Secretary of State (Ireland)
The Principal Secretary of State, or Principal Secretary of the Council, was a government office in the Kingdom of Ireland. It was abolished in 1801 when Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Acts of Union 1800.
| Ireland Secretary of State | |
|---|---|
 Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Ireland from 1542 to 1800 | |
| Member of | Privy Council |
| Seat | Dublin Castle, Dublin |
| Appointer | The Lord Deputy of Ireland, later Lord Lieutenant of Ireland |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Formation | 1560–1801 |
| First holder | John Challoner |
| Final holder | Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester |
The post was created in May 1560 by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex. Sussex created the role to help re-establish English governance in Ireland, as part of the wider Tudor conquest of Ireland. The role was modelled in part on the role of Secretary of State in England, and was intended to be distinct from the clerks of the Irish Privy Council or the Governors Private Secretary.[1]
Whilst the nature of the role evolved other time, originally the holder was expected to:[2]
- sit on the privy councillor
- engage in regular full correspondence with the crown
Other, less common functions included:[2]
- directing clerks of the Irish council
- charging treasons and seditious libels
- ordering the Postmaster-General to open leters
- offering advice on matters of state
In part due to the absence of Southwell during his time in the role, over time the role became largely ceremonial, with more correspondence being managed directly by the Lord Lieutenant and their Chief Secretary, or alternatively the Lord Justices (who themselves became defunct after 1765). Richard Cooke, for instance, acted as both Chancellor of the Exchequer and Secretary of State at the same time.[2] The last three Secretary's also held the more powerful positions of Chief Secretary, but the role was only finally ceased to exist after the 1800 Acts of Union when the last Secretary resigned to take up the position of Speaker of the House of Commons.[2]
List of Secretaries
- by 1576: John Chalenor
- 1581: Sir Geoffrey Fenton and another
- 1603: Sir Richard Cooke
- 1612: Sir Dudley Norton
- 1616: Francis Annesley, 1st Baron Mountnorris
- 1634: Philip Mainwaring
- 1661: Sir Paul Davys (granted the office in reversion after Mainwaring)
- 1665: George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough (in reversion after Davys)
- 1678: Sir John Davys (in reversion after Lane)
- 1690: Sir Robert Southwell
- 1702: Edward Southwell
- 1730: Edward Southwell
- 1746: Edward Weston
- 1755: Thomas Carter
- 1763: Philip Tisdall
- 1766: John Hely-Hutchinson (in reversion, succeeded 1777)
- 1796: Thomas Pelham (Baron Glentworth (1795–97) and Lord Castlereagh (1797–1801) were Keeper of the Signet or Privy Seal of Ireland during Pelham's term; other Secretaries of State held the office of Keeper simultaneously)
- 1801: Charles Abbot (vacated office in 1802 when appointed Speaker of the UK Commons)
References
- Wood, Herbert (1928). "The Offices of Secretary of State for Ireland and Keeper of the Signet or Privy Seal". Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature. 38: 51–68. ISSN 0035-8991. JSTOR 25515934.
- Barry, Judith. “Sir Geoffrey Fenton and the Office of Secretary of State for Ireland, 1580-1608.” Irish Historical Studies, vol. 35, no. 138, 2006, pp. 137–159. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20547425. Accessed 11 June 2020.
- Wood, Herbert. “The Offices of Secretary of State for Ireland and Keeper of the Signet or Privy Seal.” Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature, vol. 38, 1928, pp. 51–68. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25515934. Accessed 11 June 2020.
