The Principal Secretary of State, or Principal Secretary of the Council, was a government office in the Kingdom of Ireland. It was abolished in 1801 when Ireland became part of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...

under the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 (sometimes incorrectly referred to as a single 'Act of Union 1801') were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ir ...

. The post was created in May 1560 by the Lord Deputy of Ireland,

Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex Thomas Radclyffe (or Ratclyffe), 3rd Earl of Sussex KG (c. 15259 June 1583), was Lord Deputy of Ireland during the Tudor period of English history, and a leading courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I. Family He was the eldest son of Hen ...

. Sussex created the role to help re-establish English governance in Ireland, as part of the wider

Tudor conquest of Ireland The Tudor conquest (or reconquest) of Ireland took place under the Tudor dynasty, which held the Kingdom of England during the 16th century. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by Silken Thomas, the Earl of Kildare, in the 1530s, ...

. The role was modelled in part on the role of Secretary of State in England, and was intended to be distinct from the clerks of the Irish Privy Council or the Governors Private Secretary. Whilst the nature of the role evolved other time, originally the holder was expected to: * chair the Privy Council of Ireland * engage in regular full correspondence with the crown Other, less common functions included: * directing clerks of the Privy Council of Ireland * charging

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

s and

seditious libel Sedition and seditious libel were criminal offences under English common law, and are still criminal offences in Canada. Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection ...

s * ordering the

Postmaster General of Ireland The Postmasters General of Ireland, held by two people simultaneously, was a new appointment set up as part of the establishment of the Irish Post Office independent from that of Great Britain, by the Act 23, 24 George III in 1784. The post las ...

open letters An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...

* offering advice on matters of state to the

chief governor of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarch ...

(

Lord Deputy The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is '' ...

, later Lord Lieutenant) In part due to the absence of the Southwells during their time in the role, it became largely ceremonial, with more correspondence being managed directly by the Lord Lieutenant and his Chief Secretary, or alternatively the Lords Justices (who themselves became defunct after 1765). Richard Cooke, for instance, acted as both Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland and Secretary of State at the same time. The last three Secretaries of State also held the more powerful position of Chief Secretary. No Secretary of State was appointed after the 1800 Acts of Union; in 1802 the last appointee resigned to become Speaker of the UK House of Commons.

List of Secretaries

* by 1576: John Chalenor * 1581: Sir

Geoffrey Fenton Sir Geoffrey Fenton (c. 1539 – 19 October 1608) was an English writer, Privy Councillor, and Principal Secretary of State in Ireland. Early literary years Geoffrey (spelt Jeffrey by Lodge) was born in 1539, the son of Henry Fenton of Sturton ...

and another * 1603: Sir Richard Cooke * 1612: Sir Dudley Norton * 1616: Francis Annesley, 1st Baron Mountnorris * 1634: Philip Mainwaring * 1661: Sir Paul Davys (granted the office in reversion after Mainwaring) * 1665:

George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough (c. 162011 December 1683) was an Irish politician. He was the son of Sir Richard Lane, 1st Baronet, of Tulsk, by his wife Mabel Fitzgerald. Career He was attached to the exiled Court of Charles II of Eng ...

(in reversion after Davys) * 1678: Sir John Davys (in reversion after Lane) * 1690: Sir Robert Southwell * 1702: Edward Southwell Sr. * 1730: Edward Southwell Jr. * 1746:

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." ...

* 1755: Thomas Carter * 1763:

Philip Tisdall Philip Tisdall SL (1 March 1703 – 11 September 1777) was an Irish lawyer and politician, who held the office of Attorney-General for Ireland. He was for many years a leading figure in the Irish Government. Background He was born in County Lo ...

* 1766: John Hely-Hutchinson (in reversion, succeeded 1777) * 1796: Thomas Pelham **

Baron Glentworth Glentworth can refer to: *Glentworth, Lincolnshire, a village in England; * Glentworth, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community in Canada; *, a cargo steamer launched in 1920. * Glentworth, Paddington, a house in Paddington, Queensland Paddin ...

(1795–97) and

Lord Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Anglo-Irish politician ...

(1797–1801) were

Keeper of the Signet or Privy Seal of Ireland A privy seal refers to the personal seal of a reigning monarch, used for the purpose of authenticating official documents of a much more personal nature. This is in contrast with that of a great seal, which is used for documents of greater impor ...

during Pelham's term; other Secretaries of State held the office of Keeper simultaneously) * 1801: Charles Abbot (vacated office in 1802 when appointed Speaker of the UK Commons)

References

{{Dublin Castle administration Early Modern Ireland Political office-holders in pre-partition Ireland

List of Secretaries

See also

References