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The harp has been recognised as a symbol of Ireland since the 13th century and was used on Irish coinage by kings John and Edward I.

There were 33 English and British monarchs who were also monarchs of Ireland from 1177 to 1949. Henry II of England first created the title of Lord of Ireland for his youngest son John Lackland in 1177. He had first sought to have John made King of Ireland. This would appear to have been a strategy of his father's to divide his Angevin possessions between his four sons. The approval of Pope Alexander III was sought to have John crowned King of Ireland. Disagreements with first Alexander III and then his successor Pope Lucius III caused this to be delayed and instead John went as only Lord of Ireland. When John arrived in Ireland the people grew to despise him, causing John to leave after only eight months. When he later unexpectedly inherited the English crown in 1199, the title Lord of Ireland would come to be held by the monarchs of England.

After Henry VIII of England made himself Supreme Head of the Church of England, he also requested and got legislation through the Irish Parliament, in 1541 (effective 1542, see Crown of Ireland Act 1542), naming him King of Ireland and head of the Church of Ireland (which today, both in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, remains a member of the Anglican communion but is no longer an established church like the Church of England). The title "King of Ireland" was then used until 1 January 1801, the effective date of the second Act of Union, which merged Ireland and Great Britain to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. This is a list of the monarchs who ruled Ireland during this time.

Gaelic kings (before 1607)

Lords of Ireland

The Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541) was all-island^{[citation needed]} Irish state created in the wake of the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169–71.

House of Plantagenet

This long-lived dynasty is usually divided into three houses: the Angevins, the House of Lancaster, and the House of York.

Angevins

As the leader of the Norman invasion of Ireland Henry II of England created the title of Lord of Ireland for his youngest son John in 1177. The title came to be held by the monarchs of England when John later, and unexpectedly, inherited the English crown in 1199.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
John Lackland (Jean Sans Terre) May 1177–1216[1]		24 December 1167 Beaumont Palace son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine[1]	(1) Isabel of Gloucester Marlborough Castle 29 August 1189 no children (2) Isabella of Angoulême Bordeaux Cathedral 24 August 1200 five children[1]	19 October 1216 Newark Castle aged 48[1]
Henry III 28 October 1216–1272[2]		1 October 1207 Winchester Castle son of John and Isabella of Angoulême[2]	Eleanor of Provence Canterbury Cathedral 14 January 1236 nine children[2]	16 November 1272 Westminster Palace aged 65[2]
Edward I Longshanks 20 November 1272–1307[3]		17 June 1239 Westminster Palace son of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence[3]	(1) Eleanor of Castile Abbey of Santa Maria la Real de Huelgas 18 October 1254 17 children (2) Marguerite of France 10 September 1299 three children[3]	7 July 1307 Burgh by Sands aged 68[3]
Edward II 7 July 1307 – 25 January 1327[4]		25 April 1284 Caernarfon Castle son of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile[4]	Isabella of France Boulogne Cathedral 25 January 1308 five children[4]	21 September 1327 Berkeley Castle aged 43 (murdered)[4]
Edward III 25 January 1327–1377[5]		13 November 1312 Windsor Castle son of Edward II and Isabella of France[5]	Philippa of Hainault York Minster 24 January 1328 14 children[5]	21 June 1377 Sheen Palace aged 64[5]
Richard II 21 June 1377 – 29 September 1399[6]		6 January 1367 Bordeaux son of Edward, the Black Prince and Joan of Kent[6]	(1) Anne of Bohemia 14 January 1382 no children (2) Isabella of Valois Calais 4 November 1396 no children[6]	6 January 1400 Pontefract Castle aged 33[6]

House of Lancaster

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Henry IV Bolingbroke 30 September 1399–1413[7]		3 April 1366/7 Bolingbroke Castle son of John of Gaunt and Blanche of Lancaster[7]	(1) Mary de Bohun Arundel Castle 27 July 1380 seven children (2) Joanna of Navarre Winchester Cathedral 7 February 1403 no children[7]	20 March 1413 Westminster Abbey aged 45 or 46[8]
Henry V 20 March 1413–1422[7]		9 August 1387 Monmouth Castle son of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun[7]	Catherine of Valois Troyes Cathedral 2 June 1420 1 son[7]	31 August 1422 Château de Vincennes aged 35[7]
Henry VI 31 August 1422 – 4 March 1461 30 October 1470 – 11 April 1471[9]		6 December 1421 Windsor Castle son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois[9]	Margaret of Anjou Titchfield Abbey 22 April 1445 1 son[9]	21 May 1471 Tower of London aged 49 (murdered)[9]

