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The Solicitor-General for Ireland was the holder of an Irish and then United Kingdom government office. The holder was a deputy to the Attorney-General for Ireland, and advised the Crown on Irish legal matters. On rare occasions, there was also a Deputy Attorney-General, who was distinct from the Solicitor-General.At least two holders of the office, Patrick Barnewall and Sir Roger Wilbraham , played a leading role in Government, although in Barnewall's case this may be partly because he was also King's Serjeant. As with the Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Solicitor-General for Ireland was usually a barrister rather than a solicitor.
The first record of a Solicitor General is in 1511, although the office may well be older than that since the records are incomplete. Early Solicitors almost always held the rank of Serjeant-at-law. In the sixteenth century a Principal Solicitor for Ireland shared the duties of the office: confusingly both were usually referred to as "the Solicitor". The Principal Solicitor might also be a Serjeant-at-law, as Richard Finglas was.
Elizabeth I thought poorly of her Irish-born Law Officers, and from 1584 onwards there was a practice, which lasted for several decades, of appointing English-born lawyers as Solicitor General. At least one of them, Sir Roger Wilbraham , was a key figure in the Dublin government for many years.
Unlike the Attorney General, he was not as a rule a member of the Privy Council of Ireland, although he might be summoned by the Council to advise it.