtown Lodge in Phoenix Park, also known as the Under Secretary's Lodge.

Among the best-known holders of the office was Thomas Henry Burke, who was assassinated along with the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, in the so-called Phoenix Park Killings on Saturday, 6 May 1882.

Under-Secretaries for Ireland (prior to 1835 )

• Thomas Waite 1747–1774
• Alexander Marsden held office in 1803 (other dates unknown)
• William Gregory 1812-1831
• Sir William Gossett 1831-1835

Under-Secretaries for Ireland (1835 onwards)

• Thomas Drummond 1835–1840^[1]
• Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom 1853–1868
• Thomas Henry Burke 1869–1882
• Robert George Crookshank Hamilton 1882–1886
• Sir Redvers Henry Buller 1886–1887
• Sir Joseph West Ridgeway 1887–1893
• Sir David Harrel 1893–1902
• Sir Antony MacDonnell 1902–1908
• Sir James Brown Dougherty 1908–1914
• Sir Matthew Nathan 1914–1916
• Sir Robert Chalmers 1916
• Sir William Byrne 1916–1918
• James Macmahon 1918–1922 (jointly with Sir John Anderson from 1920)
• Sir John Anderson 1920–1922 (jointly with James Macmahon)

Assistant Under-Secretaries for Ireland (1895 onwards)

• Sir James Brown Dougherty 1895–1908
• Sir Alfred 'Andy' Cope 1920–1922
• Sir Mark Beresford Russell Grant-Sturgis 1920–1922

References