{{distinguish|Chief Secretary for Ireland}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox official post | post = <small>[[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]]</small><br />Secretary of State | flag = | flagsize = 120px | flagcaption = | insignia = File:Arms of Ireland (historical).svg | insigniasize = 120px | insigniacaption = Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Ireland from 1542 to 1800 | image = | incumbent = | incumbentsince = | appointer = [[Chief governor of Ireland]] | style = | member_of = [[Privy Council of Ireland]] | department = | reports_to = |seat = [[Dublin Castle]], [[Dublin]] | termlength = No fixed term | formation = 1560–1801 | first = [[John Challoner]] | last = [[Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester]] | website = }} The '''principal secretary of state''', or p'''rincipal secretary of the council''', was a government office in the [[Kingdom of Ireland]]. It was abolished in 1801 when Ireland became part of the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] under the [[Acts of Union 1800]].
The post was created in May 1560 by the [[Lord Deputy of Ireland]], [[Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex]]. Sussex created the role to help re-establish English governance in Ireland, as part of the wider [[Tudor conquest of Ireland]]. The role was modelled in part on the role of [[Secretary of State (England)|Secretary of State]] in England, and was intended to be distinct from the clerks of the Irish Privy Council or the Governor's Private Secretary.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Barry |first1=Judith |title=Sir Geoffrey Fenton and the Office of Secretary of State for Ireland, 1580-1608 |journal=Irish Historical Studies |date=2006 |volume=35 |issue=138 |pages=137–159 |doi=10.1017/S0021121400004855 |jstor=20547425 |s2cid=159783776 |issn=0021-1214}}</ref> Whilst the nature of the role evolved other time, originally the holder was expected to:<ref name="Wood">{{cite journal |last1=Wood |first1=Herbert |title=The Offices of Secretary of State for Ireland and Keeper of the Signet or Privy Seal |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Section C: Archaeology, Celtic Studies, History, Linguistics, Literature |date=1928 |volume=38 |pages=51–68 |jstor=25515934 |issn=0035-8991}}</ref> * chair the [[Privy Council of Ireland]] * engage in regular full correspondence with the crown
Other, less common functions included:<ref name="Wood"/> * directing clerks of the Privy Council of Ireland * charging [[treason]]s and [[seditious libel]]s * ordering the [[Postmaster General of Ireland]] to [[Postal interception|open letters]] * offering advice on matters of state to the [[chief governor of Ireland]] ([[Lord Deputy of Ireland|Lord Deputy]], later [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland|Lord Lieutenant]])
In part due to the absence of the Southwells during their time in the role, it became largely ceremonial, with more correspondence being managed directly by the lord lieutenant and his [[Chief Secretary for Ireland|chief secretary]], or alternatively the [[Lord Justices (Ireland)|lords justices]] (who themselves became defunct after 1765). [[Richard Cooke (MP for Lymington)|Richard Cooke]], for instance, acted as both [[Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland]] and Secretary of State at the same time.<ref name="Wood"/> The last three Secretaries of State also held the more powerful position of Chief Secretary. No secretary of state was appointed after the [[Acts of Union 1800|1800 Acts of Union]]; in 1802 the last appointee resigned to become [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the UK House of Commons]].<ref name="Wood"/>
==List of secretaries==
* by 1576: [[John Challoner]] * 1581: Sir [[Geoffrey Fenton]] and another * 1603: Sir [[Richard Cooke (MP for Lymington)|Richard Cooke]] * 1612: Sir [[Dudley Norton]] * 1616: [[Francis Annesley, 1st Viscount Valentia|Francis Annesley, 1st Baron Mountnorris]] * 1634: [[Philip Mainwaring]] * 1661: Sir [[Paul Davys]] (granted the office [[Reversion (law)|in reversion]] after Mainwaring) * 1665: [[George Lane, 1st Viscount Lanesborough]] (in reversion after Davys) * 1678: Sir [[John Davys (died 1689)|John Davys]] (in reversion after Lane) * 1690: Sir [[Robert Southwell (diplomat)|Robert Southwell]] * 1702: [[Edward Southwell Sr.]] * 1730: [[Edward Southwell Jr.]] * 1744: William Lingent Esqr.<ref>http://onlinecollection.nationalgallery.ie/objects/1073/william-lingen-irish-secretary-of-state</ref> * 1755: [[Thomas Carter (1690–1763)|Thomas Carter]] * 1763: [[Philip Tisdall]] * 1766: [[John Hely-Hutchinson (statesman)|John Hely-Hutchinson]] (in reversion, succeeded 1777) * 1796: [[Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester|Thomas Pelham]] ** [[Edmund Henry Pery, 1st Earl of Limerick|Baron Glentworth]] (1795–97) and [[Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh|Lord Castlereagh]] (1797–1801) were [[Keeper of the Signet or Privy Seal of Ireland]] during Pelham's term; other Secretaries of State held the office of Keeper simultaneously) * 1801: [[Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester|Charles Abbot]] (vacated office in 1802 when appointed [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the UK Commons]])
==See also==
* [[Privy Council of Ireland]] * [[Chief Secretary for Ireland]] * [[Secretary of State (United Kingdom)]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Dublin Castle administration}}
[[Category:Early modern history of Ireland]] [[Category:Political office-holders in pre-partition Ireland]]