The Lord Justice of Ireland was an ancient senior position in the governance of Ireland, held by a number of important personages, such as the Earl of Kildare. In the later centuries of British rule the Lords Justices were three office-holders in the Kingdom of Ireland who in the absence of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland fulfilled the social and political duties of the Viceroy as head of the Irish executive. The office-holders were usually: * Church of Ireland primate, the Archbishop of Armagh * Lord Chancellor of Ireland * Speaker of the Irish House of Commons