[citation needed] He was Prior to the Act of Union 1800 which abolished the Irish parliament, the Lord Lieutenant formally delivered the Speech from the Throne outlining his Government's policies.

Critics accused successive viceroys of using their patronage power as a corrupt means of controlling parliament.

The chief constitutional figures in the viceregal court were: Lords Lieutenant were appointed for no set term but served for "His/Her Majesty's pleasure" (in reality, as long as wished by the British government).

[4] The post ebbed and flowed in importance, being used on occasion as a form of exile for prominent British politicians who had fallen afoul of the Court of St. James's or Westminster.

By the mid-to-late 19th century the post had declined from being a powerful political office to that of being a symbolic quasi-monarchical figure who reigned, not ruled, over the Irish administration.

As the location of the Viceregal Court, the Privy Council and of various governmental offices, Dublin Castle became a less than desirable full-time residence for the viceroy, vicereine and their family.

In 1781 the British government bought the former ranger's house in Phoenix Park to act as a personal residence for the Lord Lieutenant.

By tradition the coat of arms of each Lord Lieutenant was displayed somewhere in the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle; some were incorporated into stained glass windows, some carved into seating, etc.

From the early 19th century, calls were made frequently for the abolition of the office and its replacement by a "Secretary of State for Ireland".

A bill to effect this change was introduced in Parliament in 1850 by the government of Lord John Russell but was subsequently withdrawn when it became clear that it would receive insufficient support to pass.