Augustine Birrell | |
---|---|
President of the Board of Education | |
In office 10 December 1905 – 23 January 1907 | |
Monarch | Edward VII |
Prime Minister | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
Preceded by | The Marquess of Londonderry |
Succeeded by | Reginald McKenna |
Chief Secretary for Ireland | |
In office 23 January 1907 – 3 May 1916 | |
Monarchs | Edward VII George V |
Prime Minister | Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman H. H. Asquith |
Preceded by | James Bryce |
Succeeded by | Sir Henry Duke |
Personal details | |
Born | Wavertree, Liverpool, England | 19 January 1850
Died | 20 November 1933 London, England | (aged 83)
Political party | Liberal |
Spouse(s) | Margaret Mirrielees (d. 1879) Eleanor Tennyson (d. 1915) |
Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
Augustine Birrell KC (19 January 1850 – 20 November 1933) was a British Liberal Party politician, who was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916. In this post, he was praised for enabling tenant farmers to own their property, and for extending university education for Catholics, but was criticised for failing to take action against the rebels before the Easter Rising, leading to his subsequent resignation. A barrister by training, he was also an author, noted for humorous essays.