List of Lord Lieutenants of Ireland
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Note: Because many of the people appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (sometimes also called Viceroy) did not always continually remain in office but left the office empty for a period (sometimes to return to the Court of St. James's, sometimes to return to their British estates) before either being replaced or returning, it is difficult to state terms of office with any accuracy. As a result, the date of appointment of each, rather than a specified term of office, is stated in brackets. Though the office existed earlier, because of difficulty in getting clear information this list begins in 1529. In the earlier years, there were frequently long vacancies, during which a Lord Deputy or Lord Justice would act as chief governor.
Kingdom of Ireland
- Piers Butler, 1st Earl of Ossory (Lord Deputy): 4 August 1528
- Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset: 22 June 1529
- William Skeffington (Lord Deputy): 30 July 1534
- Lord Leonard Grey: 23 February 1536
- Lords Justices: 1 April 1540
- Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy): 7 July 1540
- Edward Bellingham (Lord Deputy): 22 April 1548
- Lords Justices: 27 December 1549
- Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy): 4 August 1550
- James Crofts (Lord Deputy): 29 April 1551
- Lords Justices: 6 December 1552
- Anthony St Leger (Lord Deputy): 1 September 1553
- Thomas Radcliffe, Lord Fitzwalter (Lord Deputy): 27 April 1556
- Lords Justices: 12 December 1558
- Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex (Lord Deputy): 3 July 1559
- Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex: 6 May 1560
- Henry Sidney (Lord Deputy): 13 October 1565
- Lord Justice: 1 April 1571
- William Fitzwilliams (Lord Deputy): 11 December 1571
- Henry Sidney (Lord Deputy): 5 August 1575
- Lord Justice: 27 April 1578
- Arthur Grey, 14th Lord Grey de Wilton (Lord Deputy): 15 July 1580
- Lords Justices: 14 July 1582
- John Perrott (Lord Deputy): 7 January 1584
- William Fitzwilliams (Lord Deputy): 17 February 1588
- William Russell (Lord Deputy): 16 May 1594
- Thomas Burgh, Lord Burgh (Lord Deputy): 5 March 1597
- Lords Justices: 29 October 1597
- Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex 12 March 1599
- Lords Justices: 24 September 1599
- Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy (Lord Deputy): 21 January 1600
- Charles Blount, 8th Baron Mountjoy: 25 April 1603
- Sir Arthur Chichester (Lord Deputy): 15 October 1604
- Sir Oliver St John: 2 July 1615
- Henry Cary, 1st Viscount of Falkland (Lord Deputy): 4 February 1622
- Lords Justices: 8 August 1629
- Thomas Wentworth, 1st Viscount Wentworth (Lord Deputy): 3 July 1633
- Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford: 13 January 1640
- Robert Sydney, 2nd Earl of Leicester: 14 June 1641
- James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde: 13 November 1643 (appointed by the king)
- Philip Sydney, Lord Lisle: 9 April 1646, (appointed by parliament, commission expired 15 April 1647)
- James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde: 30 September 1648 (appointed by the King)
- Oliver Cromwell: 22 June 1649
- Henry Ireton (Lord Deputy): 2 July 1650 (d. 20 November 1651)
- Charles Fleetwood (Commander-in-Chief): 9 July 1652
- Henry Cromwell (Lord Deputy): 17 November 1657
- Henry Cromwell: 6 October 1658, resigned 15 June 1659
- Edmund Ludlow (Commander-in-Chief): 4 July 1659
- George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle: June 1660
- James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde: 21 February 1662
- Thomas Butler, Earl of Ossory (Lord Deputy): 7 February 1668
- John Robartes, 2nd Baron Robartes: 3 May 1669
- John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton: 4 February 1670
- Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of Essex: 21 May 1672
- James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde 24 May 1677
- Lords Justices: 24 February 1685
- Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon: 1 October 1685
- Richard Talbot, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell (Lord Deputy): 8 January 1687
- James II himself in Ireland: 12 March 1689 - 4 July 1690
- William III himself in Ireland: 14 June 1690
- Lords Justices: 5 September 1690
- Henry Sydney, 1st Viscount Sydney: 18 March 1692
- Lords Justices: 13 June 1693
- Henry Capell, 1st Baron Capell (Lord Deputy): 9 May 1695
- Lords Justices: 16 May 1696
- Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester (December 28, 1700)
- James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde: 19 February 1703
- Thomas Herbert, 8th Earl of Pembroke: 30 April 1707
- Thomas Wharton, 1st Earl of Wharton: 4 December 1708
- James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde: 26 October 1710
- Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury: 22 September 1713
- Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland: 21 September 1714
- Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend: 13 February 1717
- Charles Paulet, 2nd Duke of Bolton: 27 April 1717
- Charles Fitzroy, 2nd Duke of Grafton: 18 June 1720
- John Carteret, 2nd Baron Carteret: 6 May 1724
- Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset: 23 June 1730
- William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire: 9 April 1737
- Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield: 8 January 1745
- William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington: 15 November 1746
- Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset: 15 December 1750
- William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire: 2 April 1755
- John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford: 3 January 1757
- George Montague-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax: 3 April 1761
- Hugh Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland: 27 April 1763
- Thomas Thynne, 3rd Viscount Weymouth: 5 June 1765
- Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Earl of Hertford: 7 August 1765
- George William Hervey, 2nd Earl of Bristol: 16 October 1766 (did not assume office)
- George Townsend, 4th Viscount Townsend: 19 August 1767
- Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt: 29 October 1772
- John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire: 7 December 1776
- Frederick Howard, 5th Earl of Carlisle: 29 November 1780
- William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland: 8 April 1782
- George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 3rd Earl Temple: 15 August 1782
- Robert Henley, 2nd Earl of Northington: 3 May 1783
- Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland: 12 February 1784
- George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham: 27 October 1787
- John Fane, 10th Earl of Westmorland: 24 October 1789
- William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam: 13 December 1794
- John Jeffreys Pratt, 2nd Earl Camden: 13 March 1795
- Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis: 14 June 1798
The Irish Act of Union merges the Kingdom of Ireland with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The new United Kingdom comes into being on January 1, 1801. One result is the disappearance of the separate Irish Parliament. Though many expect the office of Lord Lieutenant to be abolished, it survives, though periodic debates throughout the nineteenth century erupt over whether it should be replaced by a 'Secretary of State for Ireland'. The office of Chief Secretary for Ireland (in effect number two in Irish government ranking) grows in importance, with the Lord Lieutenant gradually reduced to a largely though not completely ceremonial role.
United Kingdom
- Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl of Hardwicke: 27 April 1801
- Edward Clive, 1st Earl of Powis: 21 November 1805 (did not serve)
- John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford: 12 March 1806
- Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond: 11 April 1807
- Charles Whitworth, 1st Viscount Whitworth: 23 June 1813
- Charles Chetwynd Talbot, 2nd Earl Talbot: 3 October 1817
- Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley: 8 December 1821
- Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey: 27 February 1828
- Hugh Percy, 3rd Duke of Northumberland: 22 January 1829
- Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey: 4 December 1830
- Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley: 12 September 1833
- Thomas Hamilton, 9th Earl of Haddington: 1 January 1835
- Constantine Henry Phipps, 6th Earl of Mulgrave: 29 April 1835
- Hugh Fortescue, Viscount Ebrington: 13 March 1839
- Thomas Philip de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey: 11 September 1841
- William à Court, 1st Baron Heytesbury: 17 July 1844
- John William Ponsonby, 4th Earl of Bessborough: 8 July 1846
- George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon: 22 May 1847
- Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton: 1 March 1852
- Edward Granville Eliot, 3rd Earl of St Germans: 5 January 1853
- George William Frederick Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle: 7 March 1855
- Archibald William Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton: 8 March 1858
- George William Frederick Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle: 24 June 1859
- John Wodehouse, 3rd Baron Wodehouse: 1 November 1864
- James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Abercorn: 13 July 1866
- John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer: 18 December 1868
- James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Abercorn: 2 March 1874
- John Winston Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough: 11 December 1876
- Francis Thomas de Grey Cowper, 7th Earl Cowper: 4 May 1880
- John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer: 4 May 1882
- Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon: 27 June 1885
- John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen: 8 February 1886
- Charles Stewart Vane-Tempest-Stewart, 6th Marquess of Londonderry: 3 August 1886
- Lawrence Dundas, 3rd Earl of Zetland: 30 July 1889
- Robert Offley Ashburton Milnes, 2nd Baron Houghton: 18 August 1892
- George Henry Cadogan, 5th Earl Cadogan: 29 June 1895
- William Humble Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley: 11 August 1902
- John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, 7th Earl of Aberdeen: 11 December 1905
- Ivor Churchill Guest, 2nd Baron Wimborne: 17 February 1915
- John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Viscount French of Ypres: 9 May 1918
- Edmund Fitzalan-Howard, 1st Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent: 27 April 1921
Office abolished with the creation of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. It was replaced by the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. In Northern Ireland the position was replaced by that of Governor of Northern Ireland.