Vice Great Seneschal of IrelandorDeputy Lord High Steward of Ireland, is not a formal title of office, but describes a functional role under the aegis of the Hereditary Great SeneschalorLord High Steward of Ireland, the latter acting under royal authority dating back several centuries.[1] The function of Vice Great Seneschal of Ireland was assigned to the Hereditary Seneschal or Lord Steward for Tyrconnell, Patrick Denis O'Donnell (1922–2005)[2][3][4][5] and subsequently inherited by his son, Francis Martin O'Donnell.[6]
The precedent for the Lord High Steward/Great Seneschal to appoint a deputy through an appointment as Seneschal or Lord Steward of a County is found in the case of the appointment, of John Penyngton as Steward of the Liberty of Wexford.[7][8][9] Appointments by the Lords Shrewsbury of deputies to serve as Stewards of Counties in Ireland were upheld by the House of Lords as proof of the exercise of the prerogatives of the Lord High Steward of Ireland.[10]
The functional role as deputy consists of acting in the place of the Lord High Steward,[11] if required, to bear the Curtana,[12]aSword of State, and/or a White Wand at State ceremonials, including Royal Coronations, a responsibility confirmed by grant of Queen Victoria on 15 September 1871, and formerly to act as President of the Court by which a Peer may have been tried by his Peers in the Peerage of Ireland.
Notwithstanding that the island of Ireland now comprises a sovereign country, Ireland, and a province of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, the Vice Great Seneschal of Ireland role is still fulfilled in the United Kingdom.
In addition to the position of Vice Great Seneschal of Ireland, there are a few other honorary appointments as Deputy Lord High Steward of Ireland.[13] According to the Earl of Shrewsbury, the Lord High Steward of Ireland,[14] he has appointed five Deputies in an honorary capacity. One of these appointees is Anthony Boada.[15][16] The Earl emphasises that this is a purely honorific appointment, recognised neither by the College of Arms in London nor by the authorities in the Republic of Ireland. It is similar to the titular titles without land sold in the UK, conferring no rights whatsoever. While the appointment holds little significance, those appointed regard it as a friendly gesture. Notably, two appointees have taken it seriously and contributed to charitable and other purposes. The Earl does not permit the title to be used for commercial purposes.
One other of the five appointments, as a deputy to the Lord High Steward of Ireland, an office that became obsolete at the Coronation of King Charles III, is claimed by Joerg Barisch, Esquire.[17][18] Due to the fact that this is one of the honorific appointments, there is no reference to automatic registration in the Registry of Deeds in Ireland nor an automatically placed notice on the UK government's HM Gazette in London. Therefore, the Letters Patent issued in this case is held as evidence of itself.
In 1999, it was reported that Anthony Boada auctioned the deputy office through Strutt & Parker for over £55,000.[19][20]
Deputised Lords High Stewards or Great Seneschals of Ireland[edit]
The following were appointed to preside in the trials by the Irish House of Lords of Peers indicted for various crimes, and their ceremonial roles were limited to those appertaining to their temporary judicial role.
1739: Thomas Wyndham (1681–1745), 1st Baron Wyndham of Finglass
^Royal Grant of 17 July 1446 (Patent Roll, T.K. 24 Henry 6)
^Letters Patent issued by the Lord High Steward of Ireland, the Earl of Shrewsbury and Talbot, on 4 July 2002 at the House of Lords in London, England
^Registry of Deeds, Dublin, Book 12, referring to Letters Patent issued
^A Directory of Some Lords of the Manor and Barons in the British Isles [pp. 134–136], with Introduction by Charles Mosley (Editor-in-Chief of Burke's Peerage & Baronetage (106th edition) and of the re-titled 107th edition, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage), London 2012.ISBN978 0 9572133 0 2
^Registry of Deeds, Dublin, Book 12, no. 278 (2006), referring to Letters Patent of 4 July 2002
^Letters patent on 27 August 1450, the 28th year of the reign of Henry VI of England by John, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, Great Seneschal and Lord High Steward
^House of Lords, Printed Evidence, 7 August 1855, no. 6, page 11
^acknowledged in evidence in a case of the House of Lords on 1 August 1862
^Case on Behalf of Henry John Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford and Earl Talbot on his claim to the office of the Lord Steward of Ireland, lodged pursuant to the order of this Right Honourable House on the 1st Day of August, 1862, and based on favourable report to Queen Victoria by William Atherton, Attorney-General, on March 11, 1862 (see especially pages 8 and 9), and sections on Proofs, page 12-13
^The precedent for appointment of a deputy for an honorary hereditary officer of the Crown in Ireland is found in the license from King John in 1220 for John Marshall to appoint a deputy to him as Lord Marshall
^Preparing the Coronation, chapter by Sir Gerald W. Wollaston, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., Norroy and Ulster King of Arms, in Elizabeth Crowned Queen - The Pictorial record of the Coronation, published by Odhams Press Limited, Long Acre, London, 1953
^Letters Patent issued by the Lord High Steward of Ireland, the Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford, on 6 July 2022 at the House of Lords in London, England
