Lord Chancellor of Ireland

The office of Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament: the Chancellor was Speaker of the Irish House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor was also Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland. In all three respects the office mirrored the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Origins

There is considerable confusion as to when the office originated. Until the reign of Henry III of England it is not clear if the offices of Irish and English Chancellor were distinct.[1] Only in 1232 is there a clear reference to a separate Irish Chancery. Early Irish Lord Chancellors, beginning with Stephen Ridell in 1186, were simply the English Chancellors acting through a Deputy. In about 1244 the decision was taken that there must be separate office holders in England and Ireland.[2] Elrington Ball states that the salary was fixed at sixty marks a year. Although it was twice what an itinerant justice was paid at the time, this was apparently not a very generous amount, as Richard Northalis in the 1390s complained that it did not cover even a third of his expenses, and asked for an extra payment of twenty pounds.

In the earlier centuries the Lord Chancellor was always a cleric, and usually an Englishman. Lay Chancellors became common after the Reformation, but although there were a number of exceptions, the Crown retained a preference for English-born Chancellors well into the nineteenth century.

Lord Chancellors of Ireland, 1186–1922

12th century

13th century

14th century

15th century

16th century

17th century

18th century

19th century

20th century

References

  1. ↑ Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland, 1221–1921 John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1, p. 6
  2. 1 2 Ball p. 8
  3. 1 2 3 Ball p. 6
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 The history of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland from A.D. 1186 to A.D. 1874
  5. ↑ Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Barnes and Noble reissue 1993 p. 256
  6. ↑ Ball p. 79
  7. ↑ Ball p. 80
  8. 1 2 Otway-Ruthven p. 302
  9. ↑ Otway-Ruthven p. 3i6
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Ball p. 98
  11. ↑ Otway-Ruthven p. 370
  12. ↑ Otway-Ruthven, p.386
  13. 1 2 Otway-Ruthven p. 389
  14. ↑ Otway-Ruthven p. 391
  15. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, article on St. Lawrence.
  16. 1 2 Ball p. 130
  17. 1 2 Ball p. 131
  18. ↑ Ball p. 250
  19. ↑ James Roderick O'Flanagan,The lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland, 1870, page 345
  20. ↑ Ball p. 272
  21. ↑ O'Flanagan pp. 536–541
  22. 1 2 Ball Vol. 2 p. 101
  23. ↑ Ball Vol. 2 p. 127
  24. ↑ Delaney, V.T.H. Christopher Palles Allen Figgis and Co Dublin 1960 p.29
  25. 1 2 Delaney p. 29
  26. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Delaney p. 177
  27. ↑ Healy, Maurice The Old Munster Circuit 1939 Mercier Press edition p. 27
  28. 1 2 Healy p. 27
  29. ↑ Healy p. 105
  30. ↑ Healy p. 188
  31. ↑ Healy p. 242
  32. ↑ Healy p. 263
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