View source for Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949

{{short description|Changing status of the Irish head of state for internal and external purposes from 1922 to 1949}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=August 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

The state known today as [[Names of the Irish state|Ireland]] is the successor state to the [[Irish Free State]], which existed from December 1922 to December 1937. At its foundation, the Irish Free State was, in accordance with its [[Constitution of the Irish Free State|constitution]] and the terms of the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]], governed as a [[constitutional monarchy]], in [[personal union]] with the [[monarchy of the United Kingdom]] and other members of what was then called the [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]]. The monarch as head of state was represented in the Irish Free State by his [[Governor-General of the Irish Free State|Governor-General]], who performed most of the monarch's duties based on the [[Advice (constitutional law)|advice]] of elected Irish officials.

The [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]], passed in 1931, granted expanded sovereignty to the [[Dominions]] of the British Commonwealth, and permitted the Irish state to amend its constitution and legislate outside the terms of the Treaty. The [[Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936]], enacted in response to the [[abdication of Edward VIII]], removed the role of the monarch for all internal purposes, leaving him only a few formal duties in foreign relations as a "symbol of cooperation" with other Commonwealth nations. The [[Constitution of Ireland]], which took effect in December 1937, established the position of [[president of Ireland]], with the office first filled in June 1938, but the monarch retained his role in foreign affairs, leaving open the question of which of the two figures was the formal [[head of state]]. [[The Republic of Ireland Act 1948]] ended the statutory position of the British monarch for external purposes and assigned those duties to the President, taking effect in April 1949, from which point Ireland was inarguably a republic.

==Background==

The [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] was agreed upon to end the 1919–1921 [[Irish War of Independence]] fought between Irish revolutionaries who favored an [[Irish Republic]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]. The treaty provided for the [[Irish Free State]], which excluded Northern Ireland, as an autonomous and self-governing [[dominion]] of the British Commonwealth, with the [[British monarchy|British monarch]] as [[head of state]], in the same manner as in Canada and Australia.<ref name=treaty-text>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/anglo_irish/dfaexhib2.html|title=Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Series: Anglo-Irish Treaty: Text of.|website=nationalarchives.ie|access-date=3 September 2021|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503063039/https://www.nationalarchives.ie/topics/anglo_irish/dfaexhib2.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The treaty also mandated that members of the [[Oireachtas (Irish Free State)|new Irish parliament]] would have to take an [[Oath of Allegiance (Ireland)|oath of allegiance]] that promised fidelity to [[George V]] and his heirs.

The disestablishment of the Irish Republic declared in 1919, the imposition of even a constitutional monarchy, and the continued ties to Great Britain were particularly contentious for many Irish nationalists.<ref>{{cite book | last=Younger | first=Calton | title=Ireland's Civil War | publisher=Fontana | location=London | year=1988 |edition=6th | isbn=978-0-00-686098-3 | pages=233–235}}</ref> Even the Treaty's supporters viewed it as a compromise imposed on the Irish by their inability to achieve full independence through military means: [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]], the republican leader who had led the Irish negotiating team, argued that it gave "not the ultimate freedom that all nations aspire and develop, but the freedom to achieve freedom."

The Treaty was fiercely debated in the Second Dáil, the Irish Republic's revolutionary parliament. [[Éamon de Valera]], [[President of Dáil Éireann|the Republic's President]], opposed the proposed dominion status for Ireland; instead, he advocated for a relationship he called [[external association]], under which Ireland would be "associated" with the rest of the British Commonwealth and would "recognise His Britannic Majesty as head of the Association" – but not as Ireland's King or head of state.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/1922/01/10/00025.asp#N8 |title=Appendix 18: The President's alternative proposals|date=10 January 1922|work=Treaty debates|publisher=Oireachtas|access-date=18 August 2012}}</ref>

Nevertheless, the Dáil [[Anglo-Irish Treaty Dáil vote|narrowly approved]] the treaty, and de Valera resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/E900003-007/text001.html|title=Official Correspondence relating to the Peace Negotiations June–September, 1921|work=ucc.ie|access-date=3 September 2021|archive-date=30 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170330215533/http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/E900003-007/text001.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Pro-Treaty forces won the ensuing [[1922 Irish general election|election]] and [[Irish Civil War|civil war]], and the Free State's new constitution incorporated the monarchial elements mandated by the Treaty.

