The Lord lieutenant d' Irlande (viceroy of Ireland, in English Lord Lieutenant off Ireland ), also named Judiciar during the top the Middle Ages, then Lord Deputy until the 17th century, was the representative of the king and the chief of the Irish executive during the periods of the suzerainty of Ireland (English  : Lordship off Ireland ) (1171 - 1541), of the kingdom of Ireland (English  : Kingdom off Ireland ) (1541-1800) and of the the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801-1922).

While at the same time it directed the executive of the theoretically independent kingdom of Ireland, the Judiciar , Lord Deputy or Lord Lieutenant was at the same time the agent and the representative of the king or the Queen of England (until 1707), of the king or the queen of Great Britain (1707-1800) but was never responsible in front of the Irish Parliament or people.

The function, under its various names, was in general indicated by the term of Vice-roi. Although some Lords Deputy was noble Irish with the Middle Ages, with rare exceptions, only of noble English or British was then named at this station.

Role

The representative of the king had several roles which overlapped. He was  :

• the representative of the king (the " vice-roi") ;
• the chief of the government of Ireland  ;
• (occasionally) member of the cabinet English or British  ;
• responsible for the right of reprieve, justice and the clientelism  ;
• (occasionally) commander-in-chief of the armed forces in Ireland  ;
• Large-Master of the Order of Saint Patrick.

Before the Act of Union (1800) which abolishes the Irish Parliament, the Lord lieutenant pronounced the Speech from the throne outlining the policy of its government. Its government had the effective control of the Parliament thanks to the clientelism, by granting Pairie S, baronnies and honors.

In only one day, for example, in July 1777, John Hobart as a Lord lieutenant five Vicomte S with the row of Count S, seven raised baron S with the row of Viscounts and made eighteen new barons. The clientelism made it possible to bribe the members of the Parliament and the pars so that they support the Act of union.

Constitutional structure

The Lord lieutenant was advised by the Irish Privy Council (the Irish private Council), a body made up of personalities and the noble hereditary ones which met in the Room of the Council of the castle of Dublin and on the occasion in other places. The principal constitutional characters of the court of the viceroy were:

• the Chief Secretary for Ireland — at the origin, the chief of the administration but at the end of the nineteenth century, in fact, the Prime Minister for the government of the Lord lieutenant.

• the Under Secretary for Ireland — the chief of the Public office in Ireland.

• the Lord Justice — three representatives who acted in the name of the Lord lieutenant in his absence. The Lords Justice were before 1800 the Lord Chancellor off Ireland , the president of the Irish House of Commons and the archbishop of Armagh of the Irish church as a primacy of all Ireland.

Term of the office

The Lords lieutenants were not named for one given period but were useful according to “good pleasure of Its Majesty”. In fact as a long time as desired by the British government. When a ministry fell, it was generally replaced by a partisan of the new minister.