Representative peer

A peer elected by the Irish peers to represent them in the House of Lords at Westminster. Under the Act of Union 1800, Ireland retained its own peerage but Irish peers could no longer sit in the Lords by virtue of their Irish title alone. Twenty-eight Representative Irish Peers were elected for life, with vacancies filled by election among the Irish peerage. The system continued until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, after which no further elections were held.