Viceroy of Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Standard of the Lord Lieutenant
Style	The Right Honourable as a member of the Privy Council
Residence	Dublin Castle
Appointer	Lord of Ireland Monarch of Ireland Monarch of the United Kingdom
Term length	At the Sovereign's pleasure
Formation	1171
Final holder	The Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent
Abolished	6 December 1922
Succession	Governor of Northern Ireland and Governor-General of the Irish Free State

Lord Lieutenant (UK /lɛfˈtɛnənt/) was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 till the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdom of Ireland (1541–1800) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922). The office, under its various names, was often more generally known as the viceroy, from the French vice roi or deputy king, and his wife was known as the vicereine. The government of Ireland in practice was usually in the hands of the Lord Deputy up to the 17th century, and later of the Chief Secretary for Ireland. Although in the Middle Ages some Lords Deputy were Irish noblemen, only men from Great Britain, usually peers, were appointed to the office of Lord Lieutenant.

The King's representative possessed a number of overlapping roles. He was

Prior to the Act of Union 1800 which abolished the Irish parliament, the Lord Lieutenant formally delivered the Speech from the Throne outlining his Government's policies. His Government exercised effective control of parliament through the extensive exercise of the powers of patronage, namely the awarding of peerages, baronetcies and state honours. Critics accused successive viceroys of using their patronage power as a corrupt means of controlling parliament. On one day in July 1777, Lord Buckinghamshire as Lord Lieutenant promoted 5 viscounts to earls, 7 barons to viscounts, and created 18 new barons. The power of patronage was used to bribe MPs and peers into supporting the Act of Union 1800, with many of those who changed sides and supported the Union in Parliament awarded peerages and honours for doing so.