Catalogue description Records of the Irish Office

Before 1801 there was a Lord Lieutenant for Ireland's secretary in London. Thereafter an office was established to serve the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland when he was in London and to handle official Irish correspondence. Initially the office was headed by an under secretary and also included a law adviser. After 1831 papers were frequently transmitted directly between the Chief Secretary's Office in Dublin and Whitehall departments, thereby reducing the work and the staff of the Irish Office in London. It was again enlarged in the late nineteenth century to meet the increase in parliamentary questions.

The office also handled formal communications with the British government, particularly in matters of crown grants, warrants or commissions. The office submitted letters of the lord lieutenant requesting such grants to the Home Office and in due course received a warrant for the issue of the great seal of Ireland which was then transmitted to the Signet Office for enrolment.

The Irish Office continued to function as a subsidiary branch of the Chief Secretary's Office until early in 1922 when most of the staff of the Dublin Office were transferred to London, along with selected records required for administrative purposes. The Irish Office was thereafter virtually responsible to two ministers: the chief secretary for arrangements for the transfer of functions to the new Irish authorities and the administration of reserved functions; and the Colonial secretary for relations with the Provisional government of Southern Ireland and questions relating to negotiations for the establishment of the Irish Free State.

In October 1922 the office of chief secretary lapsed, but the Irish Office continued under the general direction of the Colonial Office. In December 1922 the old Irish administration was wholly superseded and the Irish Office became the Irish Branch.