Under-Secretary for Ireland#Assistant Under-Secretaries for Ireland

{{Short description|Head of the pre-1922 Dublin Castle administration in Ireland}}

The Under-Secretary for Ireland (Permanent Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) was the permanent head (or most senior civil servant) of the British administration in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922.

The Under-Secretary's residence was at Ashtown Lodge in Phoenix Park, also known as the Under Secretary's Lodge.

Among the best-known holders of the office was Thomas Henry Burke, who was assassinated along with the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, in the so-called Phoenix Park Killings on Saturday, 6 May 1882.

In April 1887 Colonel Edward Robert King-Harman was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, but he died on 10 June 1888 and no further appointments were made.Haydn's Book of Dignities, third edition (1894) p. 564.

Under-Secretaries for Ireland

;Under-Secretary to the Chief Secretary:

Arthur Podmore by 1690
Joshua Dawson 1699
Eustace Budgell 1714
Charles Maddockes 1718
Thomas Tickell 1724
1740 John Potter
Thomas Waite 1747

;Under-Secretary (Civil Department)

Thomas Waite 1777
Sackville Hamilton 1780–1795
Lodge Morres 1795
Sackville Hamilton 1795–1796
Edward Cooke 1796-1800

;Under-Secretary (Military Department):

Henry Meredyth 1777
John William Hamilton 1778
John Lees 1781
Charles Francis Sheridan 1782
Edward Cooke 1789
John Doyle 9 February 1795
Edward Cooke 1 June 1795
William Elliot 1796

;Under-Secretary:

Alexander Marsden 1801–1806
James Traill 1806–1808
Sir Charles Saxton 1808–1812
William Gregory 1812–1831
Sir William Gossett 1831–1835
Thomas Drummond 1835–1840[http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/drummond_thomas.htm Famous scots] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201185848/http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/drummond_thomas.htm |date=1 December 2008 }}, retrieved 9 January 2009
Norman Hilton Macdonald 1840–1841
Edward Lucas 1841–1845
Richard Pennefather 1845{{Cite ODNB|id=21866|title=Pennefather, Richard}}–1846
Sir Thomas Nicholas Redington 1846–1852
John Arthur Wynne 1852–1853
Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom 1853–1868
Sir Edward Robert Wetherall 1868–1869
Thomas Henry Burke 1869–1882
Sir Robert George Crookshank Hamilton 1882–1886
Sir Redvers Henry Buller 1886–1887
Sir Joseph West Ridgeway 1887–1893
Sir David Harrel 1893–1902
Sir Antony MacDonnell 1902–1908
Sir James Brown Dougherty 1908–1914
Sir Matthew Nathan 1914–1916
Sir Robert Chalmers 1916
Sir William Byrne 1916–1918
James Macmahon 1918–1922 (jointly with Sir John Anderson from 1920)
Sir John Anderson 1920–1922 (jointly with James Macmahon)

Assistant Under-Secretaries for Ireland

From 1852 to 1876 the Assistant Under-Secretary was called Chief Clerk.McDowell 1976 pp.75, 77 After the retirement of Marmion Savage as Clerk of the Privy Council of Ireland in 1853,{{cite book |title=General Abstract of the Grants to be proposed for Civil Services for 1853, compared with similar Charges for 1851 and 1852; Estimates, &c., Civil Services, for the Year ending 31 March 1854; VI. Superannuation and Retired Allowances, and Gratuities for Charitable and other Purposes |series=Parliamentary Papers |volume=HC 1852–3 lviii (261-VI) 483 |date=18 March 1853 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |page=19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LJMSAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA12-PA19 |language=en |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014848/https://books.google.com/books?id=LJMSAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA12-PA19 |url-status=live }} the Chief Clerk/Assistant Under-Secretary was ex-officio Clerk of the Privy Council of Ireland.{{cite book |title=Reports of Committees of Inquiry into Public Offices and Papers Connected Therewith |date=1859 |publisher=Eyre and Spottiswoode |pages=87–88 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTILAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA87 |language=en |access-date=25 September 2021 |archive-date=25 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014848/https://books.google.com/books?id=nTILAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA87 |url-status=live }}

