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Lord Chancellor of Ireland

TheLord High Chancellor of Ireland(commonly known asLord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of theIrish Free Statein 1922. From 1721 to the end of 1800, it was also the highest political office of theIrish Parliament:the Chancellor was Speaker of theIrish House of Lords.The Lord Chancellor was alsoLord Keeper of theGreat Seal of Ireland.In all three respects, the office mirrored theLord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

Origins

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There is a good deal of confusion as to precisely when the office originated. Until the reign ofHenry III of England,it is doubtful if the offices of Irish and English Chancellor were distinct.[1]Only in 1232 is there a clear reference to a separateCourt of Chancery (Ireland).Early Irish Lord Chancellors, beginning with Stephen Ridell in 1186, were simply the English Chancellor acting through a Deputy. In about 1244 the decision was taken that there must be separate holders of the office in England and Ireland.[2]Elrington Ball states that the salary was fixed at sixtymarksa year, equivalent to fortypounds sterling.Although it was twice what an itinerant justice was paid at the time, it was apparently not considered to be a very generous amount:Richard Northalis,Lord Chancellor 1393–97, complained that it did not cover even a third of his expenses, and asked for an extra payment of twenty pounds a year. In his case, it is thought that the hostility of his colleagues in government was responsible for the poor salary.

In the earlier centuries, the Lord Chancellor was always acleric,and usually an Englishman. Lay Chancellors became common after theReformation,and no cleric was appointed Chancellor after 1665, but although there were a number of exceptions, the Crown retained a preference for English-born Chancellors until the mid-nineteenth century.

Lord Chancellors of Ireland, 1186–1922

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12th century

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  • Stephen Ridell. Appointed in1186.[3](first Chancellor). Came to Ireland in the entourage of the futureKing John,and was then referred to as "his Chancellor".

13th century

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14th century

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15th century

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Chancellor 1479 and 1482-1483)[16]

16th century

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17th century

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18th century

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19th century

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20th century

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Name
(Birth–Death) 		Term of office Other Peerage(s) Monarch
(Reign) 		Notes
Sir Samuel Walker
(1832–1911) 		12 December
1905 		13 August
1911† 		Baronetin 1906 Edward VII (Lord Chancellor, 1892-5)
George V
Redmond Barry[31]
(1866–1913) 		26 September
1911 		11 July
1913† 		– (sitting Attorney-General)
Sir Ignatius O'Brien[32]
(1857–1930) 		10 April
1913 		1918 Baronetin 1916
Baronin 1918 		(sitting Attorney-General)
Sir James Campbell[33]
(1851–1931) 		4 June
1918 		1921 Baronetin 1917
Baronin 1921 		(Attorney-General, 1905 and 1916–17; Lord Chief Justice, 1917-18)
Sir John Ross, Bt.[34]
(1853–1935) 		27 June
1921 		27 December
1922 		Baronetin 1919 –

References

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  1. ^Ball, F. ElringtonThe Judges in Ireland, 1221–1921John Murray London 1926 Vol. 1, p. 6
  2. ^abBall p. 8
  3. ^abcBall p. 6
  4. ^abcdeBurke, Oliver The history of the Lord Chancellors of Ireland from A.D. 1186 to A.D. 1874 Dublin E. Ponsonby 1879
  5. ^Otway-Ruthven, A.J.History of Medieval IrelandBarnes and Noble reissue New York 1993 p. 256
  6. ^Ball p. 79
  7. ^"The History and Antiquities of the Collegiate and Cathedral Church of St. Patrick Near Dublin, from its Foundation in 1190, to the Year 1819: Comprising a Topographical Account of the Lands and Parishes Appropriated to the Community of the Cathedral, and to Its Members, and Biographical Memoirs of Its Deans" Mason, W.M. p122:Dublin, W.Folds, 1820
  8. ^Ball p. 80
  9. ^abOtway-Ruthven p. 302
  10. ^Otway-Ruthven p. 3i6
  11. ^abcdefghijklmnoBall p. 98
  12. ^Otway-Ruthven p. 370
  13. ^Otway-Ruthven, p.386
  14. ^abOtway-Ruthven p. 389
  15. ^Otway-Ruthven p. 391
  16. ^Ball p.186
  17. ^Dictionary of National Biography,article on St. Lawrence.
  18. ^abBall p. 130
  19. ^abBall p. 131
  20. ^Ball p. 250
  21. ^James Roderick O'Flanagan,The lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland,1870, page 345
  22. ^Ball p. 272
  23. ^O'Flanagan pp. 536–541
  24. ^abBall Vol. 2 p. 101
  25. ^Ball Vol. 2 p. 127
  26. ^Delaney, V.T.H.Christopher PallesAllen Figgis and Co Dublin 1960 p.29
  27. ^abDelaney p. 29
  28. ^abcdefghDelaney p. 177
  29. ^Healy, MauriceThe Old Munster Circuit1939 Mercier Press edition p. 27
  30. ^abHealy p. 27
  31. ^Healy p. 105
  32. ^Healy p. 188
  33. ^Healy p. 242
  34. ^Healy p. 263
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  • Ball, F. Elrington (1926).The Judges in Ireland, 1221–1921.The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.ISBN9781584774280.
  • O'Flanagan, J. Roderick (1870)."The Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland – from the earliest times to the reign of Queen Victoria".Retrieved9 February2023.Volume II
  • Smyth, Constantine J. (1839).Chronicle of the law officers of Ireland.London: Henry Butterworth.
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