High Sheriff of Carlow


The High Sheriff of Carlow was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Carlow, Ireland from the 14th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Carlow 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 Carlow unless stated otherwise.

High Sheriffs of County Carlow

George III, 1760–1820

  • 1761: Thomas Bunbury
  • 1762:
  • 1766: John Vigors of Old Leighlin
  • 1767: Vesey Colclough
  • 1768:
  • 1769: William Bunbury
  • 1770: Clement Wolseley
  • 1771: Thomas Whelan
  • 1772:
  • 1773: John Perkins
  • 1775: Benjamin Burton Doyne
  • 1776: James Garrett of Janeville
  • 1777: George Bunbury of Rathmore
  • 1782: Richard Mercer, of Lodge
  • 1783: William Vicars, of Ballinakill
  • 1784: Sir Richard Butler, 7th Baronet of Garyhunden
  • 1785: Henry Bruen of Sportland
  • 1787: Robert Cornwall
  • 1788:
  • 1789: Harry Bunbury Lodge
  • 1790:
  • 1794: John Drought
  • 1794: William Browne
  • 1795: John Maxwell Barry of Newtownbarry
  • 1797: John Newton
  • 1800: Edward Eustace of Castlemore
  • 1802: John Bennett
  • 1804: Henry Colclough
  • 1805: David Latouche of Upton
  • 1806: William Garrett of Janeville
  • 1807: Robert Anthony Latouche, jnr
  • 1808: Robert Marshall
  • 1809: John Cornwall
  • 1810: Benjamin Disraeli of Bettyville House, Carlow
  • 1811: William Knott
  • 1812: Gilbert Pickering Rudkin of Wells
  • 1813: James Eustace of Castlemore
  • 1814: Beauchamp Colclough and Henry Colclough
  • 1815: Henry Guy Colclough
  • 1816: Benjamin Burton
  • 1817: John Faulkner Cornwall
  • 1818: Sir Thomas Butler, 8th Baronet
  • 1819: John Dawson Duckett of Duckett's Grove

George IV, 1820–1830

William IV, 1830–1837

  • 1831: Robert Clayton Browne of Browne's Hill
  • 1833: Horace Rochfort
  • 1834: John Watson of Ballydarton
  • 1834: Philip Bagnall of Drumleckney
  • 1835: James Hardy Eustace of Hardymount and Castlemore
  • 1836: Sir Richard Pierce Butler, 9th Baronet
  • 1837: George R. Keogh

Victoria, 1837–1901

Edward VII, 1901–1910

  • 1901: Godwin Butler Meade Swifte of Swiftsheath and Foulksrath Castle and Lionsden
  • 1902: Dermot Henry Doyne
  • 1903: Louis Perrin-Hatchell of Fortfield House
  • 1904: Henry Philip Newton of Mount Leinster
  • 1905: Sir Richard Pierce Butler, 11th Baronet
  • 1906: Stanley Edward Denyer of Pollacton
  • 1907: Lt-Col. Robert Clayton Browne-Clayton, D.S.O., of Browne's Hill
  • 1909: Thomas Leopold McClintock-Bunbury, 3rd Baron Rathdonnell
  • 1910: William Fitzwilliam Burton

George V 1910–1936

  • 1911: Walter Henry Mountiford Westropp-Dawson
  • 1920: Charles Richard Butler