The Irish Republic ( or )
was a
revolutionary state that
declared its independence from the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...
in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by 1920 its functional control was limited to only 21 of
Ireland's 32 counties, and British state forces maintained a presence across much of the north-east, as well as
Cork,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and other major towns. The republic was strongest in rural areas, and through
its military forces was able to influence the population in urban areas that it did not directly control.
Its origins date back to the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...
of 1916, when
Irish republicans seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic. The
rebellion
Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
was crushed, but the survivors united under a reformed
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
party to campaign for a republic. In the
1918 United Kingdom general election, the party
won a clear majority of the constituencies in Ireland; in many seats Sinn Féin candidates did not face meaningful opposition. The Sinn Féin winners did not take their seats in the U.K. parliament, but instead gathered in Dublin on 21 January 1919 to form the
first Dáil (legislature) of Ireland. Republicans then established a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
, a
court system and a
police force. At the same time, the
Irish Volunteers, who came under the control of the Dáil and became known as the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
, fought against British state forces in the
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
.
The War of Independence ended with the
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...
, signed on 6 December 1921 and narrowly approved by Dáil Éireann on 7 January 1922. A
Provisional Government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...
was set up under the terms of the treaty, but the Irish Republic nominally remained in existence until 6 December 1922, when 26 of the island's 32 counties became a self-governing
British dominion called the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...
. The island had been
partitioned by the
Government of Ireland Act 1920, and the six counties of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, which had been partitioned so as to create and ensure a unionist majority, exercised their right under the treaty to opt out of the Free State, and remain in the United Kingdom.
Name
In English, the revolutionary state was to be known as the "Irish Republic". Two different
Irish language
Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
titles were used: and , based on two alternative Irish translations of the word "republic". The word was newly coined by the writers of the
Easter Proclamation in 1916. was a compound word, based on the Irish words ("free") and ("state"). Its literal translation was "free state". The term is the one used in the Proclamation of 1916, but the
Declaration of Independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
and other documents adopted in 1919 used .
was adopted as the official Irish title of the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...
when it was established at the end of the
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
, although this Free State was not a republic but a form of
constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...
within the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
. Since then, the word has fallen out of use as a translation of "republic". After the Irish state had changed its name to "Ireland", in 1949 the description of the state was declared "
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
", while in Irish it was translated as .
In
his memoir,
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
gives an account of the first meeting of
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...
(then the
President of Dáil Éireann) with
David Lloyd George (then the
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...
) on 14 July 1921, at which Churchill was present. Lloyd George was a native speaker of
Welsh and a noted Welsh linguist, and as such was interested in the literal meaning of . De Valera replied that it meant 'Free State'. Lloyd George asked, "What is your Irish word for Republic?" After what Churchill characterized as some delay and no reply from de Valera, Lloyd George commented: "Must we not admit that the Celts never were Republicans and have no native word for such an idea?"
Lord Longford gives a different account in ''Peace by Ordeal'': "The only doubt in de Valera's mind, as he explained to Lloyd George, arose from the current dispute among Gaelic purists whether the idea Republic was better conveyed by the broader 'Saorstát' or the more abstract 'Poblacht'."
Establishment

In 1916, nationalist rebels participating in the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...
issued the
Proclamation of the Republic. By this declaration, they claimed to establish an independent state called the "Irish Republic", and proclaimed that the leaders of the rebellion would serve as the "
Provisional Government of the Irish Republic" until it became possible to elect a national parliament. The Easter Rising was short-lived, largely limited to
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
and, at the time it occurred, enjoyed little support from the Irish general public.
The leaders of the Easter Rising had proclaimed a republic.
Arthur Griffith's
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
organisation, which had favoured the establishment of a form of dual monarchy between Ireland and Britain, had not taken part in the Rising. In 1917, Griffith's Sinn Féin and republicans under
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...
came together to form the new Sinn Féin Party. A compromise was reached at the 1917
Ard Fheis (party conference), where it was agreed that the party would pursue the establishment of an independent republic in the short term, until the Irish people could be given the opportunity to decide on the form of government they preferred. This agreement was subject to the condition that if the people chose monarchy, no member of the
British royal family would be invited to serve as monarch.