class="wikitable" ! Name !! Dates of service !! Notes
Robert M. Matheson	1856–1875{{cite journal \|last1=Flanagan \|first1=Kieran \|title=The Chief Secretary's Office, 1853–1914: A Bureaucratic Enigma \|journal=Irish Historical Studies \|date=1984 \|volume=24 \|issue=94 \|pages=223 \|doi=10.1017/S0021121400034659 \|jstor=30008300 \|s2cid=163721661 \|issn=0021-1214}}	His son Sir Robert E. Matheson was Registrar-General for Ireland 1900–1909;{{cite news \|title=Obituary: Mr. R. N. Matheson \|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1950/0321/Pg005.html#Ar00519 \|page=5 \|access-date=8 June 2021 \|work=The Weekly Irish Times \|url-access=subscription \|date=21 March 1950}}{{cite news \|title=New Registrar-General \|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1900/0223/Pg004.html#Ar00402 \|page=4 \|access-date=8 June 2021 \|newspaper=The Irish Times \|url-access=subscription \|date=4 February 1900}}; {{cite news \|title=New Registrar-General for Ireland \|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/wit/1909/1127/Pg012.html#Ar01209 \|page=12 \|access-date=8 June 2021 \|work=The Weekly Irish Times \|url-access=subscription \|date=27 November 1909}} his grandson Robert N. Matheson founded the law firm Matheson.
Henry Robinson (1823–1893)	1876–1879{{cite journal \|last1=Cooke \|first1=A. B. \|last2=Vincent \|first2=J. R. \|title=Herbert Gladstone, Forster, and Ireland, 1881-2 (II) \|journal=Irish Historical Studies \|date=1972 \|volume=18 \|issue=69 \|page=76 fn.9 \|doi=10.1017/S0021121400022781 \|jstor=30006658 \|s2cid=163736265 \|issn=0021-1214}}	Promoted to vice president of the Local Government Board for Ireland. Father of Sir Henry Robinson, 1st Baronet.
William Kaye (1831–1901)	1878–1895{{cite book \|last1=Fottrell \|first1=Sir George \|editor-last1=Ball \|editor-first1=Stephen \|series=Camden Series \|volume=ser.5 vol.33 \|title=The Political Journal of Sir George Fottrell, 1884-1887 \|publisher=Cambridge University Press \|date=2008 \|isbn=978-0-521-51921-2 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRXP0iPW4p0C&pg=PA190 \|page=190 fn.402 \|language=en \|access-date=25 September 2021 \|archive-date=25 September 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014850/https://books.google.com/books?id=qRXP0iPW4p0C&pg=PA190 \|url-status=live }}	Afterwards private secretary to the Lord Lieutenant
James Brown Dougherty (1844–1934)	1895–1908	Knighted in 1902{{cite encyclopedia \|encyclopedia=Dictionary of Irish Biography \|publisher=Cambridge University Press \|article-url=https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a2721 \|article=Dougherty, Sir James Brown \|first=Paul \|last=Rouse \|access-date=25 September 2021 }}
Edward O'Farrell (d.1926)	September 1908{{Cite web \|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1908/oct/19/the-irish-assistant-under-secretary \|title=HC Deb 19 October 1908 vol 194 c715 \|access-date=25 September 2021 \|archive-date=25 September 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014854/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1908/oct/19/the-irish-assistant-under-secretary \|url-status=live }}–June 1918	Resigned to become one of the three Estates Commissioners in the Irish Land Commission{{cite news \|title=New Estates Commissioner; New Assistant Under-Secretary \|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/wit/1918/0615/Pg002.html#Ar00231 \|access-date=29 January 2021 \|work=Weekly Irish Times \|date=15 June 1918 \|page=2 col.3 \|archive-date=3 February 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203080149/https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/wit/1918/0615/Pg002.html#Ar00231 \|url-status=live }}
John James Taylor (1859–1945)	June 1918–1920{{cite book \|last1=Buckland \|first1=Patrick \|title=Irish Unionism: The Anglo-Irish and the new Ireland, 1885-1922 \|date=1973 \|publisher=Gill and Macmillan \|isbn=978-0-06-490750-7 \|page=208 \|language=en}}	When Taylor resigned, John Anderson on 28 May 1920 became "joint under-secretary" with James Macmahon. This marked an escalation of the Black and Tans in the Anglo-Irish War.