House of York

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Edward IV 4 March 1461 – 3 October 1470 11 April 1471–1483[10]		28 April 1442 Rouen son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville[10]	Elizabeth Woodville Grafton Regis 1 May 1464 10 children[10]	9 April 1483 Westminster Palace aged 40[10]
Edward V 9 April–25 June 1483[11]		2 November 1470 Westminster son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville[11]	unmarried	c. 1483 London aged about 12 (traditionally believed to be murdered)[12]
Richard III 26 June 1483–1485[13]		2 October 1452 Fotheringhay Castle son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville[14]	Anne Neville Westminster Abbey 12 July 1472 1 son[14]	22 August 1485 Bosworth Field aged 32 (killed in battle)[14]

House of Tudor

The Tudors were of paternal Welsh descent, and in 1536 the Principality of Wales was fully incorporated into the Kingdom of English state (having been a vassal state in the Angevin Empire under a Plantagenet Prince of Wales since 1301). With Henry VIII's break from the Catholic Church the monarch became the Supreme Head of the Church of Ireland.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Henry VII 22 August 1485–1509[15]		28 January 1457 Pembroke Castle son of Edmund Tudor and Lady Margaret Beaufort[15]	Elizabeth of York Westminster Abbey 18 January 1486 eight children[15]	21 April 1509 Richmond Palace aged 52[15]
Henry VIII 21 April 1509–1542[16]		28 June 1491 Greenwich Palace son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York[16]	(1) Catherine of Aragon Greenwich 11 June 1509 1 daughter (2) Anne Boleyn Westminster Palace 25 January 1533 1 daughter (3) Jane Seymour Whitehall Palace 30 May 1536 1 son (4) Anne of Cleves Greenwich Palace 6 January 1540 (5) Catherine Howard Hampton Court Palace 28 July 1540 (6) Katherine Parr Hampton Court Palace 12 July 1543	28 January 1547 Whitehall Palace aged 55[16]

Kings and Queens of Ireland

In 1542 Henry VIII passed the Crown of Ireland Act 1542 in the Parliament of Ireland stating that Henry VIII of England and his successors would also be Kings of Ireland.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Henry VIII 21 April 1542–1547[16]		28 June 1491 Greenwich Palace son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York[16]	(6) Catherine Parr Hampton Court Palace 12 July 1543[16]	28 January 1547 Whitehall Palace aged 55[16]
Edward VI 28 January 1547–1553[17]		12 October 1537 Hampton Court Palace son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour[17]	unmarried	6 July 1553 Greenwich Palace aged 15[17]
Jane ("The Nine Days' Queen") 10–19 July 1553[18]		October 1537 Bradgate Park daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Frances Brandon[18]	Lord Guildford Dudley The Strand 21 May 1553 no children[19]	12 February 1554 Tower of London aged 16 (beheaded)[18]
Mary I ("Bloody Mary") 19 July 1553–1558[17]		18 February 1516 Greenwich Palace daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon[17]	Philip II of Spain Winchester Cathedral 25 July 1554 no children[17]	17 November 1558 St. James's Palace aged 42[17]
Elizabeth I ("The Virgin Queen") 17 November 1558–1603[17]		7 September 1533 Greenwich Palace daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn[17]	unmarried	24 March 1603 Richmond Palace aged 69[17]

House of Stuart

Following the death of Elizabeth I in 1603 without issue, the Scottish king, James VI, succeeded to the English and Irish throne as James I in what became known as the Union of the Crowns. In 1604 he adopted the title King of Great Britain, although the kingdoms remained separate.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
James I 24 March 1603–1625[20]		19 June 1566 Edinburgh Castle son of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Mary, Queen of Scots[20]	Anne of Denmark Oslo 23 November 1589 nine children[20]	27 March 1625 Theobalds House aged 58[20]
Charles I ("Saint Charles the Martyr") 27 March 1625–1649[21]		19 November 1600 Dunfermline Palace son of James I and Anne of Denmark[21]	Henrietta Maria of France St Augustine's Abbey 13 June 1625 nine children[21]	30 January 1649 Whitehall Palace aged 48 (executed)[21]

