Court of Chancery (Ireland)

The Court of Chancery was a court which exercised equitable jurisdiction in Ireland until its abolition as part of the reform of the court system in 1877. It was the court in which the Lord Chancellor of Ireland presided. Its final sitting place was at the Four Courts in Dublin.

The Chancery in Ireland was set up in 1232. The court was abolished under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877 and its jurisdiction transferred to the newly established High Court of Justice in Ireland, and in particular, in the Chancery Division. The High Court was split into separate courts for Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland in 1920 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. While the Northern Ireland court still maintains a separate Chancery Division, the Irish Free State abolished the divisions of the High Court under the Courts of Justice Act 1924. The High Court in Ireland still maintains a "chancery list", although any judge of the Court may now exercise its jurisdiction in equity.

In the early centuries of the office, the Lord Chancellor was a senior cleric, usually though not invariably an Englishman by birth. In the 15th and 16th centuries, a nobleman sometimes held the office, acting through a deputy. From the Reformation on, he was usually a trained lawyer, though the practice of appointing a senior cleric only ended with Michael Boyle, Archbishop of Armagh who retired in 1686.

In addition to his judicial functions, the Lord Chancellor had a key political role. Until the Act of Union 1800, he was Speaker of the Irish House of Lords even though he was not always given a peerage. After the Act of Union, he was still required to advise both British and Irish Governments on a range of political and legal matters. He was often called on to steer legislation through the House of Lords: Thomas O'Hagan, 1st Baron O'Hagan was created a peer so that he might assist in passing the Supreme Court of Judicature Act. Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne was a member of the British Cabinet, but this was exceptional.

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