Speaker of the Irish House of Commons

The Speaker of the Irish House of Commons was the presiding officer of the Irish House of Commons until its disestablishment in 1800.

The Irish House of Commons in session under Speaker Pery.

In the absence of a government chosen from and answerable to the Commons, the Speaker was the dominant political figure in the Parliament of Ireland. Unlike in modern British and Irish parliamentary practice, the Speaker was not expected to be politically impartial and several Speakers held government or Crown-appointed positions while also presiding over the Commons. Even so, the conduct of everyday business in the House was generally overseen with impartiality and fairness by all holders of the Speakership. The position was one of considerable power and prestige in Ireland, and the holder enjoyed high precedence as the first gentleman in Ireland.[1]

Speakers of the Commons were elected on the first day of the session of a new parliament, unless the sitting Speaker resigned his post.[2] Before the reign of Queen Anne elections to the chair were uncontested. However, the House increasingly reflected the virulent political divisions between Whig and Tory factions, and Alan Brodrick's second candidacy was contested in 1713. Further contested elections occurred in 1771, 1776 and 1790.

From 1771 the Speaker had a considerable degree of independence from the government of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, although the Speaker was regularly consulted on the executive's business. Speakers needed to have considerable wealth to carry out their conventional roles as sources of patronage in Ireland, and the Speaker was expected to host all Members of Parliament several times year. The Speaker held the casting vote when the House divided as primus inter pares..[3]

The position was abolished when the Parliament of Ireland was merged with that of Great Britain to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom following the Acts of Union 1800. The last Speaker was John Foster, who had been a vehement opponent of the Union while in the chair.

List of Speakers

Speaker Term of office Portrait Date(s) of election Constituency Notes Peerage
John Chevir 1450 Kilkenny City
Thomas Cusack 15411543
James Stanihurst 15571568 1557
1560
1568
Dublin City
Nicholas Walsh 15851586 Waterford City
John Davies 16131615 Fermanagh
Nathaniel Catelyn 16341635 Dublin City
Maurice Eustace 16401649 Athy
Audley Mervyn 16611661 Tyrone
John Temple 16611662 Carlow Borough
Audley Mervyn 16621666 Tyrone
Sir Richard Nagle 16891692 Cork County
Sir Richard Levinge, 1st Baronet 16921695 5 October 1692 Blessington
Robert Rochfort 16951703 27 August 1695 Westmeath
Alan Brodrick (first term) 17031710 21 September 1703 Westmeath Resigned after his appointment as Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench in 1710. Viscount Midleton
John Forster 17101713 19 May 1710 Dublin City
Alan Brodrick (second term) 17131714 15 November 1713 Westmeath Viscount Midleton
William Conolly 17151729 12 November 1715
28 November 1727
Londonderry County Also First Commissioner of the Revenue (Ireland).
Resigned on the grounds of ill health on 13 October 1729.
Sir Ralph Gore, 4th Baronet 17291733 13 October 1729 Clogher
Henry Boyle 17331756 4 October 1733 Cork County Also Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland.
Resigned having been granted an Irish peerage on 17 April 1756.
Earl of Shannon
Hon. John Ponsonby 17561771 26 April 1756
22 October 1761
17 October 1769
Newtownards Also First Commissioner of the Revenue (Ireland).
Resigned following a political disagreement with Lord Townshend on 4 March 1771.
Edmund Pery 17711785 7 March 1771
18 June 1776
14 October 1783
Limerick City Resigned on the grounds of ill health on 5 September 1785. Viscount Pery
John Foster 17851800 5 September 1785
2 July 1790
9 January 1798
Louth Last Speaker; position abolished under the Acts of Union 1800. Baron Oriel

References

  1. E. M. Johnston-Liik, MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800 (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.389-398 (Retrieved 24 October 2016).
  2. E. M. Johnston-Liik, MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800 (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.398 (Retrieved 24 October 2016).
  3. E. M. Johnston-Liik, MPs in Dublin: Companion to History of the Irish Parliament, 1692-1800 (Ulster Historical Foundation, 2006), p.395 (Retrieved 24 October 2016).
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