Marshal of Ireland or Earl Marshal of Ireland is a hereditary title originally awarded to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke in the Lordship of Ireland, which descended to Baron Morley. The title of Marshal, like that of Baron Morley, has been in abeyance since 1697. William Lynch in 1830 described the duties attached to the office before it became ceremonial:[1]
- Besides the duties which seemed to have been exercised by the Marshal of England, there were some other public services of great trust and consequence which devolved on the Marshal of Ireland. This appears from entries on the rolls of King John and Henry the Third, whereby we find that under the Marshal's care and superintendence were placed all the castles and fortresses, not only of the King, but of all minors and others whose estates were in the hands of the Crown : these he was bound to inspect and have always duly guarded and munitioned. The Marshal also in Ireland with the King's Justiciary laid out the bounds, and assigned the districts or territories granted to the Barons by the King, and exercised many other high functions, as will appear on reference to those rolls.