The Ambassador of Ireland to Great Britain is

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 ...

's foremost

diplomatic representative Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and is in charge of Ireland's

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...

in the UK.

History

The High Commission of the

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

was established shortly after Irish secession from the United Kingdom. The first High Commissioner of the Irish Free State to the United Kingdom was

James McNeill James McNeill (27 March 1869 – 12 December 1938) was an Irish politician and diplomat, who served as first High Commissioner to London and second Governor-General of the Irish Free State. Early life One of five children born to Archibald Mc ...

, who later became the second Governor-General of the state in 1928. From 1936, the Irish government regarded the state as being no longer a member of the

British Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the Co ...

, but rather a state associated with it. Nonetheless, the office holder retained his title. In 1937, the Irish Free State was renamed Ireland so the High Commissioner’s title was changed to High Commissioner of Ireland to the United Kingdom. The officeholder retained that title until Ireland’s last links with the Commonwealth were terminated in 1949. The High Commissioner at the time then became the Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom. The Irish Foreign Ministry name their Embassy in London as the Embassy to Great Britain due to nationalist sensitivities concerning the full name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

Heads of mission

High Commissioners

1923–1928 * Prof. T. A. Smiddy 1929–1930 * John Whelan Dulanty 1930–1949

Ambassadors

* John Whelan Dulanty 1949–1950 *

Frederick Henry Boland Frederick Henry Boland (11 January 1904 – 4 December 1985) was an Irish diplomat who served as the first Irish Ambassador to both the United Kingdom and the United Nations. Family and education Frederick Boland was born on 11 January 1904 a ...

1950–1956 *

Con Cremin Cornelius Christopher Cremin (6 December 1908 – 20 April 1987) was an Irish diplomat who was born in Kenmare, County Kerry. One of four children, Cremin was born to a family that operated a drapery business. His brother, Francis Cremin, bec ...

1956–1958 *

Hugh McCann Hugh McCann (born 6 May 1954) is a Scottish former football player and manager. McCann signed for Celtic aged 14, but a bad knee injury halted his progress there. He later played for Linlithgow Rose, Alloa Athletic, Berwick Rangers and East Sti ...

1958–1963 *

1963–1964 * Donal O'Sullivan 1970–1977 *

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

1977–1978 *

Edward Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

1978–1983 * Noel Dorr 1983–1987 * Andrew O'Rourke 1987–1991 * Joseph Small 1991–1995 * Edward J. Barrington 1995–2001 *

Dáithí O'Ceallaigh Dáithí, Daithí or Dathí, sometimes also anglicised without diacritics as Daithi or Dathi, is an Irish male given name which means ''swiftness'' or ''nimbleness''. It is pronounced ''Dawh-hee''. It is sometimes incorrectly used as the Irish form ...

2001–2007 * David J. Cooney 2007–2009 *

Bobby McDonagh Bobby McDonagh (born 29 June 1954) is a former Irish diplomat. Biography He was educated in Gonzaga College, Dublin and graduated from Balliol College, Oxford with an Master of Arts (MA) (Greats/Classics). He was elected President of the Oxfor ...

2009–2013 *

Daniel Mulhall Daniel Mulhall (born 8 April 1955) is a retired Irish diplomat and a former Ambassador of Ireland to the United States. He has also been Ireland's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Germany and Malaysia. Education Born in Waterford, Ireland, Mul ...

2013–2017 *

Adrian O'Neill Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the mai ...

2017–2022{{cite web, url=https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/great-britain/about-us/ambassador/, title=Ambassador O'Neill, website= Department of Foreign Affairs, accessdate=27 July 2021, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101114430/https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/great-britain/about-us/ambassador/, archive-date=1 November 2020, url-status=live *

Martin Fraser Martin Fraser (born 11 June 1970) is an Irish civil servant who served as the Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach from August 2011 to May 2022. He previously served as the Assistant Secretary General of the Department of the Tao ...

2022–present

External links

Embassy of Ireland to Great Britain: The Embassy’s History

Notes

* *

Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations