Ireland: Leaders

The Chief Secretary for Ireland was a key political office in the British administration in Ireland. Nominally subordinate to the Lord Lieutenant, from the late C18th century until the end of British rule he was effectively the government minister with responsibility for governing Ireland; usually it was the Chief Secretary, rather than the Lord Lieutenant, who sat in the British Cabinet.

The dominant position of the Lord Lieutenant at Dublin Castle had been central to the British administration of the Kingdom of Ireland for much of its history. Poynings’ Law in particular meant that the Parliament of Ireland lacked an independent power of legislation, and the Crown kept control of executive authority in the hands of the Lord Lieutenant and its own appointees, rather than in the hands of ministers responsible to the Irish parliament.

In 1560 Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland ordered the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Sussex, to appoint John Challoner of Dublin as Secretary of State for Ireland. The appointment of a Secretary was intended to both improve Irish administration, and to keep the Lord Lieutenant in line. The role of Secretary of State for Ireland and Chief Secretary of Ireland were originally distinct positions, Thomas Pelham being the first individual appointed to both offices concurrently in 1796.

In 1800 the Act of Union was passed by the Irish parliament, merging the kingdom into the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland with effect from 1 January 1801. The Chief Secretaryship was of particular importance in the run-up to the eventual enactment, on the second attempt, of the Act of Union, when Viscount Castlereagh held the post. The Chief Secretary’s exercise of patronage and direct bribery were central to delivering a parliamentary majority for the Union.

Upon the Union the Irish parliament ceased to exist. However, the existing system of administration in Ireland continued broadly in place, with the offices of Lord Lieutenant and Chief Secretary retaining their respective roles.

The Chief Secretary’s residence was in the Phoenix Park, next to the Viceregal Lodge (now Aras an Uachtarain). (Since 1926 the Chief Secretary’s Lodge has been the residence of the US Ambassador to Ireland, called Deerfield since c.1976). The Chief Secretary’soffice was in Dublin Castle.

Charles Abbot 1801 1802

William Wickham 1802 1804

Sir Evan Nepean, Bt 1804 1805

Nicholas Vansittart 1805 1805

Charles Long 1805 1806

William Elliot 1806 1807

Hon. Sir Arthur Wellesley 1807 1809

Hon. Robert Dundas 1809 1809

Hon. William Wellesley-Pole 1809 1812

Robert Peel 1812 1818

Charles Grant 1818 1821

Henry Goulburn 1821 1827

Hon. William Lamb 29 April 1827 21 June 1828

Lord Francis Leveson-Gower 21 June 1828 30 July 1830 Tory

Sir Henry Hardinge 30 July 1830 15 November 1830 Tory

Hon. Edward Smith-Stanley 29 November 1830 29 March 1833 Whig

Sir John Hobhouse, Bt 29 March 1833 May 1833 Whig

Edward Littleton May 1833 14 November 1834 Whig

Sir Henry Hardinge 16 December 1834 8 April 1835 Tory

Viscount Morpeth 22 April 1835 30 August 1841 Whig

Lord Eliot 6 February 1841 1 February 1845 Tory

Sir Thomas Fremantle, Bt 1 February 1845 14 February 1846 Tory

The Earl of Lincoln 14 February 1846 June 1846 Tory

Henry Labouchere 6 July 1846 22 July 1847 Whig

Sir William Somerville, Bt 22 July 1847 21 February 1852 Whig

Lord Naas 1 March 1852 17 December 1852 Tory

Sir John Young, Bt 1 March 1853 30 January 1855

Edward Horsman 1 March 1855 27 May 1857 Liberal

Henry Arthur Herbert 27 May 1857 21 February 1858 Liberal

Lord Naas 4 March 1858 11 June 1859 Conservative

Edward Cardwell 24 June 1859 29 July 1861 Liberal

Sir Robert Peel, Bt 29 July 1861 7 December 1865 Liberal

Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue 7 December 1865 26 June 1866 Liberal

The Earl of Mayo 10 July 1866 29 September 1868 Conservative

John Wilson-Patten 29 September 1868 1 December 1868 Conservative

Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue 16 December 1868 12 January 1871 Liberal

Marquess of Hartington 12 January 1871 17 February 1874 Liberal

Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bt 27 February 1874 15 February 1878 Conservative

James Lowther 15 February 1878 21 April 1880 Conservative

William Edward Forster 30 April 1880 6 May 1882 Liberal

Lord Frederick Cavendish 6 May 1882 6 May 1882 Liberal

George Trevelyan 9 May 1882 23 October 1884 Liberal

Henry Campbell-Bannerman 23 October 1884 9 June 1885 Liberal

Sir William Hart Dyke, Bt 25 June 1885 23 January 1886 Conservative

William Henry Smith 23 January 1886 28 January 1886 Conservative

John Morley 6 February 1886 20 July 1886 Liberal

Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, Bt 5 August 1886 7 March 1887 Conservative

Arthur Balfour 7 March 1887 9 November 1891 Conservative

William Jackson 9 November 1891 11 August 1892 Conservative

John Morley 22 August 1892 21 June 1895 Liberal

Gerald Balfour 4 July 1895 9 November 1900 Conservative

George Wyndham 9 November 1900 12 March 1905 Conservative

Walter Long 12 March 1905 4 December 1905 Conservative

James Bryce 10 December 1905 23 January 1907 Liberal

Augustine Birrell 23 January 1907 3 May 1916 Liberal

Henry Duke 31 July 1916 5 May 1918 Conservative

Edward Shortt 5 May 1918 10 January 1919 Liberal

Ian Macpherson 10 January 1919 2 April 1920 Liberal

Sir Hamar Greenwood, Bt 2 April 1920 19 October 1922 Liberal

In 1922 executive responsibility was effectively transferred to the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State (taoiseach / prime minister) and the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland respectively.

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