In the
1918 general election, candidates of the radical Sinn Féin party—including many who had participated in the 1916 rebellion—issued a
manifesto
A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
which included the statement: "Sinn Féin aims at securing the establishment of that Republic". It also said it would boycott the
British Parliament and instead unilaterally establish a new Irish assembly in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. Sinn Féin candidates won a large majority of the seats: 73 out of 105, 25 of them uncontested. On 21 January 1919, 27 of them gathered in the
Mansion House in Dublin to establish
Dáil Éireann. Thirty-five other members were recorded as being (imprisoned by the foreign enemy) and another four as (deported by the foreign enemy). Thirty-seven others were recorded as not being present (), these were mainly from the northern six counties that would later form
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. At this meeting, the Dáil adopted the
Irish Declaration of Independence. Because of the Easter Proclamation of 1916, the Dáil retrospectively established the Irish Republic from Easter 1916.
On the same day as the Declaration of Independence was issued, two members of the
Royal Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...
(RIC) escorting a cartload of
gelignite
Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and Potassi ...
were killed in the
Tipperary Soloheadbeg Ambush, carried out by members of the
3rd Tipperary Brigade of the
Irish Volunteers, led by
Dan Breen and
Seán Treacy. This ambush had not been ordered by the Dáil, but the course of events soon drove the Dáil to recognise the Volunteers as the army of the Irish Republic, and so the Soloheadbeg incident became the opening incident of the undeclared
Anglo-Irish War between the Volunteers and Great Britain. Breen later recalled: "Treacy had stated to me that the only way of starting a war was to kill someone, so we intended to kill some of the police."
The decision to establish a republic in 1919, rather than any other form of government, was significant because it amounted to a complete repudiation of all constitutional ties with Great Britain, and set the party against any compromise that might involve initial self-government under the
Home Rule Act 1914 or continued membership of the British Empire. One obstacle to this decision—that the Unionists of the north-east had long indicated that they would never participate in any form of a republic—was left unresolved, the six north-eastern counties remaining part of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
under the
Government of Ireland Act 1920, and later the
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...
.
Institutions of government
Dáil Éireann
The central institution of the republic was Dáil Éireann, a
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...
assembly formed by the majority of Irish Members of Parliament elected in the
1918 general election. Two further general elections called by the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the head of the British
Dublin Castle administration, were treated by nationalists as elections to the Dáil. The
Second Dáil comprised members returned in the
1921 elections for the Parliaments of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
and
Southern Ireland; the
Third Dáil was elected at the
1922 general election as the "
provisional parliament" of "
Southern Ireland", as provided for by the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
At its first meeting the Dáil adopted a brief, provisional constitution known as the
Dáil Constitution, as well as a series of basic laws, notably the
Democratic Programme. It also passed a Declaration of Independence.
Ministry
The Dáil Constitution vested executive authority in a cabinet called the
Ministry of Dáil Éireann
The ministry of Dáil Éireann () was the cabinet of the 1919–1922 Irish Republic during the Irish War of Independence. The ministry was originally established by the Dáil Constitution adopted by the First Dáil on 21 January 1919, after i ...
(or in Irish). The Ministry was answerable to the Dáil which elected its head, known initially as the
President of Dáil Éireann (). He in turn appointed the ministers. According to the original version of the constitution enacted in January 1919, there were to be four ministers:
:#
Minister of Finance ()
:#
Minister of Home Affairs ()
:#
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
()
:#
Minister of National Defence ()
In April 1919, the ministry was increased in size to not more than nine ministers. In August 1921, it was changed again with the title President of the Republic used, suggesting a position of head of state. A ministry of six was created. These were:
:#
Minister of Finance
:#
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...
:#
Minister of Home Affairs
:#
Minister of Defence
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
:#
Minister of Local Government
:#
Minister of Economic Affairs
A number of previous cabinet ministers, notably
Constance Markievicz, were demoted to under-secretary level.
The Ministry met as often as secrecy and safety allowed.
