Chancellor of Ireland

The office of Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament: the Chancellor was Speaker of the Irish House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor was also Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Ireland. In all three respects the office mirrored the Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.

There is considerable confusion as to when the office originated. Until the reign of Henry III of England it is not clear if the offices of Irish and English Chancellor were distinct. Only in 1232 is there a clear reference to a separate Irish Chancery. Early Irish Lord Chancellors, beginning with Stephen Ridell in 1186, were simply the English Chancellors acting through a Deputy. In about 1244 the decision was taken that there must be separate office holders in England and Ireland. Elrington Ball states that the salary was fixed at sixty marks a year. Although twice what an itinerant justice was paid, at the time, this was apparently not a very generous amount, as Richard Northalis in the 1390s complained that it did not cover even a third of his expenses, and asked for an extra payment of twenty pounds.

In the earlier centuries the Lord Chancellor was always a cleric, and usually an Englishman. Lay Chancellors became common after the Reformation, but although there were a number of exceptions, the Crown retained a preference for English-born Chancellors well into the nineteenth century.

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