lord lieutenant

lord lieutenant, the most common name for the chief governor of Ireland in the period after the Restoration, replacing justiciar, king's lieutenant, and lord deputy. Lords lieutenant in the 18th century were invariably English politicians who came to Ireland as a stage in a ministerial career or occasionally, as with Baron Carteret 1724–30, as a form of exile from the domestic political scene for a rival too powerful to be dispensed with completely. In the 19th century, Irish peers also served as lords lieutenant: the 4th earl of Bessborough (see ponsonby) 1846–7, the marquis, later duke, of Abercorn 1866–8, 1874–6, and the 6th marquis of Londonderry 1886–9.

With a salary of £12,000, rising to £20,000 in 1783, lords lieutenant enjoyed similar powers and patronage to the former lords deputy. Until 1767 the lord lieutenant came to Ireland only for the meetings of parliament held every second year. Consequently the task of establishing a government party in the Commons, and ensuring that revenue bills sanctioning adequate levels of taxation were enacted, devolved largely on the lords justices and undertakers. Following Lord Townshend's viceroyalty 1767–72 lords lieutenant were permanently resident and, aided by the chief secretary, took over direct responsibility for parliamentary management. Despite legislative independence in 1782, they remained accountable to the cabinet in London rather than to the Irish parliament.

The Act of Union, removing the need to manage a separate Irish parliament, significantly reduced the importance of the lord lieutenancy. Its possible abolition, as no longer appropriate to a part of what was now a united kingdom, was debated in parliament in 1823, 1830, and 1844. Yet a combination of inertia and the manifest need to make some special provision for the direction of Irish affairs ensured that the office survived up to 1922. As the political significance of the lord lieutenancy declined, the viceregal court, its elaborate ceremonial enhanced by the Order of St Patrick from 1783 and the construction of the Vice‐Regal Lodge in Phoenix Park, became, if anything, more important. The requirement to reside permanently had considerably increased the expenses of the office, and the duke of Richmond (1807–13), who had incurred debts of £50,000, had the salary raised to £30,000.

HM/ and Hiram Morgan