Heads of state and government
Initially, partly because of the division between republicans and monarchists, the Irish Republic had no
head of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
. The Republic's leader was known initially as the , literally "prime minister" but referred to in the
English version of the constitution as "President of the Ministry". Later the English title "
President of Dáil Éireann" also came to be used for the same post, especially during President de Valera's tour of the United States. On 26 August 1921, de Valera had the Dáil appoint him to the new post of "President of the Republic", so that he would be regarded as the head of state in the forthcoming Treaty negotiations. This was to assert the claim that the negotiations were between two sovereign states (Ireland's view), and not that it was between the British government and local politicians (Britain's view). After de Valera's resignation in January 1922, his successors Griffith and Cosgrave called themselves "President of Dáil Éireann".
Military
The military branch of the Irish Republic were the
Irish Volunteers who, in the course of the War of Independence, who were formally renamed the "
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
" to reflect their status as the national army of the declared republic. Despite being theoretically under the command of the Dáil's Ministry, in practice individual IRA columns enjoyed a high level of autonomy, subject to H.Q. in Dublin. Arrangements were made in August 1920 for the volunteers to swear an oath of allegiance to the Dáil.
Judiciary and police
The judicial arm of the Irish Republic consisted of a network of
Dáil Courts administered by IRA officers, which at first operated in parallel with the British judicial system, and gradually came to supersede it as public opinion swung against the British in some parts of the island. British law allowed for the
arbitration
Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...
of disputes, provided the parties agreed to it, and as the Dáil Courts were initially described as arbitration panels it was impossible to outlaw them. In other cases the Dáil Courts proved more popular because of the speed and efficiency of their functioning, compared to the local
Assize
The assizes (), or courts of assize, were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court. The assizes ex ...
courts. They proved unable to deal with violent crimes but acquired a good reputation with farmers, particularly in dealing harshly with cases of
cattle rustling.
The enforcement of law and the decrees of the Dáil Courts was vested in the
Irish Republican Police.
Functionality
The Irish Republic had some of the attributes of a functioning state; a ministry (with a head of state in the latter stages), a parliament, a courts system, a police force and a constitution. The extent to which these functioned fluctuated in different parts of the island, with the success or otherwise of republican institutions depending both on the degree of control of the IRA in the region and on the brutality of the
Black and Tans and Auxiliaries, active from June 1920 to July 1921. The more brutal the 'Tans' the more they alienated the local populace from the Dublin Castle administration and Assize courts and the greater success the republican alternatives had. Some measures such as the
Dáil Decree of 6 August 1920 prohibiting emigration without a permit were violently enforced.
At the height of the Irish War of Independence, as atrocities committed by the Black and Tans reached such a scale as to result in the burning of the city of
Cork (leading to widespread criticism in the United States and from King
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
George w ...
), the Republican Police and Dáil courts reached their zenith, and senior barristers who had qualified within the British courts system also represented defendants in the Dáil Courts. But even after the
Truce of July 1921, when the Tans had stopped their activities, the continuing effectiveness of the Dáil courts and police was seen to be patchy. This was in part due to standing down the
Royal Irish Constabulary
The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom. A sep ...
(RIC) in early 1922 before a new police force was ready to operate; in the interim the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
(IRA), dividing within itself over the Treaty, was the only police force.
The main function of the Dáil courts was in resolving civil cases and very rarely dealt with criminal matters. The cabinet met frequently, though necessarily in secret, and dealt with everyday matters as well as the conduct of the war. The Dáil sat for 21 days before the Truce of July 1921, and more frequently after that.
Support for the Republic, though it ebbed and flowed constantly during the war, was strongest in the south of the country. The claim to authority of the Irish Republic was rejected in
Unionist-dominated Northern Ireland and south County Dublin.
Recognition
Efforts by President de Valera in the United States and by the Republic's "ambassador" at the
Versailles Peace Conference,
Seán T. O'Kelly, to win international recognition failed. O'Kelly had already established the Republic's "embassy" in Paris in April 1919, and Dr.
Patrick McCartan set one up in Washington, D.C. at the same time. Despite heavy lobbying from prominent Irish-Americans, President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
refused to raise the Irish case at the conference as he did not want to antagonise the British. Finally in June "Ireland's demand for recognition" was conveyed to
Georges Clemenceau, the Conference Chairman, without effect.
In June 1920, a "Draft Treaty between the new
Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Republic of Ireland" was circulated in Dublin.
E. H. Carr, the historian of early
Bolshevism, considered that "''… the negotiations were not taken very seriously on either side.''"