==Irish Free State==

{{Infobox monarchy
| royal_title        = Monarchy
| realm              = the Irish Free State
| native_name        = <!-- Optional. -->
| border             = <!-- Optional. Accepted values: provincial / state / federal / imperial -->
| coatofarms         = Seal of the Irish Free State.png
| coatofarms_size    =
| coa_alt            =
| coatofarms_article = Great Seal of the Irish Free State
| coatofarmscaption  = 
| type               = commonwealth
| his/her            = His
| image              = 
| image_size         =
| alt                =
| first_monarch      = [[George V]]
| last_monarch       = [[George VI]]
| formation          = 6 December 1922
| abolition          = 29 December 1937
}}

The new Irish Free State thus established was a form of constitutional monarchy, a [[Dominion]] with the same monarch as the United Kingdom and other states within the [[British Commonwealth]]. Under its constitution, the King had functions that included the exercise of executive authority of the state, the appointment of the [[Executive Council of the Irish Free State|cabinet]], the dissolution of the legislature, and the promulgation of laws. However, all of these were delegated to a representative called the [[Governor-General of the Irish Free State]]. The representative's title was not actually specified in the Treaty, and Collins considered a number of alternatives, including ''Commissioner of the British Commonwealth''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1kcmAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Commissioner%22+%22British+Commonwealth%22+%22Irish+Free+State%22 ''The birth of the Irish Free State, 1921-1923''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925012307/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1kcmAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Commissioner%22+%22British+Commonwealth%22+%22Irish+Free+State%22&dq=%22Commissioner%22+%22British+Commonwealth%22+%22Irish+Free+State%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjDtLGK4J7kAhVeUBUIHTM1B28Q6AEISTAF |date=25 September 2021 }}, Joseph Maroney Curran, University of Alabama Press, 1980, page 207</ref> and ''President of Ireland.''<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jf0lAAAAMAAJ&q=%22President+of+Ireland%22 ''Ireland and the Crown, 1922-1936: the Governor-Generalship of the Irish Free State''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925012307/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jf0lAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22objectionable+title+%27Governor-General%27%22&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22President+of+Ireland%22 |date=25 September 2021 }}, Brendan Sexton, Irish Academic Press, 1989, page 56</ref> However, the Free State government ultimately settled on ''governor-general'' because it was the same title used by the corresponding officials in other Dominions. The office's [[Irish language]] title was ''{{lang|ga|Seanascal}}'',<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=-zxFAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Seanascal+Shaorstait+Eireann%22 ''Díosbóireachtaí Pairliminte: Tuairisg Oifigiúil''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925012308/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-zxFAAAAYAAJ&dq=seanascal+governor+general&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22Seanascal+Shaorstait+Eireann%22 |date=25 September 2021 }}, Volume 4, Stationery Office, 1923</ref> meaning "high steward" or "[[seneschal]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/seanascal|title=Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): seanascal|website=teanglann.ie}}</ref> which was later used in [[English language|English]].<ref>[https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&tbm=bks&ei=emxmXfORJNKA5wLmxLj4DQ&q=%22seanascal+is+a+high+steward%2Fmajor+domo.+It+was+the+term+employed+by+de+Valera+in+lieu+of+Governor+General%22&oq=%22seanascal+is+a+high+steward%2Fmajor+domo.+It+was+the+term+employed+by+de+Valera+in+lieu+of+Governor+General%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...39296.39296.0.51977.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c.2.64.psy-ab..1.0.0....0.aL2d3KDVJcU ''Studies''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925012331/https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&tbm=bks&ei=emxmXfORJNKA5wLmxLj4DQ&q=%22seanascal+is+a+high+steward%2Fmajor+domo.+It+was+the+term+employed+by+de+Valera+in+lieu+of+Governor+General%22&oq=%22seanascal+is+a+high+steward%2Fmajor+domo.+It+was+the+term+employed+by+de+Valera+in+lieu+of+Governor+General%22&gs_l=psy-ab.3...39296.39296.0.51977.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c.2.64.psy-ab..1.0.0....0.aL2d3KDVJcU |date=25 September 2021 }}, Volume 89, page 363</ref>

As was the case in all Dominions, by convention the governor-general acted on the [[advice (constitutional law)|advice]] of elected officials. For the most part, this advice came from Irish officials, and on a day-to-day basis the governor-general played a ceremonial role in the Irish Free State similar to the one the King played in the United Kingdom. (Notably, the head of government, who in practice held the most powerful position in the State, held the title ''[[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|President of the Executive Council]]'' rather than ''Prime Minister'' as in other Dominions.)

