Order of St Patrick

THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS ORDER OF ST PATRICK WAS THE THIRD MOST SENIOR ORDER OF CHIVALRY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Many distinguished Ulster peers have been Knights of St Patrick.

Established in 1783, it was an order of knighthood and the letters KP followed the recipient's title.

Originally founded as a gesture of goodwill towards the Kingdom of Ireland, it was made available to Irish peers who had rendered distinguished services, and to those who could not be admitted to the Order of the Garter (limited to twenty-four).

The Order of St Patrick was restricted to twenty-two knights.

The insignia was particularly decorative: a sash riband was worn over the right shoulder, light blue in colour, with an oval pierced badge suspended from it.

This consisted of a shamrock with three crowns on its leaves (representing the kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland), the shamrock being placed on a cross of St Patrick.

The centre was surrounded by an oval which bore the legend QUIS SEPARABIT - who shall separate - and the Latin numerals, MDCCLXXXIII (1783).

The gold and enamel collar chain consisted of alternate roses and harps.

The breast star was of silver with a representation of the sash badge in the centre.

The mantle was also light blue satin with the star of the Order embroidered thereon.

The badge and plume of the Irish Guards are based on the Order's star and light blue colour.

The Order was discontinued following the secession of the Irish Republic from the United Kingdom in 1922.

3rd Duke of Abercorn KG KP. (Image: Government Art Collection)

The last non-royal recipient was the 3rd Duke of Abercorn, KG, KP, PC, in 1922.

The last surviving recipient of the Patrick was His late Royal Highness The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who died in 1974.

HRH Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster KG KP etc

The last appointment to the Order was for His Royal Highness The Prince Albert Frederick Arthur George, Duke of York (later GEORGE VI), conferred on St Patrick's Day, 1936.

The Rev Professor Peter Galloway, OBE, JP, has written a book about the Order, entitled The Most Illustrious Order: The Order of Saint Patrick and its Knights, by Unicorn Press.

As Professor Galloway concluded, 

Perhaps a day may come when the Order of St Patrick could be revived but, until a new, appropriate and acceptable constituency can be discerned, this seems unlikely in the foreseeable future.

First published in July, 2008.

Order of St Patrick: Ulster List

THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS ORDER OF ST PATRICK WAS THE THIRD MOST SENIOR ORDER OF CHIVALRY IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. IT RANKED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE MOST ANCIENT AND MOST NOBLE ORDER OF THE THISTLE

The Knights listed below had connections in one form or another with Ulster.

SELECTIVE LIST OF KNIGHTS OF THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS ORDER OF ST PATRICK

• 2nd Earl of Clanbrassil 1783
• 1st Earl of Charlemont 1783
• 1st Earl of Ely 1783
• 1st Marquess of Ely 1794
• 2nd Earl of Roden 1806
• 2nd Marquess of Ely 1807
• 1st Earl O'Neill 1809
• 2nd Earl of Enniskillen 1810
• 2nd Marquess of Donegall 1821
• 2nd Earl of Caledon 1821
• 3rd Earl of Roden 1821
• 2nd Earl of Charlemont 1831
  
• 3rd Marquess of Downshire 1831
• 10th Viscount Massereene 1851
• 1st Earl of Dartrey, 1855
• 3rd Earl of Gosford 1855
• 4th Marquess of Londonderry 1856
• 3rd Marquess of Donegall 1857
• 4th Marquess of Downshire 1859
• 1st Marquess of Dufferin & Ava 1864
• 2nd Baron Lurgan 1864
• 3rd Earl of Charlemont 1865
• 3rd Earl of Erne 1868
• 4th Earl of Gosford 1869
• 5th Marquess of Londonderry 1874
• 7th Duke of Manchester 1877
• 4th Earl of Erne 1889
• 3rd Earl of Kilmorey 1890
• 4th Earl of Caledon 1897
• 4th Earl of Enniskillen 1902
• 24th Baron de Ros 1902
• 1st Viscount Pirrie 1909
• 9th Earl of Shaftesbury 1911
• 3rd Duke of Abercorn 1922

The first three appointees were founder members of the Order. 

The Most Noble James, 3rd Duke of Abercorn, KG KP PC, was the final non-royal conferral before the Order went into abeyance.

First published on the 17th March, 2011.

