The County Palatine of Tipperary Act 1715 is an act of the Parliament of Ireland (2 Geo. 1. c. 8 (I)). This act enabled the purchase by the crown of the Palatine Rights in County Tipperary given to the Earls of Ormond, later Dukes of Ormonde, over the preceding centuries. Prior to the act, the dukes appointed the sheriffs and judges of the county and owned certain revenues from the county which would otherwise have gone to the Crown.

The passing of the act was followed almost at once by the attainder for treason of James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde, who fled to France on suspicion of being involved in the Jacobite Rising of 1715. Although his titles and estates were restored at the end of the 18th century to another branch of the Butler family, there was no question of reviving the Palatine Court, which was by then an anachronism.

Although the position of Chief Judge, or Seneschal, of the Palatine Court was widely regarded as a sinecure, it is interesting to note that several holders of the office were lawyers of repute, and at least two later held high judicial office. They included:

• John Talbot (died c.1575) barrister of Lincoln's Inn ^[1]
• Sir John Everard, former judge of the Court of King's Bench (Ireland) (died 1624)
• Sir William Davys, later Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (died 1687)
• Sir John Keating, later Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas (died 1691)
• Sir John Meade, 1st Baronet (died 1707).

• Ball, F. Elrington The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921 London John Murray 1926
• Hart, A. R. History of the King's Serjeant-at-law in Ireland Dublin Four Courts Press 2000
• Kenny, Colum King's Inns and the Kingdom of Ireland Dublin Irish Academic Press 1992
• Hayton, David The Anglo-Irish Experience 1680-1730, Politics, Identity and Patriotism Boydell Press 2012