At the Free State's inception, however, the governor-general served an additional role as the British government's agent, as was true in other Dominions as well. This meant that all official correspondence between the British and Irish governments went through the governor-general and that he had access to British government papers. It also meant that he could receive secret instructions from the British government and so, for example, on assuming office [[Tim Healy (politician)|Tim Healy]] was formally advised by the British government to veto any law that attempted to abolish the Oath of Allegiance. However, no such law was passed during Healy's term of office, and in practice the governor-general never received conflicting advice from Irish and British officials during the existence of the Free State.

==Duties and functions==
Under the original constitution of the Irish Free State in 1922, the monarch had a number of formal duties:

* '''Executive authority:''' The [[executive (government)|executive authority]] of the state was formally vested in the monarch but exercised by the governor-general. Under Article 51, executive authority was to be exercised in accordance with Canadian practice. Thus, with few exceptions, the governor-general was bound to act on the [[Advice (constitutional law)|advice]] of the Executive Council.
* '''Appointment of the cabinet:''' The [[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|President of the Executive Council]] (prime minister) was appointed by governor-general after being selected by [[Dáil Éireann (Irish Free State)|Dáil Éireann]] (the lower house of parliament). The remaining ministers were appointed on the nomination of the president, subject to a vote of consent in the Dáil.
* '''Convention and dissolution of the legislature''': The governor-general, on behalf of the monarch, convened and dissolved the [[Oireachtas (Irish Free State)|Oireachtas]] on the advice of the Executive Council.
* '''Signing bills into law:''' The monarch was formally, along with the Dáil and the [[Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)|Senate]], one of three tiers of the Oireachtas. No bill could become law until it received the [[Royal assent (Ireland)|Royal Assent]], which was given by the governor-general on behalf of the monarch. The governor-general theoretically had the right to veto a bill or reserve it "for the signification of the King's pleasure", in effect postponing a decision on whether or not to enact the bill, for a maximum of one year. However neither of these two actions was ever taken.
* '''Appointment of judges''': All judges were appointed by the governor-general, on the advice of the Executive Council.
* '''Representing the state in foreign affairs:''' The monarch accredited ambassadors and received the letters of credence of foreign diplomats; ministers signed international treaties in his name. The role of the monarch in the Free State's foreign affairs was the only function retained by him after the constitutional changes of 1936.

===Oath of Allegiance===
The Oath of Allegiance was included in Article 17 of the [[Irish Free State]]'s [[Constitution of the Irish Free State|1922 Constitution]]. It read:

{{blockquote|I ''(name)'' do solemnly swear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State as by law established, and that I will be faithful to His Majesty King George V, his heirs and successors by law in virtue of the common citizenship of Ireland with Great Britain and her adherence to and membership of the group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations.}}

The words "allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State" were taken from De Valera's preferred version, which read: "I (name) do solemnly swear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the Irish Free State, to the Treaty of Association, and to recognise the King of Great Britain as Head of Associated States".<ref>Coogan, Tim Pat.  ''Michael Collins: The Man Who Made Ireland'', p. 267.  (Boulder: Roberts Rinehart Publishers, 1996).</ref>

==Diminishing role of monarchy==

[[File:British Commonealth of Nations handwritten on Anglo-Irish Treaty draft.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Draft of the 1921 [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]], with "British Empire" crossed out and "British Commonwealth of Nations" added by hand.]]