Dublin Castle: 1783

George, 1st Marquess of Buckingham KG KP,
Founder of the Order of St Patrick

THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS ORDER OF SAINT PATRICK WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1783 DURING THE REIGN OF GEORGE III.

THE FOLLOWING ENTRY APPEARED IN THE COURT CIRCULAR OF THE TIME:-

St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle (Image: Robert J Welch)

DUBLIN CASTLE, MARCH 11th, 1783

St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle, 2014

THIS Day having been appointed by His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant for the Investiture of the Knights of the Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick, the Noblemen named in His Majesty's Letter to be Knights Companions of the Order were summoned to attend, in order to be invested with the Ensigns of that Dignity previous to their Installation; and being assembled in the Presence Chamber, a Procession was made from thence to the Great Ball Room, viz.

Pursuivants and Officers attending the State

Peers named in The King's Letter, viz. Earls:

Bective, and Charlemont.

Courtown, and Mornington.

Clanbrassil, and Shannon.

Tyrone, and Drogheda.

Inchiquin, and Westmeath.

Earl of Clanricarde, and Duke of Leinster

Officers of His Excellency's Household, viz.

Pages

Gentleman at large

Gentleman of the Chamber

Master of the Ceremonies

Gentleman of the House

Comptroller and Steward of the Household

Officers of the Order, viz.

Pursuivants.

Heralds.

Register, and Usher.

Secretary, and Genealogist

Chancellor

Usher King-at-Arms bearing His Majesty's Commission,

and the Badge and Riband of the Grand Master upon a Blue Velvet Cushion

Lord Viscount Carhampton, bearing the Sword of State

His Excellency the Lord Lieutenant with Ten Aides de Camp, Five on each Side

Gold Stick

Yeomen of the Guard

First published in June, 2014.  I am grateful to The Gazette for assistance.

Patrick Revival

STAR OF THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS ORDER OF ST PATRICK

One of the three great national Orders of Chivalry, The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick (KP), has lain dormant since the investiture of the last Knight, HRH The Duke of York (later George VI), in 1936.

The last surviving Knight was another son of  King George V, HRH The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Ulster.

He died in 1974.

I have read about and studied the history of the Order, its constitution and establishment at length.

Since the partition of Ireland, in 1922, there have been no non-royal conferrals.

The 3rd Duke of Abercorn, first Governor of Northern Ireland, was the very last non-royal conferral, in 1922.

Serious and sustained attempts were made to keep the Order alive (hence King George V appointing his sons).

The continuance of the great Order was discussed for many years, including how it could continue; and after a period, be revived.

Lords Craigavon  and Brookeborough were both most desirous that the Order be revived for Northern Ireland, as a national Order ~ like the Garter in England and the Thistle in Scotland.

Despite the fact that, technically, the Order remains on the statute book (it’s still on the royal family website), it has been allowed to wither and hibernate.

Sir Winston Churchill was the last statesman to endeavour to revive the Order

Having read some documents, it is my belief that the key players in the Order’s revival today would be:-

• The Prime Minister
• The Foreign Secretary
• The Northern Ireland Secretary
• The First Minister of Northern Ireland
• The Northern Ireland Assembly
• The Sovereign

 

I have to mention the Irish Government because the government of the then Irish Free State was instrumental in its resistance to keeping the Patrick alive, or extant.

However, to my knowledge, the Garter and the Thistle are in the personal gift of the Sovereign, so I wonder whether the revival of the Patrick should really be "politicised" at all.

It need merely be reconstituted, with new statutes, officers and chapel.

The Order of St Patrick would need to be reconstituted; new and more appropriate Statutes drawn; and probably a new Chapel found for the banners, hatchments etc of the new Knights.

It was suggested in the 20th century that the Great Hall at Stormont would be fitting as a chamber for the banners.

A former Archbishop of Armagh offered St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, as the Chapel of the Order.

The insignia of the Order remains, including at least 22 chains, stars, mantles and sashes; as does the Sovereign’s regalia and the Grand Master’s insignia.

All of the insignia still exists at the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, I believe.

I respectfully and humbly call on Her Majesty’s Government to consider the revival of our great Order of St Patrick, as a gesture of goodwill towards the people of Northern Ireland.

Like the Garter and the Thistle, it should be restricted to a few dozen.

It should remain in the personal gift of the Sovereign.

I have been using my website to give exposure to the Patrick for a number of years and will continue so to do.