The issue of recognition raises the question of how much the new Dáil, particularly de Valera, fully appreciated the developing relationship between the victorious powers following the war. Wilson had promised
self-determination
Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage.
Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
for nations and international norms were changing. Article V. of Wilson's '
Fourteen Points' outlined in January 1918 did not, however, promise that all colonies would be decolonised on demand at the end of the war, but that a colonial population's claim for arbitration would have "equal weight" with any claim by its government. In declaring independence unilaterally for the whole island, the new republic had denied "equal weight" to the wishes of Britain or the Irish loyalists. Having misunderstood or misread this part of Wilson's formula, the Dáil still required his support against his main ally.
The obvious problem was that the Irish Republic's Declaration of Independence of January 1919 was hostile to Britain, which was one of the four main powers arranging terms at Versailles. The
RSFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
was also not invited to Versailles. Although armistices were holding, World War I was technically unfinished until the treaties ending it were signed, starting with Germany on 28 June 1919. The British view was that the 69 new
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
members of parliament had chosen not to take their seats at Westminster (to the relief of the
Conservative Party), and that an Irish settlement would be arranged after the more important treaties with the former
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
had been signed off, involving Sinn Féin as the representatives of the majority, whether or not it had proclaimed a republic.
The Irish Republic was never recognised by the British government. Because its original contents were not seen as workable, the government under
David Lloyd George abandoned plans to amend the
Third Home Rule Act enacted in 1914, having called the
Irish Convention in 1917–18. The British cabinet started in September 1919 to work from
Walter Long's 1918 proposals, and in December 1920 they enacted the Government of Ireland Act 1920. This allowed for two
home rule
Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
Irelands, partitioning Ireland into
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
and
Southern Ireland. Each Ireland was to have a two
bicameral
Bicameralism is a type of legislature that is divided into two separate Deliberative assembly, assemblies, chambers, or houses, known as a bicameral legislature. Bicameralism is distinguished from unicameralism, in which all members deliberate ...
parliaments, with a shared chief executive, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and a
Council of Ireland which was intended to be an embryonic all-Ireland single parliament. The proposal was greeted with mild enthusiasm among Irish Unionists in the new Northern Ireland, who had never sought their own home rule, but was rejected by a combination of Irish Republicans, Irish Nationalists and Irish Unionists who were not in Northern Ireland. While rejecting the right of the British parliament to legislate for Ireland,
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
took the opportunity of the two general elections in May 1921, one in the north and one in the south, to seek a renewed mandate for the Republic. No contests resulted in the south, with all seats returning the nominated Sinn Féin candidate apart from Dublin University. The new Northern Ireland parliament in Belfast first sat on 7 June 1921 with a large Ulster Unionist majority and, while it did not formally recognise the Republic, its premier, Sir
James Craig, had secretly met with Éamon de Valera in Dublin in May 1921. This was a recognition of de Valera's position, but also recognition by de Valera that Craig could not be ignored.
The Truce signed between representatives of the Dáil and Britain was agreed on 9 July 1921, to become effective from noon on 11 July. This marked the end of the Irish War of Independence. On 14 July 1921 Éamon de Valera met David Lloyd George in London for the first time to find some common ground for a settlement. He had been invited as: "the chosen leader of the great majority in Southern Ireland", but tried to extend this to a British recognition of the republic. Lloyd George made it clear to him, 'that the achievement of a republic through negotiation was impossible'. In August, in preparation for the formalities, de Valera had the Dáil upgrade his status from prime minister to full President of the Republic. As a head of state he then accredited ''envoys plenipotentiary'', an accreditation approved by the Dáil. This accreditation gave them the legal ability to sign a treaty without waiting for approval from the Republic's cabinet, some of whose members were among the envoys. However, the British view was that they were not envoys, and they recognised them only as elected members of parliament representing those Irish people who wanted independence in one form or another.
By September, the British called for a conference with the envoys "''to ascertain how the association of Ireland with the community of nations known as the British Empire can best be reconciled with Irish national aspirations''". De Valera replied on 12 September "''Our nation has formally declared its independence and recognises itself as a sovereign State.''" The same invitation was repeated and negotiations started on 11 October.
