High Sheriff of Kerry
Encyclopedia
The High Sheriff of Kerry was the British Crown’s judicial representative in County Kerry
, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. 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. However the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not fulfil his entire term through death or other event and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given hereunder are the dates of appointment. All addresses are in County Kerry unless stated otherwise.
County Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. 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. However the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not fulfil his entire term through death or other event and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given hereunder are the dates of appointment. All addresses are in County Kerry unless stated otherwise.
High Sheriffs of County Kerry
- 1585: Ralph Lane
- 1585: Maurice O'Connell
- 1588: Edward Denny of Tralee Castle
- 1602: Walter Hussey of Moyle and Dingle
- 1614: Geoffrey O'Connell
- 1622: Robert Blennerhassett of Tralee
- 1623: Valentine Browne, 1st Baronet
- 1634: Sir Edward Denny, Kt of Tralee Castle
- 1638: Turlogh Mac Mahon
- 1639: Mac Dermot O'Mahony
- 1641: Sir Thomas Harris
- 1641: John Blennerhassett of Ballyseedy, Tralee
- 1642: Edward Blennerhassett of Ballycarty Castle
- 1654: Sir Thomas Southwell, 1st Baronet (also Sheriff of Clare and Limerick)
- 1656: Arthur Denny of Tralee Castle
- 1658: John Blennerhassett of Ballyseedy, Tralee
- 1659: Thomas Herbert
- 1660: Rowland Bateman
- 1660: Patrick Crosbie
- 1661: Thomas Crosbie
- 1663: John Blennerhassett of Tralee
- 1671: William Naper
- 1679: Thomas Blennerhassett of Letter
- 1682: Robert Blennerhassett of Killorglin
- 1683: Captain William Reeves
- 1683: David Crosbie
- 1685: Henry Stoughton
- 1686: Donogh Mac Gillicuddy
- 1688: John Browne
- 1693: Edward Herbert
- 1695: Barry Denny
- 1699: William Crosbie
18th Century
19th Century
20th Century
- 1900: Arthur Stewart Herbert, of Cahirnane
- 1903: Lindsey Bertie Talbot-Crosbie
- 1907: Sir Morgan Ross O'Connell, 4th Baronet
- 1910: Robert John FitzGerald