The creation of the Irish Free State came at a time when all the Dominions of the British Empire were increasingly asserting their place as partners with the United Kingdom rather than its colonies, a process that Irish participation in Imperial affairs helped accelerate. For instance, while the Empire had since the 1880s been occasionally referred to as ''the Commonwealth of Nations,''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619122654/http://thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history/|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 June 2010|title=History – Though the modern Commonwealth is just 60 years old, the idea took root in the 19th century|publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |work=thecommonwealth.org|access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref> the text of the Oath of Allegiance in the Anglo-Irish Treaty was the first use of the phrase in statute law; it replaced ''the British Empire'' in the course of negotiations.<ref>{{cite book|title=Peace by ordeal: an account, from first-hand sources of the negotiation and signature of the Anglo-Irish Treaty 1921|last=Pakenham|first=Frank|author-link=Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford|year=1972|publisher=Sidgwick and Jackson|isbn=978-0-283-97908-8}}</ref>

The [[Balfour Declaration of 1926|Balfour Declaration]], issued at the [[1926 Imperial Conference]], formally recognized the equality of the Dominions with the United Kingdom and with one another, and established that the various governors-general would henceforth only take advice from their Dominion governments. This equality was codified in legislative terms by the [[Statute of Westminster 1931|Statute of Westminster]] in 1931, which removed almost all of Westminster's remaining authority to legislate for the Dominions, effectively granting the Free State internationally recognised independence. It also granted the Free State the freedom to amend its constitution outside the terms set by the Anglo-Irish Treaty.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1931/nov/24/new-clause-saving-with-respect-to-irish|title=NEW CLAUSE.—(Saving with respect to Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.)  |website=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]]|access-date=3 September 2021|archive-date=20 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020182535/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1931/nov/24/new-clause-saving-with-respect-to-irish|date=24 November 1931|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Patrick McGilligan (Fine Gael politician)|Patrick McGilligan]], the [[Minister for External Affairs (Ireland)|Free State Minister for External Affairs]], called the Statute of Westminster "the solemn declaration by the British people through their representatives in Parliament that the powers inherent in the Treaty position are what we have proclaimed them to be for the last ten years," and went on to present the legislation as largely the fruit of the Free State's efforts to secure for the other Dominions the same benefits it already enjoyed under the treaty.<ref name=difp1317>{{cite web |url=http://www.difp.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=1317 |title=Press statement by Patrick McGilligan on the Statute of Westminster, Dublin |date=11 December 1931 |no-pp=y |page=No. 617 NAI DFA 5/3 |work=Documents on Irish Foreign Policy |publisher=[[Royal Irish Academy]] |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923214729/http://www.difp.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=1317 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Image:Leinster House - 1911.jpg|right|thumb|[[Leinster House]], decorated for the visit of King [[George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]] in 1911; within a decade, it became the seat of the [[Oireachtas (Irish Free State)]]]]
The [[1932 Irish general election]] was won by [[Fianna Fáil]], led by de Valera, on a [[Irish republicanism|republican]] platform. Over the next several years, the Irish government began reducing the visibility and formal role of the monarch and governor-general. [[Domhnall Ua Buachalla]], a republican and former Fianna Fáil [[Teachta Dála|TD]], was appointed governor-general in late 1932; on his government's advice, he withdrew from all public and ceremonial roles, performing in a perfunctory manner the minimum duties required by the Constitution. The governor-general's [[Constitution (Amendment No. 20) Act 1933|role in budget appropriations]] and [[Constitution (Amendment No. 21) Act 1933|ability to veto legislation]] were abolished, [[Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act 1933|as was the Oath of Allegiance]]. No treaties requiring the assent of the king as head of state were signed from 1931 to 1937. Two methods were used to circumvent this: bilateral treaties were concluded at government rather than head-of-state level; for multilateral treaties, the Free State chose not to enrol at inauguration via the king's signature, but instead to accede a few months later via the signature of the [[Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade|Minister for External Affairs]].<ref name="Stewart1938">{{cite journal|last=Stewart|first=Robert B.|year=1938|title=Treaty-Making Procedure in the British Dominions|journal=The American Journal of International Law|volume=32|issue=3|pages=467–487: 480–485|issn=0002-9300|doi=10.2307/2191164 |jstor=138434|s2cid=147568713 }}</ref>

==1936: Abdication crisis and the External Relations Act==
In January 1936, [[George V]] died and was succeeded by his eldest son, who became [[Edward VIII]]. The new King's reign lasted only eleven months, and he [[abdication of Edward VIII|abdicated]] in December of that year and was succeeded by [[George VI]]. The parliaments of independent members of the [[The Commonwealth|British Commonwealth]] were required to ratify this change in monarch, and de Valera's government decided to use this opportunity to drastically change the constitution.