Anglo-Irish Treaty
Each side in the 1921 negotiations used sufficiently elastic language to enable the Republic's delegates to suggest that what was taking place was inter-state negotiations, while allowing the British Government to suggest that it was an internal
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the union of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into one sovereign state, established by the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801. It continued in this form until ...
matter. The
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...
, when signed on 6 December, was similarly put through three processes to satisfy both sides. It was:
* passed by Dáil Éireann, to satisfy the belief in the Republic's supporters that it was a state and its parliament was sovereign;
* passed by the United Kingdom, to satisfy British constitutional theory that a treaty had been negotiated between His Majesty's Government and His Majesty's subjects in Ireland;
* passed by the
House of Commons of Southern Ireland, to reflect the belief in British constitutional law that Ireland already possessed a home rule parliament. In reality the House of Commons had the same membership (bar four) as the Dáil, though anti-Treaty members of the House stayed away.
Finally, the two structures of government (the British government's administration in Dublin Castle and the Republic's) began a process of convergence, to cover the year until the coming into force of the new
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...
.
Dissolution
By approving the
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...
on 7 January 1922 and the
Constitution of the Irish Free State in October 1922 the Dáil agreed to the replacement of the Republic with the system of constitutional monarchy of the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...
.
In January 1922, a
Provisional Government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...
came into being, but the Irish Republic was not dismantled; its institutions continued to operate in parallel with those of the provisional authority. Michael Collins was designated as
Chairman of the Provisional Government, in theory answerable to the
House of Commons of Southern Ireland and appointed by the
Lord Lieutenant
A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...
. In contrast, the Republic's Ministry continued with Arthur Griffith as President of the Republic following de Valera's resignation. However the two administrations were progressively merged until in August, following the deaths of both Griffith and Collins,
W. T. Cosgrave assumed both leadership positions simultaneously and so the two most important offices effectively became one, producing a unique constitutional hybrid; a crown-appointed prime minister ''and'' a president of a republic. Both parliaments, the Second Dáil and the House of Commons, were replaced by a joint parliament known variously as the
Third Dáil or the ''Provisional Parliament'', elected on 16 June 1922. As a
constituent assembly this enacted a new constitution with the passage of the
Irish Free State Constitution Act.
On 6 December 1922, the Constitution of the Irish Free State came into effect and the institutions of both the Irish Republic and the Provisional Government ceased to exist.
Legacy
The goal of those who established the Irish Republic was to create an independent republic comprising the whole island of Ireland. They failed in this goal, but the Irish Republic paved the way for the creation of the Irish Free State, a
Commonwealth dominion
A dominion was any of several largely self-governance, self-governing countries of the British Empire, once known collectively as the ''British Commonwealth of Nations''. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of self-governing colony, colon ...
with self-government. By 1937, under a new constitution, the Free State became a
fully independent republic with the self-designation 'Ireland'. The principle of an all-island Republic remains a central aspiration of at least three of the
main political parties in the Republic of Ireland (
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
,
Fine Gael and
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
) and of two of the
main political parties in Northern Ireland (Sinn Féin and the
SDLP).
Irish Republic in the post-Treaty Republican tradition
Since the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
during 1922 and 1923, the Irish Republic has been an important symbol for radical republicans, amongst others. The Civil War began in June 1922 when both Sinn Féin and the IRA split between those pragmatists, who supported the Treaty, and the hardline republicans who opposed the compromises it contained. In particular the anti-Treaty faction objected to the continued role in the Irish constitution that would be granted to the British monarch under the Irish Free State. When the Dáil ratified the Treaty its opponents mostly walked out, arguing that the Dáil was attempting to 'destroy' the Irish Republic, and that its members had no right to do so. After the Irish electorate voted in a majority of pro-Treaty candidates to the Dáil, Éamon de Valera declared that "the people have no right to do wrong."
Opponents of the Treaty refused to recognise either the Provisional Government or, when it was established, the Irish Free State, insisting that the Irish Republic continued to exist as a entity. Their line of authority included some TDs but also the ''Army Executive'' of the IRA which decided in early 1922 that it, and no longer the Dáil, was the only body loyal to the republic. In August 1920 it had sworn allegiance to both the Dáil and the republic, and felt that the Dáil had broken its oath when it voted to approve the Treaty. Arguments about abandoning the republic had, however, been very fully discussed during the Treaty Debates.
