 The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order of St Patrick . The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , the monarch 's representative in Ireland , served as the Grand Master . The office of Lord Lieutenant was abolished in 1922 ; the last Lord Lieutenant and Grand Master was The 1st Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent . Rather oddly , the statutes of the Order did not provide that the Grand Master be admitted to the Order as a matter of right . While some Lords Lieutenant were in fact appointed to the Order , this seems to have been the exception rather than the rule . 
