Attorney-General for Ireland

This article is about the pre-independence office. For the modern office, see Attorney General of Ireland.

Michael Morris, later Lord Killanin, Attorney-General for Ireland from 1866 to 1867
Philip Tisdall, Attorney-General for Ireland from 1760 to 1777, portrait by Angelica Kauffmann

The Attorney-General for Ireland was an Irish and then, from 1801 under the Acts of Union 1800, United Kingdom government office-holder. He was senior in rank to the Solicitor-General for Ireland: both advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. With the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, the duties of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General for Ireland were taken over by the Attorney General of Ireland. The office of Solicitor-General for Ireland was abolished at the same time for reasons of economy. This led to repeated complaints from the first Attorney General of Ireland, Hugh Kennedy, about the "immense volume of work" which he was now forced to deal with single-handedly.[1]

  1. ^ McCullagh, David (2010). The Reluctant Taoiseach: A Biography of John A Costello. Dublin: Gill & MacMillan. p. 48. Until 1929 the Attorney General had no full-time civil servants to assist him in giving legal advice, although there were a number of parliamentary draughtsmen.