Viceroys in Ireland

This list is incomplete

The position of chief executive of the English administration in Ireland, initially held by a Lord Justice / Justiciar,  was later put in the hands of a Lord Lieutenant, sometimes a Prince or Duke with other responsibilities, represented by a Lord Deputy.

Hamo de Valois (in office in 1197)

Gerald FitzWilliam FitzGerald, Lord Ophaly (d. 1205)

Maurice FitzGerald FitzGerald, Lord Ophaly 1229 – c.1248

Stephen de Longuespee (d. 1260 in office)

David O’Barry, 1st Viscount of Buttevant (d. 1278) ‘Appointed 1267

Sir James Audley (d. 23 June 1272 in office)

Maurice FitzMaurice Fitzgerald (d. 1286) July 1272 –

William de Vescy 12 September 1290 – 94

Thomas FitzMaurice FitzGerald, Lord Ophaly (d. 1296) April to October 1295

John Logan 18 October 1295 –

Sir Maurice Rochfort 1302

Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (1285 – 1330) Justiciar of Ireland 1317-18

Thomas FitzGerald, 2nd Earl of Kildare (d. 1328) 1320 – 28

Sir John Darcy, 1st Lord of Knayth 1323 / 1329 – still in office in 1335

Sir Thomas de Rokeby 1349-1355

Maurice FitzGerald, 1st Earl of Desmond (d. January 1356) July 1355 – Jan 1356

James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormond 4 October 1331 – 18 October 1382 (In office 1359, 1364, and 1376.)

Gerald Fitzgerald, 4th Earl of Desmond (k. 1397) 1367 –

Sir William de Windsor 1369-76

Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March 1379-81

Philip Courtenay 1383–86

Sir John Stanley, KG, King of Mann 1386-88, 1399-1401, 1413-14

Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March 1395-1398

Henry of Monmouth, Duke of Lancaster 1402

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury 1414-1419

James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond 1419-21, 1440-46

Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March 1423-25

Sir John Grey (knight) 1427 – 28

Edward Sutton, later 1st Lord Dudley 1428-30

Thomas Stanley, 1st Baron Stanley 1431-36

Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York 1449-1453

Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Kildare (1454, 1461-70)

Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare 1477, 1479 – 94, 1496 – 1513

Henry Grey, 4th (7th) Baron Grey of Codnor 1478- 79

Sir Edward Poynings, 1494-1496

Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare (1513 – 1518) 1524 – 29, 1532 – 34

Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk 1518 – 22

Piers Butler, 8th Earl of Ormonde 1522 – 24

The Earl of Ossory (Lord Deputy): 4 August 1528

The Duke of Richmond and Somerset: 22 June 1529

Sir William Skeffington 1529 – 32, 1532 – 36

Leonard Grey, 1st Viscount Grane 23 February 1536 – 40

Sir Francis Bryan, Knight-Marshal, (d. 2 February 1549 in office)

In the Kingdom of Ireland (est. 1536) the Lords Justices were three office-holders (usually the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, the Speaker of the Irish House of Commons and the Church of Ireland Primate, the Archbishop of Armagh) who in the absence of the Lord Lieutenant fulfilled the social and political functions of the Viceroy as head of the Irish executive. One of their duties was to welcome the incoming Lord Lieutenant when he arrived in state in the port of Dublin, having travelled from Great Britain to take up his post.

Lords Justices: 1 April 1540

Sir Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy): 7 July 1540- 1548, 4 August 1550- 1551, 1 September 1553 – 1556

Sir Edward Bellingham (Lord Deputy): 22 April 1548 – 1549

Lords Justices: 27 December 1549

Sir James Croft (Lord Deputy): 29 April 1551- 1552

Lords Justices: 6 December 1552

Viscount FitzWalter (Lord Deputy): 27 April 1556

Lords Justices: 12 December 1558

Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex (1556 – 1558): 3 July 1559 – 1560, 6 May 1560 – 1564

Sir Nicholas Arnold 1564–65

Sir Henry Sidney 13 October 1565 – 1571, 5 August 1575 – 1578

Lord Justices: 1 April 1571

Sir William FitzWilliam: 11 December 1571-1575, 17 February 1588–1594

Lords Justice: 27 April 1578

Arthur Grey, 14th Baron Grey de Wilton 15 July 1580 -1582

Lords Justices: 14 July 1582

Sir John Perrot 7 January 1584 – 1588

Sir William Russell 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh (Lord Deputy): 16 May 1594–1597

Thomas Burgh, 7th Baron Strabolgi (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, Baron Mountjoy (later 1st Earl of Devonshire) (Lord Deputy) 21 January 1600-1603; (Lord Lieutenant) 25 April 1603 -1604

Sir George Cary (Lord Deputy) 1603-04

Sir Arthur Chichester (Lord Deputy): 15 October 1604 – 1616

Sir Oliver St John: 2 July 1616 – 1622

Henry Cary, 1st Viscount Falkland (Lord Deputy): 4 February 1622-1629

Lords Justices: 8 August 1629

 Thomas Wentworth, Viscount Wentworth / 1st Earl of Strafford: 13 January 1632 – 1640

Christopher Wandesford 1640

Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester (Lord Lieutenant) 4 June 1640 – 1643

The Marquess of Ormonde: 13 November 1643, 30 September 1648 (appointed by the king)

Viscount Lisle: 9 April 1646 (appointed by English Parliament, commission expired 15 April 1647)

Oliver Cromwell: 22 June 1649

Henry Ireton (Lord Deputy): 2 July 1650 (d. 20 November 1651)

