Thomas Ulick Sadleir (1882–1957) was an Irish genealogist and heraldic expert. He was successively registrar of the

Order of St Patrick The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick is a dormant British order of chivalry associated with Ireland. The Order was created in 1783 by King George III at the request of the then Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, The 3rd Earl Temple (later cr ...

, Deputy Ulster King of Arms and Acting Ulster King of Arms.

Career

Sadleir's first involvement with the office of arms at

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was when he worked on an unpaid basis whilst an undergraduate at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. He graduated in 1904, and was called to the bar in 1906. By 1913, he was working on a daily basis at the office, whilst practising as a barrister. In 1915 he was appointed registrar of the

George Dames Burtchaell George Dames Burtchaell, KC, MA, LLB, MRIA, JP (12 June 1853 – 18 August 1921) was an Irish genealogist. Education Burtchaell was educated at Kilkenny College and Trinity College, Dublin. Career *Barrister King's Inns, 1879 * KC 1918 ...

, Deputy Ulster King of Arms. In practice, Sadleir carried out most of the day-to-day work of Ulster's office. In 1915, Sadleir wrote an unofficial 6th volume of the annual Georgian Society Records called

Georgian mansions in Ireland Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) **Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group **Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scripts ...

along with Page Dickinson. It proved to be the last volume of the society's annual records until it was re-established as the modern Irish Georgian Society in 1958. In August 1921, Burtchaell was killed in a tram accident, and in September, Sadleir was appointed Deputy to Major

Sir Neville Wilkinson Major Sir Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson, KCVO (26 October 1869 – 22 December 1940), was a British officer of arms, British Army officer, author and a dollhouse designer. Early life and military career Wilkinson was born in Highgate, Middlesex, ...

, Ulster King of Arms. As Major Wilkinson was almost always absent from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Sadleir performed most of the duties of the office. The Office of Arms was unaffected by the creation of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independ ...

in December 1922, continuing to cover the whole of the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and remaining based in

. In December 1940, Major Wilkinson died, and the

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requested that no successor be appointed. For the next three years, Sadleir was Acting Ulster King of Arms. In 1943, the Government of Ireland established the Genealogical Office, which took over the records of the Office of Arms, while the title of Ulster King of Arms was merged with that of Norroy to become Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, a member of the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Sadleir continued to work for the Genealogical Office until 1944, clearing the large backlog of grants and confirmations of arms that had built up in Ulster's office. After leaving the G.O., he continued his private genealogical practice. He maintained links with his former employer, however, remaining a trustee of the Heraldic Museum in Dublin until his death. Sadleir subsequently became librarian at the King's Inns in Dublin, a post he held until his death.

Arms

References

Sources

*''Royal Roots, Republican Inheritance - The Survival of the Office of Arms'', Susan Hood, Dublin, 2002
Sadleir Papers, Genealogical Office
nli.ie. Accessed 19 December 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sadleir, Thomas 1882 births 1957 deaths Irish genealogists Irish barristers Irish officers of arms Georgian architecture in Ireland

Career

Arms

See also

References

Sources