Under-Secretary for Ireland
The Under-Secretary for Ireland was the permanent head of the British administration in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922.
The Under-Secretary's residence was at Ashtown Lodge in Phoenix Park, also known as the Under Secretary's Lodge.
Among the best-known holders of the office was Thomas Henry Burke, who was assassinated along with the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, in the so-called Phoenix Park Killings on Saturday, 6 May 1882.
In April 1887 Colonel Edward Robert King-Harman was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, but he died on 10 June 1888 and no further appointments were made.
Under-Secretaries for Ireland
;Under-Secretary to the Chief Secretary:- Arthur Podmore by 1690
- Joshua Dawson 1699
- Eustace Budgell 1714
- Charles Maddockes 1718
- Thomas Tickell 1724
- 1740 John Potter
- Thomas Waite 1747
- Thomas Waite 1777
- Sackville Hamilton 1780–1795
- Lodge Morres 1795
- Sackville Hamilton 1795–1796
- Edward Cooke 1796-1800
- Henry Meredyth 1777
- John William Hamilton 1778
- John Lees 1781
- Charles Francis Sheridan 1782
- Edward Cooke 1789
- John Doyle 9 February 1795
- Edward Cooke 1 June 1795
- William Elliot 1796
- Alexander Marsden 1801–1806
- James Traill 1806–1808
- Sir Charles Saxton 1808–1812
- William Gregory 1812–1831
- Sir William Gossett 1831–1835
- Thomas Drummond 1835–1840
- Norman Hilton Macdonald 1840–1841
- Edward Lucas 1841–1845
- Richard Pennefather 1845–1846
- Sir Thomas Nicholas Redington 1846–1852
- John Arthur Wynne 1852–1853
- Sir Thomas Aiskew Larcom 1853–1868
- Sir Edward Robert Wetherall 1868–1869
- Thomas Henry Burke 1869–1882
- Sir Robert George Crookshank Hamilton 1882–1886
- Sir Redvers Henry Buller 1886–1887
- Sir Joseph West Ridgeway 1887–1893
- Sir David Harrel 1893–1902
- Sir Antony MacDonnell 1902–1908
- Sir James Brown Dougherty 1908–1914
- Sir Matthew Nathan 1914–1916
- Sir Robert Chalmers 1916
- Sir William Byrne 1916–1918
- James Macmahon 1918–1922
- Sir John Anderson 1920–1922
Assistant Under-Secretaries for Ireland
| Name | Dates of service | Notes |
| Robert M. Matheson | 1856–1875 | His son Sir Robert E. Matheson was Registrar-General for Ireland 1900–1909; his grandson Robert N. Matheson founded the law firm Matheson. |
| Henry Robinson | 1876–1879 | Promoted to vice president of the Local Government Board for Ireland. Father of Sir Henry Robinson, 1st Baronet. |
| William Kaye | 1878–1895 | Afterwards private secretary to the Lord Lieutenant |
| James Brown Dougherty | 1895–1908 | Knighted in 1902 |
| Edward O'Farrell | September 1908–June 1918 | Resigned to become one of the three Estates Commissioners in the Irish Land Commission |
| John James Taylor | June 1918–1920 | When Taylor resigned, John Anderson on 28 May 1920 became "joint under-secretary" with James Macmahon. This marked an escalation of the Black and Tans in the Anglo-Irish War. |
| Alfred Cope | 28 May 1920–October 1922 | Seconded from Whitehall due to the security crisis.
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