List of ambassadors of Ireland to the United Kingdom

The Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom is Ireland's foremost diplomatic representative in the United Kingdom and is in charge of Ireland's diplomatic mission in the UK.

Ambassador of Ireland to the United Kingdom
Coat of Arms of Ireland
Incumbent
Adrian O'Neill
since September 2017
StyleHis Excellency
Inaugural holderJames McNeill
First High Commissioner John Whelan Dulanty
First Ambassador
Formation1923
High Commissioner 1949
Ambassadors extraordinary
WebsiteEmbassy of Ireland, Great Britain

History

The High Commission of the Irish Free State was established shortly after Irish secession from the United Kingdom.[1] The first High Commissioner of the Irish Free State to the United Kingdom was James McNeill, who later became the second Governor-General of the state in 1928.[2] From 1936, the Irish government regarded the state as being no longer a member of the British Commonwealth, but rather a state associated with it.[3] 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.

Heads of mission

High Commissioners

Ambassadors

Notes
  1. Documents on Irish Foreign Policy: 1939–1941, Department of Foreign Affairs, Royal Irish Academy, 2008, page xix
  2. The Embassy’s History, Embassy of Ireland, Great Britain, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  3. The captive dominion: imperial realities behind Irish diplomacy, 1922—49, Donal Lowry, Irish Historical Studies, Vol. 36, No. 142, Ireland and the British Empire-Commonwealth (November 2008), pp. 202-226
  4. https://www.dfa.ie/irish-embassy/great-britain/about-us/ambassador/
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