People, Place and Power – The Grand Jury System in Ireland

6 By the eighteenth century, and probably earlier, the county sheriff, or ‘high sheriff’, appointed a grand jury for the county before each assizes sitting. A high sheriff served a one-year term, and could propose his successor to the lord lieutenant, the king’s representative in Dublin Castle, when his term was ending. New sheriffs were appointed by the lord lieutenant in time for the spring assizes, the first of two assizes sittings held each year. A sub-sheriff was also appointed, to assist with the duties, which were broad and included by this time the maintenance of law, the organization of parliamentary elections, and reporting the results. As it was an important post, the names of new sheriffs were often advertised in national and local newspapers and long lists of county sheriffs’ names were a common feature in nineteenth-century county histories. Unsurprisingly, prominent family names and individuals appear regularly in sheriffs-lists. Since the sheriff was a chief point of contact between the Dublin government and the counties, up-to-date lists of their names were kept by the office of the Chief Secretary, the most senior civil servant in the country. Hundreds of these lists were preserved in the Public Record Office of Ireland prior to its destruction in 1922. 1 A grand jury’s responsibilities were many. Its members decided whether a case went forward for trial in a system which could pass stiff sentences, including transportation and death. They set the annual rate of county taxation and decided where spending would be focused. They decided which roads would be repaired, and where major infrastructural undertaking would be focused. The grand jury employed county officials, and funded the county gaol and hospital. Londonderry Assizes 1926 Courtesy of Public Record Office of Northern Ireland