Today is the feast of St Patrick, and on previous years I have posted about the Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick, founded by King George III in 1783 as the equivalent for Ireland of the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle.
There is a useful and comprehensive online account of the Order at Order of St. Patrick.
As that explains until the Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869-70 the Archbishop of Armagh was Prelate of the Order and the Archbishop of Dublin Chancellor. The Knights had stalls with their banners in St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
Badge of the Archbishop of Armagh as Prelate of the Order
Ulster Museum
Image: Pinterest
Badge of the Archbishop of Dublin as Chancellor of the Order
The small symbolic purse was worn suspended on a Patrick blue riband around the neck
Image: Lord Belmont in Northern Ireland
Archbishop Richard Whately wearing the Chancellor's Badge
An Oriel man he was Archbishop of Dublin 1831-63
Image: Wikipedia
There are online accounts of the Archbishop at Richard Whately and at Archbishop Richard Whately from Alfred Webb A Compendium of Irish Biography, 1878. The most detailed life online is by Richard Brent in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and it can be viewed here.
Badge of the Usher of the Order
Image: Pinterest
My previous posts about the Order can be viewed at The Order of St Patrick (2011), Banners of the Knights of St Patrick (2012), The Order of St Patrick (2013), Insignia of the Order of St Patrick (2014), The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick (2015), and Order of St Patrick (2016)
Just in case you feel like asking, yes, I am in favour of making new appointments to the Order and restoring it to its proper and historic place in the Honours system.
Just in case you feel like asking, yes, I am in favour of making new appointments to the Order and restoring it to its proper and historic place in the Honours system.
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