The Rev Professor Peter Galloway, LVO, OBE, JP, has written a book about the Order, entitled The Most Illustrious Order: The Order of Saint Patrick and its Knights, by Unicorn Press.

Guards Insignia

The cap badge of the Irish Guards and the bearskin plume are both based on the star and sky-blue sash colour of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick.

The Princess Royal is pictured presenting the Regiment with shamrock.

The badge consists of a star, within which is a shamrock with three crowns on its leaves (the historic kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland), the shamrock being placed on a cross of St Patrick.

The centre is surrounded by a circle which bears the legend QUIS SEPARABIT ~ who shall separate ~ and the Roman numerals MDCCLXXXIII ~1783 ~ the year that the Order of St Patrick was established.

First published in November, 2009.

Order Revival?

I am wondering - and I could be wrong - whether the Queen will take the opportunity to propose a revival of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, in some form or other, during Her Majesty's state visit to the Irish Republic.

I have written at length about the Order, its institution and its possible revival already.

I have suggested that the Chapel of the Order should be within St Patrick's (Anglican) Cathedral in the City of Armagh; and that it would be appropriate to remove the ancient banners and insignia of the former Knights from St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin to the aforesaid cathedral church.

Morning at the Museum

I've been seeking a black silk tie with minuscule scattered white spots for some time now. These sorts of ties were in evidence last night on the telly, the actors playing Churchill and several members of his war Cabinet sporting similar ones; though I've been looking out for one since long before that.

I finally found one at T M Lewin's shop in Howard Street, Belfast.

Thence I motored in a southerly direction, up Bedford Street, Dublin Road and University Road to my destination, the Ulster Museum.

Readers from Northern Ireland shall know that the Museum has been closed for several years due to major refurbishment.

On this occasion, I stayed for about an hour, sufficient time to get a flavour of the new Museum. It must be said that its transformation is a great improvement, despite my being slightly disappointed that there were no "old master" paintings on display - and there shan't be for another three months.

I viewed some of the most notable items on display, viz. the insignia of the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick which, in this case, once belonged to the 9th Earl of Shaftesbury; and the Toilet Service commissioned for the 19th Earl of Kildare (whose son became the 1st Duke of Leinster). Doubtless the newly-created Duke would have commissioned a new toilet service, as befitted His Grace's rank, with a ducal coronet on the silverware.

Sadly the mantle (below) and sash riband of the Order were not on display, though they can be seen on my blog!

The taxidermic bird collection is very good indeed.

I lunched at the new Girona Restaurant on the ground floor. To my mind it is more akin to a self-service café; though I am sure it compares well with its peers in many other provincial museums. Simply do not have high expectations and you shan't be terribly disappointed.

There was a short queue today at midday, so I waited for about ten minutes. The audible "pop music" being played did not agree with my ears! The staff all seem to be mostly anxious to please and reasonably diligent. I gave my order at the counter: breast of chicken, with small "roast" potatoes, carrot and turnip batons and some kind of sauce. I also ordered the citrus tart with double cream; with a pot of tea.

I told the cashier that I had ordered the citrus tart, which the chef advised he'd bring to my table later. The bill came to £8.70. Bearing in mind that the chicken was £7.50, I suspect that they omitted to charge me for the pudding which was, incidentally, quite good.

The chicken meal was perfectly acceptable. The potatoes were certainly in their "jackets", though didn't seem roasted to me. I'd get a similar result if I boiled them or cooked them in a microwave oven. The chicken breast was large, the number of little potatoes generous.

My main gripe was the temperature of the meal. By the time I sat down to eat it, it was lukewarm; and half-way through, it became cool. Believe me, I am not fussy about piping-hot food, so heaven knows what a fuss-pot would have done - taken it back for a "blitzing" in the microwave, presumably.

They had a very good display of scones, muffins and pastries, by the way.

I expect I'll revisit the Museum in three months' time, when the "old master" painting collection returns.

Order Of St Patrick E-Petition

There is still plenty of time to sign the 10 Downing Street e-petition for the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick. Two hundred signatures are required before officials pay any heed to it.

Petition To Revive Order Of St Patrick

I've just received an email from Downing Street informing me that the petition to revive the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick is now on their website.

Should you feel that this part of our heritage should be restored I urge you, please, to sign the petition. The link is as follows:-

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/RestoreTheKP/

Thank you.