High Sheriff of County Cork

Not to be confused with Sheriff of Cork City.

The High Sheriff of County Cork was the Sovereign's judicial representative in County Cork. Initially an office for lifetime, assigned by the Sovereign, the High Sheriff became an annual appointment following the Provisions of Oxford in 1258.[1] Besides his judicial importance, the sheriff had ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs.[2]

The first (High) Shrievalties were established before the Norman Conquest 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 High Sheriff's precedence.[4] Despite however that the office retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in a county.[2]

  1. ^ Davies, John David Griffith; Worts, Frederick Robert (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 0-7190-0342-3.
  4. ^ Millward, Paul (2007). Civic Ceremonial: A Handbook, History and Guide for Mayors, Councillors and Officers. Shaw. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-7219-0164-0.