privy council

privy council, the main executive and administrative organ of state in Ireland between 1534 and 1800. It assisted the chief governors (see Lord Deputy; Lord Lieutenant; Lords Justices) and carried on routine administration under instruction from the monarch's privy council in London. It often had over 20 members, including leading bishops and peers, but only half, usually the principal office holders, were active participants. ‘Grand councils’, enlarged by the nobility, also met in the 16th century to approve military ‘hostings’ and cesses and for ceremonial occasions such as the swearing‐in of the chief governor.

In 1560 the privy council acquired a seal, the signet of Ireland, which had to be affixed to all major documents along with the lord deputy's signature. This seal, in the hands of a newly created secretary of state, downgraded the importance of the governor's seal and secretary. The secretary became a key figure, especially with Sir Geoffrey Fenton's tenure, 1579–1608. He controlled correspondence with London and with the rest of Ireland and was the principal intelligence gatherer and spy‐master. Furthermore the privy council acquired a regular meeting place when in 1567 Lord Deputy Sidney built a ‘stately drawing‐room’ in Dublin Castle.

In the conquest and colonization period the Irish privy council supervised the extension of the common law, the maintenance of order, and attempts to increase revenue and manage parliament. However, the principal initiators and developers of the policy remained the chief governors, while the privy council's own authority was restricted by the creation of provincial presidencies. The number of Irish‐born privy counsellors steadily declined; although most survived the ramifications of the Baltinglass revolt, the remnant was purged in the early 1590s. Ironically New English‐dominated councils proved a major obstacle to active governors such as Perrot and Falkland until Wentworth broke their power.

The privy council continued to decide disputes over land and property rights and where public order was threatened, despite the attempt to separate its judicial functions from routine business by the establishment of the court of Castle Chamber in 1571. It also issued proclamations, many effectively new laws; some of these were its own acts of state, others were simply dispatched from London. At the close of the 16th century it was known as ‘the state’, perhaps symptomatic of bureaucratization and centralization.

During the 18th century the duties in the preparation and transmission of bills assigned to the Irish privy council by Poynings's Law gave it a central role in running parliament. There were frequent complaints at the alteration or suppression of heads of bills, and bills prepared for parliament by the council sometimes encountered resistance. Legislative independence after 1782 abolished this part of the Irish privy council's duties, while the increasing importance of the chief secretary diminished its executive importance.

Hiram Morgan