The [[Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936]], swiftly passed by the Oireachtas in response to the abdication, abolished the post of Governor-General and transferred most of the monarch's functions to other organs of government. Thus, for example, the executive power was transferred directly to the Executive Council, the right to appoint the [[President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State|President of the Executive Council]] was explicitly vested in [[Dáil Éireann (Irish Free State)|Dáil Éireann]] (the lower house of parliament), and the power to promulgate legislation was transferred to the [[Ceann Comhairle]] (chairperson of the Dáil). However, the constitutional amendment also provided, without mentioning the monarch specifically, for the state to be represented by him in external affairs with other countries and their representatives:<ref>{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1936|name=[[Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936]] |number=57|parl=ifs|date=11 December 1936|access-date=4 September 2021}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|it shall be lawful for the Executive Council, to the extent and subject to any conditions which may be determined by law to avail, for the purposes of the appointment of diplomatic and consular agents and the conclusion of international agreements of any organ used as a constitutional organ for the like purposes by any of the nations referred to in Article 1 of this Constitution.}}

The nations referred to in Article 1 were the other members of the British Commonwealth (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]], and the United Kingdom). The [[Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936|External Relations Act]], adopted shortly after the constitutional amendment, gave life to this provision by providing that:<ref name=er1936>{{Cite Irish legislation|year=1936|name=[[Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936]] |section=3|stitle=Exercise of foregoing power|number=58|parl=ifs|date=12 December 1936|access-date=4 September 2021}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|so long as [the Irish Free State] is associated with the following nations, that is to say, Australia, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, and South Africa, and so long as the king recognised by those nations as the symbol of their co-operation continues to act on behalf of each of those nations (on the advice of the several Governments thereof) for the purposes of the appointment of diplomatic and consular representatives and the conclusion of international agreements, the king so recognised may … act on behalf of [the Irish Free State] for the like purposes as and when advised by the Executive Council so to do.}}

Thus, for the remaining year of the Irish Free State's existence, the king's role was restricted to diplomatic and foreign affairs – a standard head of state role – but he performed no formal duties in regards to domestic legislation or governance. The Act also recognized Edward's abdication and the accession of his brother as George VI.<ref name=er1936 />

==1937: Constitution of Ireland==
In 1937 a new [[Constitution of Ireland|Constitution]] was adopted on the proposal of [[Éamon de Valera]], establishing the contemporary Irish state named {{lang|ga|[[Éire]]}} or, in the English language, Ireland. It did not describe or declare the state to be a republic, or use descriptions such as Ireland or the [[Irish Republic]].

The new constitution filled the gap left by the abolition of the Governor-General by creating the post of a directly elected [[president of Ireland]], who would 
"take precedence over all other persons in the State", but was not explicitly described as head of state. The president was henceforth responsible for the ceremonial functions of dissolving the legislature, appointing the government, and promulgating the law. Unlike most heads of state in parliamentary systems, the president was not even the nominal chief executive. Instead, the role of exercising executive authority was explicitly granted to the government—in practice, to the [[Taoiseach]], a role similar to the Free State constitution's President of the Executive Council. The constitution also, like the [[Constitution of the Irish Free State|1922 constitution]] that preceded it, contained many provisions typical of those found in republican constitutions, stating, for example, that sovereignty resided in the people and prohibiting the granting of titles of nobility.

Article 29 of the new constitution mirrored the amendment to its predecessor passed the previous year, by permitting the state to allow its external relations to be exercised by the king. Article 29.4.2° provided that:
{{Blockquote|For the purpose of the exercise of any executive function of the State in or in connection with its external relations, the Government may to such extent and subject to such conditions, if any, as may be determined by law, avail of or adopt any organ, instrument, or method of procedure used or adopted for the like purpose by the members of any group or league of nations with which the State is or becomes associated for the purpose of international co-operation in matters of common concern.}}

This provision meant that the External Relations Act continued to have the force of law until the legislature decided otherwise, and so the monarch continued to represent the state abroad when empowered to do so.

