Sheriff of County Dublin

Not to be confused with Sheriff of Dublin City.

The Sheriff of County Dublin (or (High) Sheriff of the County of Dublin) was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Dublin. Initially, an office for a lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxford in 1258. The first recorded Sheriff was Ralph Eure, appointed in that year. The next recorded Sheriff was Sir David de Offington, who was Sheriff in 1282.[1] Besides his judicial importance, the sheriff had ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs.[2]

The first Shrievalties were established before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and date back to Saxon times.[3] In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord-Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the Sheriff's precedence.[4] Despite however that the holder of the office retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in a county.[2]

  1. ^ John David Griffith Davies; Frederick Robert Worts (1928). England in the Middle Ages: Its Problems and Legacies. A. A. Knopf. p. 119.
  2. ^ a b Alexander, George Glover (1915). The Administration of Justice in Criminal Matters (in England and Wales). The University Press. pp. 89.
  3. ^ Morris, William Alfred (1968). The Medieval English Sheriff to 1300. Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 73. ISBN 0719003423.
  4. ^ Millward, Paul (2007). Civic Ceremonial: A Handbook, History and Guide for Mayors, Councillors and Officers. Shaw. p. 163. ISBN 978-0721901640.