The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then (from the Act of Union 1800) United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On rare occasions, there was also a Deputy Attorney-General, who was distinct from the Solicitor-General. At least two holders of the office, Patrick Barnewall (1534–1550) and Sir Roger Wilbraham (1586–1603), played a leading role in Government, although in Barnewall's case, this may be partly because he, was also King's Serjeant. As with the Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Solicitor-General for Ireland was usually a barrister rather than a solicitor.
The first record of a Solicitor General is in 1511, although the office may be older than that as the records are incomplete; on the other hand, the equivalent English office is a relatively recent creation, dating from 1461. Early Solicitors almost always held the like of Serjeant-at-law. For some forty years in the sixteenth century a Principal Solicitor for Ireland shared the duties of the office: confusingly both were referred to as "the Solicitor". The Principal Solicitor might also be a Serjeant-at-law, as Richard Finglas was.
Elizabeth I thought poorly of most of her Irish-born Law Officers (there were a few exceptions like James Dowdall) and Richard Finglas, and from 1584 onwards there was a practice, which lasted for several decades, of appointing English-born lawyers as Solicitor General. At least one of them, Sir Roger Wilbraham (in office 1586–1603), was a key figure in the Dublin government for many years.
Unlike the Attorney General, the Solicitor was not, as a rule, a member of the Privy Council of Ireland, although he might be summoned by the council to advise it.
With the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the duties of both the Attorney General and Solicitor General for Ireland were taken over by the Attorney General of Ireland, and the office of Solicitor General was abolished, apparently as an economy measure. This led to complaints for many years about the undue burden of work which was placed on the Attorney General, whose office was seriously understaffed until the 1930s.
Contents
Solicitors-General for Ireland (1511–1922)
16th century
Thomas Rochfort: appointed 1511
Thomas Luttrell: 9 September 1532 – 1534
Patrick Barnewall: 17 October 1534 – 1550
John Bathe: 16 October 1550 – 1554
James Dowdall: 20 July 1554 – 1565
Nicholas Nugent: 17 April 1565 – 1574
Richard Bellings: February 1574 – 1584
Jesse Smythes: 7 July 1584 – 1586
Roger Wilbraham: 11 February 1586 – 1603
17th century
Sir John Davies: 18 September 1603 – 1606
Sir Robert Jacobe: 19 April 1606 – 1618
Sir Richard Bolton: 31 December 1618 – 1622
Sir Edward Bolton: 5 December 1622 – 1640
Sir William Sambach: 8 June 1640 – ?
Office vacant c.1640-1657
William Ellice: 1657 – 1658 (Commonwealth)
Robert Shapcote: 1658 – 1660 (Commonwealth)
Sir John Temple: 10 July 1660 – 1689
Sir Theobald Butler: 1689 – 25 July 1689
Sir Richard Levinge, 1st Baronet 3 November 1689 – 1695
Alan Brodrick: 10 May 1695 – 1704
18th century
Sir Richard Levinge, 1st Baronet: 4 April 1704 – 1709
John Forster: 8 September 1709 – 24 December 1709
William Whitshed: 24 December 1709 – 1711
Francis Bernard: 4 June 1711 – 1714
John Rogerson: 8 November 1714 – 14 May 1720
Thomas Marlay: 13 October 1720 – 1727
Robert Jocelyn: 5 April 1727 – 29 September 1730
John Bowes: 29 September 1730 – 3 September 1739
St George Caulfeild: 24 September 1739 – 23 December 1741
Warden Flood: 24 December 1741 – 27 August 1751
Philip Tisdall: 27 August 1751 – 31 July 1760
John Gore: 31 July 1760 – 24 August 1764
Marcus Paterson: 29 August 1764 – 18 June 1770
Godfrey Lill: 18 June 1770 – 1774
John Scott: 13 July 1774 – 17 October 1777
Robert Hellen: 31 October 1777 – 1779
Hugh Carleton: 7 April 1779 – 30 April 1787
Arthur Wolfe: 1 May 1787 – 16 July 1789
John Toler: 16 July 1789 – 26 June 1798
20th century
George Wright: 30 January 1900 – 1901
James Campbell: October 1901 – 1905
Redmond Barry: 20 December 1905 – 2 December 1909
Charles O'Connor: 2 December 1909 – 26 September 1911
Ignatius O'Brien: 19 October 1911 – 24 June 1912
Thomas Molony: 24 June 1912 – 10 April 1913
John Moriarty: 25 April 1913 – 20 June 1913
Jonathan Pim: 20 June 1913 – 1 July 1914
James O'Connor: 1 July 1914 – 8 January 1917
James Chambers: 19 March 1917 – June 1917
Arthur Samuels: 12 September 1917 – 7 April 1918
John Blake Powell: 7 April 1918 – 1918
Denis Henry: 27 November 1918 – 6 July 1919
Daniel Martin Wilson: 6 July 1919 – June 1921
Thomas Watters Brown: 12 June 1921 – 5 August 1921
Office abolished thereafter
Principal Solicitors for Ireland (1537–1574)
Walter Cowley: 7 September 1537 – 1546
John Bathe: 7 February 1546 – 1550
Richard Finglas: 17 October 1550 – 1574
James Dowdall: 20 July 1554 – 1565
Lucas Dillon 1565 – 1566
John Bathe (cousin of the earlier John Bathe): 20 October 1570 – 1574