Royal

Ireland

The Ancient Kingdoms of Ireland
Historic Arms

• Kingdom of Ulster
• Kingdom of Leinster (Lide)
• Kingdom of Meath (Mide)
• Kingdom of Connaught (Connacht)
• Kingdom of Munster (Mumhan)

The Lordship of Ireland 1185-1541

Following the Norman invasion of Ireland from 1169 to 1171 King Henry II of England (1133-1189) created the Lordship of Ireland for his second son John Lackland (1166-1216) in 1185 as a potential kingdom. However after John became King of England in 1199 the title remained with the reigning English King.

Kingdom of Ireland 1541-1801

The Kingdom of Ireland was created in 1541 by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 of the Parliament of Ireland. The Kingdom replaced the Lordship of Ireland, which had been created in 1185. King Henry VIII of England thus became the first King of Ireland since 1169. Henry replaced the old arms of the Lordship with the harp as he thought the three crowns were reminders of the papacy. Ireland was not represented in the Royal Arms until the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne in 1603 although various badges were used to signify Ireland before this date. The separate Kingdom of Ireland ceased to exist when Ireland joined with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom in 1801.
The Most Illustrious Order of Saint Patrick was founded by George III in 1783 and was meant to compliment The Most Noble Order of the Garter in England and and The Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle in Scotland so all three nations of the United Kingdom had their own premier order of knighthood.