The woolsack in the former Irish House of Lords.

The Woolsack is the seat of the Lord Speaker in the House of Lords, the Upper House of Parliament in the United Kingdom. From the Middle Ages until 2006, the presiding officer in the House of Lords was the Lord Chancellor and the Woolsack was usually mentioned in association with the office of Lord Chancellor. In July 2006 the function of Lord Speaker was split from that of Lord Chancellor. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1760x1168, 551 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Woolsack Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1760x1168, 551 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Woolsack Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create... The former House of Lords chamber in the Irish Parliament Building, today in use as a function room by the Bank of Ireland. ... The Lord Speaker (or Lady Speaker) will be a new position in the British Parliament created once the Constitutional Reform Acts provisions about the Speakership of the House of Lords comes into effect. ... This article is about the British House of Lords. ... An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. ... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in red and orange—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ... This article or section needs a complete rewrite for the reasons listed on the talk page. ...

The Woolsack is a large, wool-stuffed cushion or seat covered with red cloth; it has neither a back nor arms. The Lords' Mace is placed on the rear part of the Woolsack. Long and short hair wool at the South Central Family Farm Research Center in Boonesville, Arizona Wool is the fibre derived from the fur of animals of the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals such as goats, alpacas and rabbits may also be... This article needs cleanup. ...

Introduced in the 14th century, the seat was originally stuffed with English wool, which, due to the importance of the wool trade, was a symbol of the nation's prosperity. When the Woolsack was remade after damage in the Second World War, wool from the various nations of the Commonwealth was used, in order to symbolise the Commonwealth's unity. This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The Commonwealth of Nations (CN), usually known as the Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 53 independent sovereign states, the majority of which are former colonies of the United Kingdom. ...

The Lord Speaker may speak from the Woolsack when speaking in his or her capacity of Speaker of the House, but must, if he or she seeks to debate, deliver his or her remarks either from the left side of the Woolsack, or from the normal seats of the Lords.

If a Deputy Speaker presides in the absence of the Lord Speaker, then that individual uses the Woolsack. However, when the House meets in the "Committee of the Whole", the Woolsack remains unoccupied, and the presiding officer, the Chairman or Deputy Chairman, occupies a Chair at the front of the table of the House. In the United States House of Representatives, the Committee of the Whole, short for Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, is a parliamentary device in which the House of Representatives is considered one large Congressional committee. ...

In front of the Woolsack is an even larger cushion known as the Judges' Woolsack. During the State Opening of Parliament, the Judges' Woolsack is occupied by the Law Lords. The seat, however, is by no means restricted to judges only; during normal sittings, any Lord may occupy it. In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event held usually in October or November that marks the commencement of a session of Parliament. ... The House of Lords, in addition to having a legislative function, has a judicial function as a court of last resort within the United Kingdom. ...

References

• The Woolsack at the UK Parliament site. URL accessed February 6, 2006

• The Interior of the House of Lords at the Explore Parliament website. URL accessed April 25, 2006. Right-click on the image to see it at full resolution. The woolsacks are the large, low, rectangular objects in front of the throne, surrounded by ropes.