Commonwealth

There was no reigning monarch between the execution of Charles I in 1649 and the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. Despite this, from 1653 the following individuals held power as Lords Protector, during the period known as the Protectorate.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Oliver Cromwell 16 December 1653–1658[22]		25 April 1599 Huntingdon[22] son of Robert Cromwell and Elizabeth Stewart[23]	Elizabeth Bourchier St Giles[24] 22 August 1620 nine children[22]	3 September 1658 Whitehall aged 59[22]
Richard Cromwell ("Tumbledown Dick") 3 September 1658 – 7 May 1659[25]		4 October 1626 Huntingdon son of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Bourchier[25]	Dorothy Maijor May 1649 nine children[25]	12 July 1712 Cheshunt aged 85[26]

House of Stuart (restored)

Although the monarchy was restored in 1660, no stable settlement proved possible until the Glorious Revolution of 1688, when parliament finally asserted the right to choose whomsoever it pleased as monarch.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
Charles II 8 May 1660–1685[27]		29 May 1630 St. James's Palace son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France[27]	Catherine of Braganza Portsmouth 21 May 1662 three children (none survived infancy)[27]	6 February 1685 Whitehall Palace aged 54[27]
James II 6 February 1685 – 23 December 1688[28]		14 October 1633 St. James's Palace son of Charles I and Henrietta Maria of France[28]	(1) Anne Hyde The Strand 3 September 1660 eight children (2) Mary of Modena Dover 21 November 1673 seven children[28]	16 September 1701 Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye aged 67[28]
William III of Orange (Willem Hendrik, Prins van Oranje) 13 February 1689–1702[29]		4 November 1650 The Hague son of William II, Prince of Orange and Mary Stuart[30]	St James's Palace 4 November 1677 three children (none survived infancy)[29]	8 March 1702 Kensington Palace aged 51[29]
Mary II 13 February 1689–1694[28]		30 April 1662 St James's Palace daughter of James II and Anne Hyde[28]		28 December 1694 Kensington Palace aged 32[28]
Anne 8 March 1702–1714[31]		6 February 1665 St James's Palace daughter of James II and Anne Hyde[32]	George of Denmark St James's Palace 28 July 1683 17 children[32]	1 August 1714 Kensington Palace aged 49[32]

House of Hanover

The Hanoverian succession came about as a result of the Act of Settlement 1701, passed by the English Parliament. In return for access to the economically alluring plantations in North America,^{[citation needed]} the Hanoverian succession and ultimately the Union was ratified by the English Parliament and subsequently the Scottish Parliament in 1707.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
George I 1 August 1714–1727		28 May 1660 Osnabrück son of Ernest Augustus, Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Sophia of Hanover	Sophia of Celle Germany 1 November 1682 two children	11 June 1727 Osnabrück aged 67
George II 11 June 1727–1760		30 October 1683 Hanover son of George I and Sophia of Celle	Caroline of Ansbach Hanover 22 August 1705 eight children	25 October 1760 Palace of Westminster aged 76
George III 25 October 1760–1 January 1801		4 June 1738 Norfolk House son of Frederick, Prince of Wales and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha	Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz St James's Palace 8 September 1761 15 children	29 January 1820 Windsor Castle aged 81

During George III's reign The Kingdom's of Great Britain and Ireland merged to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Act of Union 1800.

In 1949 twenty-six counties in the southern part of Ireland became the Republic of Ireland and thus the British Monarchs continue to rule only over the remaining northern counties of the island that are part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

House of Windsor

Following dominion status being conferred on the Irish Free State in 1922, in 1927 the title King of Ireland was re-introduced, and lasted until Ireland became a republic in 1949.

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriages	Death
George V 6 December 1922–1936[33]		3 June 1865 Marlborough House son of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark[34]	Mary of Teck 6 July 1893 St James's Palace six children[35]	20 January 1936 Sandringham House aged 70[34]
Edward VIII 20 January – 12 December 1936[36]		23 June 1894 Richmond son of George V and Mary of Teck[36]	Wallis, Duchess of Windsor France 3 June 1937 no children[36]	28 May 1972 Paris aged 77[37]
George VI 12 December 1936–18 April 1949[38]		14 December 1895 Sandringham House son of George V and Mary of Teck[38]	Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon Westminster Abbey 26 April 1923 two children[39]	6 February 1952 Sandringham House aged 56[40]

As the British monarchs continue to rule over Northern Ireland, as a constituent part of the United Kingdom, the continuation of this list is at List of British monarchs.

References