ORDER OF SAINT PATRICK.

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General Hemarfes.

In treating of the History of the Order of Saint Patrick, it has been stated 1that it was formed, as nearly as circumstances admitted, upon that of theGarter, and that it was intended to be for the Irish Peers, what that Order isfor the superior ranks of the Peers of England,—the highest mark of theirSovereign’s favour.

Though the qualifications for Election into the Order of Saint Patrick arethe same as those of the Garter, and only require that the candidate shall be“a Gentleman of Blood, and a Knight without reproach,” 2 no one except aPeer has ever received the Order; and this fact distinguishes it from all theother British Orders of Knighthood.

From the Institution of the Order in 1783, to the year 1821, it consisted ofthe Sovereign, Grand Master, and Fifteen Companions; but at the Coronationof King George the Fourth in July 1821, Six, 3 and at the Coronation of hissuccessor in October 1831, Four Extra Knights were appointed; 4 and KingWilliam the Fourth, in January 1833, permanently extended the number toTwenty-two Knights Companions. 5

There have been altogether, 21 Grand Masters, and 54 Knights of theOrder of Saint Patrick, 6 of which number 2 were Princes of the Blood Royal,

1 Duke, 19 Marquesses, 30 Earls, and 2 Viscounts. The only Baron who hasbeen elected, was John second Lord Carysfort in 1784, but he was elevated toan Earldom five years afterwards. One Knight Companion, the Marquess

1 Vide pp. 3, 4, antea. 2 Statutes Art. III. vide p. 9, antea.

3 Vide p. 37, antea. 4 Vide p. 43, antea. 5 Vide p. 46, antea.

6 In the number of 62 Knights of Saint Patrick, neither the Eari of Antrim, who was nominatedin 1783, but declined to relinquish the Order of the Bath (vide p. 19, antea); nor the Earl of Ely, whothough one of the original Knight Founders, died without being either Invested or Installed, areincluded.

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