Alfred Cope (1877–1954){{cite encyclopedia \|encyclopedia=Dictionary of Irish Biography \|publisher=Cambridge University Press \|article-url=https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a2028 \|article=Cope, Sir Alfred William ('Andy') \|first1=Pauric J. \|last1=Dempsey \|first2=Richard \|last2=Hawkins \|access-date=25 September 2021 \|archive-date=2 December 2020 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202022247/https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a2028 \|url-status=live }} \| 28 May 1920{{cite journal \|title=DUBLIN CASTLE \|journal=Edinburgh Gazette \|date=1 June 1920 \|issue=13600 \|page=1321 \|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/13600/page/1321 \|access-date=25 September 2021 \|archive-date=25 September 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925014851/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/13600/page/1321 \|url-status=live }}–October 1922	Seconded from Whitehall due to the security crisis.McColgan 1983 [https://archive.org/details/britishpolicyiri0000mcco/page/162 p.162]; {{cite news \|title=New Viceroy Arrives; Official Report \|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1921/0503/Pg003.html#Ar00302 \|url-access=subscription \|access-date=29 January 2021 \|newspaper=The Irish Times \|date=3 May 1921 \|page=3 col.5}}; {{cite news \|title=New Honours List; The List in Full \|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1922/1111/Pg007.html#Ar00702 \|url-access=subscription \|access-date=9 March 2021 \|newspaper=The Irish Times \|date=11 November 1922 \|page=7 col.1}} Ernest Clarke was made "additional assistant under-secretary" on 15 September 1921 during the establishment of Northern Ireland.McColgan 1983 [https://archive.org/details/britishpolicyiri0000mcco/page/n11 p.viii]{{cite book \|title=The Annual Register for the year 1920 \|volume=162 \|date=1921 \|publisher=Longmans, Green \|location=London \|pages=15–16 [Part II] \|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.79545/page/n335/mode/2up \|chapter=Chronicle of the Year's Events; September 13 & 15}} He resigned in late 1921 to become permanent secretary of the NI ministry of financeMcColgan 1983 [https://archive.org/details/britishpolicyiri0000mcco/page/31 p.31] Mark Sturgis was given the title "additional assistant under-secretary" on 3 December 1921. He came to Ireland at the same time as Cope and was not given any title at first: Anderson worried "assistant under-secretary" would offend Cope, and Warren Fisher thought "private secretary to the Lord Lieutenant" was too lowly.{{cite book \|last1=Sturgis \|first1=Mark \|title=The Last Days of Dublin Castle: The Mark Sturgis Diaries \|date=1999 \|publisher=Irish Academic Press \|location=Dublin \|isbn=978-0-7165-2626-1 \|pages=5–6, 13, 224 \|language=en}}

Sources

Chris Cook and Brendan Keith, British Historical Facts 1830–1900 (Macmillan, 1975) p. 149.
{{cite book |last1=McColgan |first1=John |title=British policy and the Irish administration, 1920–22 |date=1983 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=London; Boston |isbn=978-0-04-941011-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/britishpolicyiri0000mcco/}}
{{cite book |last1=McDowell |first1=R. B. |title=The Irish administration, 1801–1914 |date=1976 |publisher=Greenwood Press |location=Westport, Conn |isbn=978-0-8371-8561-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/irishadministrat0000mcdo_j7o5}}
{{cite journal |last1=Sainty |first1=J. C. |title=The Secretariat of the Chief Governors of Ireland, 1690-1800 |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature |date=1977 |volume=77 |pages=1–33 |jstor=25506334 |issn=0035-8991}}

Citations

Category:History of Ireland (1801–1923)

Category:Political office-holders in pre-partition Ireland

Category:Long stubs with short prose