Charles Fleetwood (Commander-in-Chief): 9 July 1652 – 1657)

Henry Cromwell (Lord Deputy) 17 November 1657 1658, (Lord Lieutenant) 6 October 1658, resigned 15 June 1659

Edmund Ludlow (Commander-in-Chief): 4 July 1659 – 1660

The Duke of Albemarle: June 1660

The Duke of Ormonde: 21 February 1662

The Earl of Ossory (Lord Deputy): 7 February 1668

The Lord Robartes: 3 May 1669

The Lord Berkeley of Stratton: 4 February 1670

Arthur Forbes, 1st Earl of Granard (1623 – 1695) (in office 1671 and 1673)

The Earl of Essex: 21 May 1672

The Duke of Ormonde: 24 May 1677

Lords Justices: 24 February 1685

The Earl of Clarendon: 1 October 1685

Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (Lord Deputy) 8 January 1687 -1688

Sir Richard Nagle (1636 – 1699) (in office 1689)

King James II himself in Ireland: 12 March 1689 – 4 July 1690

King William III himself in Ireland: 14 June 1690

Lords Justices: 5 September 1690

The Viscount Sydney: 18 March 1692

Lords Justices: 13 June 1693

The Lord Capell (Lord Deputy): 9 May 1695

Lords Justices: 16 May 1696

Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway (1648 – 1720): 1697 – 1700

The Earl of Rochester: 28 December 1700

The Duke of Ormonde: 19 February 1703, 26 October 1710

The Earl of Pembroke: 30 April 1707

The Earl of Wharton: 4 December 1708

The Duke of Shrewsbury: 22 September 1713

The Earl of Sunderland: 21 September 1714

Robert FitzGerald, 19th Earl of Kildare: 1714

The Viscount Townshend: 13 February 1717

The Duke of Bolton: 27 April 1717

The Duke of Grafton: 18 June 1720

The Lord Carteret: 6 May 1724

The Duke of Dorset: 23 June 1730, 15 December 1750

The Duke of Devonshire: 9 April 1737, 2 April 1755

The Earl of Chesterfield: 8 January 1745

The Earl of Harrington: 15 November 1746

The Duke of Bedford: 3 January 1757

The Earl of Halifax: 3 April 1761

The Earl of Northumberland: 27 April 1763

The Viscount Weymouth: 5 June 1765

The decision in 1765 to require the viceroy to be a full-time resident in Ireland, rather than just pay visits during sessions of parliament, removed the need for the Lords Justices

The Earl of Hertford: 7 August 1765

The Earl of Bristol: 16 October 1766 (did not assume office)

The Viscount Townsend: 19 August 1767

The Earl Harcourt: 29 October 1772

The Earl of Buckinghamshire: 7 December 1776

The Earl of Carlisle: 29 November 1780

The Duke of Portland: 8 April 1782

The Earl Temple: 15 August 1782

The Earl of Northington: 3 May 1783

The Duke of Rutland: 12 February 1784

The Marquess of Buckingham: 27 October 1787

The Earl of Westmorland: 24 October 1789

The Earl FitzWilliam: 13 December 1794

The Earl Camden: 13 March 1795

The Marquess Cornwallis: 14 June 1798

United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland

The new United Kingdom came into being on 1 January 1801 resulting in the disappearance of the separate Irish Parliament: Though many expected the office of Lord Lieutenant to be abolished, it survived. Periodic debates  erupted throughout the C19th 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) grew in importance, with the Lord Lieutenant gradually reduced to a largely though not completely ceremonial role.

The Earl of Hardwicke: 27 April 1801

The Earl of Powis: 21 November 1805 (did not serve)

The Duke of Bedford: 12 March 1806

The Duke of Richmond: 11 April 1807

The Viscount Whitworth: 23 June 1813

The Earl Talbot: 3 October 1817

The Marquess Wellesley: 8 December 1821

The Marquess of Anglesey: 27 February 1828

The Duke of Northumberland: 22 January 1829

The Marquess of Anglesey: 4 December 1830

The Marquess Wellesley: 12 September 1833

The Earl of Haddington: 1 January 1835

The Earl of Mulgrave: 29 April 1835

Viscount Ebrington: 13 March 1839

The Earl de Grey: 11 September 1841

The Lord Heytesbury: 17 July 1844

The Earl of Bessborough: 8 July 1846

The Earl of Clarendon: 22 May 1847

The Earl of Eglinton: 1 March 1852

The Earl of St Germans: 5 January 1853

The Earl of Carlisle: 7 March 1855

The Earl of Eglinton: 8 March 1858

The Earl of Carlisle: 24 June 1859

The Lord Wodehouse: 1 November 1864

The Marquess of Abercorn: 13 July 1866

The Earl Spencer: 18 December 1868

The Duke of Abercorn: 2 March 1874

The Duke of Marlborough: 11 December 1876

The Earl Cowper: 4 May 1880

The Earl Spencer: 4 May 1882

The Earl of Carnarvon: 27 June 1885

The Earl of Aberdeen: 8 February 1886

The Marquess of Londonderry: 3 August 1886

The Earl of Zetland: 30 July 1889

The Lord Houghton: 18 August 1892

The Earl Cadogan: 29 June 1895

The Earl of Dudley: 11 August 1902

The Earl of Aberdeen: 11 December 1905

The Lord Wimborne: 17 February 1915

The Viscount French: 9 May 1918

The Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent: 27 April 1921

The office was replaced by those of Governor-General of the Irish Free State and Governor of Northern Ireland.