List of Lord Lieutenants of Ireland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note: Because many of the people appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (sometimes also called Viceroy) did not always continually remain in office but left the office empty for a period (sometimes to return to the Court of St. James's, sometimes to return to their British estates) before either being replaced or returning, it is difficult to state terms of office with any accuracy. As a result, the date of appointment of each, rather than a specified term of office, is stated in brackets. Though the office existed earlier, because of difficulty in getting clear information this list begins in 1529. In the earlier years, there were frequently long vacancies, during which a Lord Deputy or Lord Justice would act as chief governor.

[edit] Kingdom of Ireland

Piers Butler, 1st Earl of Ossory (Lord Deputy): 4 August 1528
Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset: 22 June 1529
William Skeffington (Lord Deputy): 30 July 1534
Lord Leonard Grey: 23 February 1536
Lords Justices: 1 April 1540
Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy): 7 July 1540
Edward Bellingham (Lord Deputy): 22 April 1548
Lords Justices: 27 December 1549
Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy): 4 August 1550
James Croft (Lord Deputy): 29 April 1551
Lords Justices: 6 December 1552
Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy): 1 September 1553
Thomas Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter (Lord Deputy): 27 April 1556
Lords Justices: 12 December 1558
Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex (Lord Deputy): 3 July 1559
Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex: 6 May 1560
Henry Sidney (Lord Deputy): 13 October 1565
Lord Justice: 1 April 1571
William Fitzwilliam (Lord Deputy): 11 December 1571
Henry Sidney (Lord Deputy): 5 August 1575
Lord Justice: 27 April 1578
Arthur Grey, 14th Lord Grey de Wilton (Lord Deputy): 15 July 1580
Lords Justices: 14 July 1582
John Perrot (Lord Deputy): 7 January 1584
William Fitzwilliam (Lord Deputy): 17 February 1588
William Russell (Lord Deputy): 16 May 1594
Thomas Burgh, Lord Burgh (Lord Deputy): 5 March 1597
Lords Justices: 29 October 1597
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex 12 March 1599
Lords Justices: 24 September 1599
Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy (Lord Deputy): 21 January 1600
Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy: 25 April 1603
Sir Arthur Chichester (Lord Deputy): 15 October 1604
Sir Oliver St John: 2 July 1615
Henry Cary, 1st Viscount of Falkland (Lord Deputy): 4 February 1622
Lords Justices: 8 August 1629
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Viscount Wentworth (Lord Deputy): 3 July 1633
Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford: 13 January 1640
Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester: 14 June 1641
James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde: 13 November 1643 (appointed by the king)
Philip Sydney, Lord Lisle: 9 April 1646, (appointed by parliament, commission expired 15 April 1647)
James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde: 30 September 1648 (appointed by the King)
Oliver Cromwell: 22 June 1649
Henry Ireton (Lord Deputy): 2 July 1650 (d. 20 November 1651)
Charles Fleetwood (Commander-in-Chief): 9 July 1652
Henry Cromwell (Lord Deputy): 17 November 1657
Henry Cromwell: 6 October 1658, resigned 15 June 1659
Edmund Ludlow (Commander-in-Chief): 4 July 1659
George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle: June 1660
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde: 21 February 1662
Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory (Lord Deputy): 7 February 1668
John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes: 3 May 1669
John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton: 4 February 1670
Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex: 21 May 1672
James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde 24 May 1677
Lords Justices: 24 February 1685
Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon: 1 October 1685
Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (Lord Deputy): 8 January 1687
James II himself in Ireland: 12 March 1689 - 4 July 1690
William III himself in Ireland: 14 June 1690
Lords Justices: 5 September 1690
Henry Sydney, 1st Viscount Sydney: 18 March 1692
Lords Justices: 13 June 1693
Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell (Lord Deputy): 9 May 1695
Lords Justices: 16 May 1696
Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester (December 28, 1700)
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde: 19 February 1703
Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke: 30 April 1707
Thomas Wharton, 1st Earl of Wharton: 4 December 1708
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde: 26 October 1710
Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury: 22 September 1713
Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland: 21 September 1714
Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend: 13 February 1717
Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton: 27 April 1717
Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Grafton: 18 June 1720
John Carteret, 2nd Baron Carteret: 6 May 1724
Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset: 23 June 1730
William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire: 9 April 1737
Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield: 8 January 1745
William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington: 15 November 1746
Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset: 15 December 1750
William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire: 2 April 1755
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford: 3 January 1757
George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax: 3 April 1761
Hugh Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland: 27 April 1763
Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth: 5 June 1765
Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford: 7 August 1765
George William Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol: 16 October 1766 (did not assume office)
George Townsend, 4th Viscount Townsend: 19 August 1767
Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt: 29 October 1772
John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire: 7 December 1776
Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle: 29 November 1780
William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland: 8 April 1782
George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 3rd Earl Temple: 15 August 1782
Robert Henley, 2nd Earl of Northington: 3 May 1783
Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland: 12 February 1784
George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham: 27 October 1787
John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland: 24 October 1789
William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam: 13 December 1794
John Jeffreys Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden: 13 March 1795
Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis: 14 June 1798

The Irish Act of Union merges the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The new United Kingdom comes into being on January 1, 1801. One result is the disappearance of the separate Irish Parliament. Though many expect the office of Lord Lieutenant to be abolished, it survives, though periodic debates throughout the nineteenth century erupt over whether it should be replaced by a 'Secretary of State for Ireland'. The office of Chief Secretary for Ireland (in effect number two in Irish government ranking) grows in importance, with the Lord Lieutenant gradually reduced to a largely though not completely ceremonial role.