The anti-treaty faction also refused to recognise the
Third Dáil elected in June 1922, as the Second Dáil had not met to dissolve itself formally (though the "declaration of election" on 19 May, which gave dates for nominations and the election, was not opposed at the time
). Anti-Treaty Republicans considered the Third Dáil, and all future institutions arising from it, as illegal, even though some had been elected to sit in it (See
Second Dáil).
The anti-Treaty side was then defeated in the Civil War. Most militant opposition to the Free State came to an end on 24 May 1923 when
Frank Aiken, chief-of-staff of the IRA, issued the order to "dump arms", and Éamon de Valera issued his address to the "Legion of the Rearguard". Éamon de Valera continued as president
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
. In March 1926, de Valera, along with most anti-Treaty politicians, founded a new party called
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland.
Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...
and ended their boycott of the institutions of the Free State.
Nonetheless, a hard-line minority continued to reject the legitimacy of the Free State and its successor, the Republic of Ireland. In 1938, a group calling itself the Executive Council of the Second Dáil delegated its self-declared authority to the IRA Army Council. The
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
ultimately ceased military operations against Ireland in 1948, but continued to consider itself the legitimate government of Ireland. The
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...
(PIRA) split with the original IRA in December 1969 and afterward claimed that it was the sole legitimate representative of the Irish Republic. It based its claim, in part, on the support of Second Dáil member
Tom Maguire
Tom Maguire (28 March 1892 – 5 July 1993) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican who held the rank of commandant-general in the Western Command of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and led the South County Mayo, Mayo flying column.
Earl ...
. The PIRA conducted a campaign of bombings and shootings in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s until 1998, and its political wing, the modern Sinn Féin party, used to insist that the Irish Republic was still legally in existence, with the Provisional IRA as its national army, and the
IRA Army Council Ireland's sole legitimate government. This view is still upheld by
Republican Sinn Féin and the
Continuity IRA. Until their disbandment, the Provisional IRA continued to use the title (lit. Volunteers of Ireland), the official Irish title for the
Irish Defence Forces. Continuity IRA based their claims in part on the support they received from the last surviving anti-treaty Second Dáil member,
Tom Maguire
Tom Maguire (28 March 1892 – 5 July 1993) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican who held the rank of commandant-general in the Western Command of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and led the South County Mayo, Mayo flying column.
Earl ...
.
References
See also
*
History of Ireland (1801–1923)
*
History of the Republic of Ireland
*
Names of the Irish state
According to the Constitution of Ireland, the names of the Irish state are Republic of Ireland, Ireland (English) and Éire (Irish). From 1922 to 1937, its legal names were the Irish Free State (English) and Saorstát Éireann (Irish). The sovere ...
*
List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies
These lists of historical unrecognized or partially recognized states give an overview of extinct Geopolitics, geopolitical entities that wished to be recognized as sovereign states, but did not enjoy worldwide diplomatic recognition. The entries ...
References
*
Tim Pat Coogan, ''Michael Collins'' (Hutchinson, 1990) .
* Tim Pat Coogan, ''Éamon de Valera'' (Hutchinson, 1993) .
*
R.F. Foster, ''Modern Ireland 1600–1972''.
*
J. J. Lee, ''The Modernisation of Irish Society''.
*
F. S. L. Lyons, ''Ireland Since the Famine''.
*
Lord Longford, ''Peace by Ordeal''.
*
Dorothy Macardle, ''
The Irish Republic''.
* Earl of Middleton, ''Ireland: Dupe or Heroine?''
* Arthur Mitchell & Pádraig Ó Snodaigh, ''Irish Political Documents 1916–1949''.
*
John A. Murphy, ''Ireland in the Twentieth Century''.
External links
Anglo-Irish Treaty Debates on-line
{{Ireland topics
History of Ireland (1801–1923)
Political history of the Republic of Ireland
Irish republicanism
Former countries in Ireland
Former unrecognized countries
1920s in Ireland
States and territories established in 1919
States and territories disestablished in 1922
1919 establishments in Ireland
1922 disestablishments in Ireland
20th century in the Republic of Ireland
Former countries of the interwar period