==Ambiguity from 1936 to 1949==
After the passage of the External Relations Act, some commentators consider that it was unclear whether the Irish state had become a republic or remained a form of [[constitutional monarchy]] and (from 1937) whether its [[head of state]] was the [[President of Ireland]] or King [[George VI]]. Executive power continued to be exercised {{lang|la|de facto}} by the head of government. Nevertheless, the exact constitutional status of the state during this period has been a matter of scholarly and political dispute.<ref>{{cite book |title=Republicans and Imperialists: Anglo-Irish Relations in the 1930s |last=McMahon |first=Deirdre |year=1984 |isbn=0300030711 |page=[https://archive.org/details/republicansimper0000mcma/page/181 181] |publisher=Yale University Press |url=https://archive.org/details/republicansimper0000mcma/page/181 }}</ref>

From 1936 until 1949, the role of the king in the Irish state, having been reduced to a few formal duties in foreign affairs, was invisible to most Irish people. The monarch never visited the state during that period and, due to the abolition of the office of Governor-General, had no official representative there. The Irish government had also ceased to actively participate in the institutions of the British Commonwealth after the [[British Empire Economic Conference|1932 Imperial Conference]]. The president, on the other hand, played a key role in important public ceremonies.

Asked to explain the country's status in 1945, de Valera insisted that it was a republic. He told the Dáil that:

{{Blockquote|The State ... is ... demonstrably a republic. Let us look up any standard text on political theory ... and judge whether our State does not possess every characteristic mark by which a republic can be distinguished or recognised. We are a democracy with the ultimate sovereign power resting with the people—a representative democracy with the various organs of State functioning under a written Constitution, with the executive authority controlled by Parliament, with an independent judiciary functioning under the Constitution and the law, and with a Head of State directly elected by the people for a definite term of office.<ref name="Dail1945-07-17">{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1945-07-17/24/|title=Committee on Finance. – Vote 65—External Affairs.|date=17 July 1945|work=Dáil Éireann debates|pages=Vol. 97 No. 23 p.22 cc2569–70|access-date=25 June 2013|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516185900/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1945-07-17/24/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Referring to the External Relations Act he insisted that:
{{Blockquote|We are an independent republic, associated as a matter of our external policy with the States of the British Commonwealth.<ref name="Dail1945-07-17" />}}

Despite de Valera's views, many political scholars consider representing a nation abroad to be the key defining role of a head of state.

The issue seems to have come to a head in 1948 on an official visit to Canada by new Taoiseach [[John A. Costello]], whose [[Fine Gael]] party carried the tradition of the pro-Treaty political forces in Ireland. During a [[state dinner]] with the [[Governor General of Canada]], [[Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis|the Earl Alexander of Tunis]], an agreement that there would be separate toasts for the King and for the President of Ireland was broken. Only a toast to the King was proposed, to the fury of the Irish delegation. Alexander, who was of Northern Irish descent, placed loyalist symbols, notably a replica of the famous [[Roaring Meg (cannon)|Roaring Meg]] cannon used in the [[Siege of Derry]], before an affronted Costello at the dinner. Shortly afterwards, while still in Ottawa, Costello announced that his government would introduce a bill that would unambiguously make Ireland a republic. Costello biographer [[David McCullagh]] has suggested that it was a spur of the moment reaction to offence caused by Alexander at the dinner, although the cabinet members at the time claimed that the decision had already been made and was announced early because it had been leaked to the ''[[Sunday Independent (Ireland)|Sunday Independent]]''. The evidence of what really happened remains ambiguous.<ref>{{cite book|last=McCullagh|first=David|title=The Reluctant Taoiseach|publisher=Gill and Macmillan|year=2010}}</ref>

==The Republic of Ireland Act 1948==
{{see also|Names of the Irish state}}

At any rate, the [[Republic of Ireland Act 1948|Republic of Ireland Bill]] was soon introduced into the [[Oireachtas]]. In the debate in the [[Seanad Éireann]] in December 1948 on the law, Costello argued that the bill would make the President of Ireland the Irish head of state. De Valera's party, the main opposition in the Dáil at the time, did not oppose the bill, and it passed quickly.

The Act contained three major provisions: it repealed the External Relations Act; it provided that the description of the state was the [[Republic of Ireland]]; and it provided that the external relations of the state would henceforth be exercised by the President.

The Act came into force on 18 April 1949, [[Easter Monday]],<ref>{{cite Irish legislation |name=The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 (Commencement) Order 1949 |year=1949 |number=27 |type=si |nothe=1}}</ref> to commemorate the [[Proclamation of the Irish Republic]], which had been read by [[Patrick Pearse]] at the beginning of the [[Easter Rising]] on Easter Monday 1916. Soon after President [[Seán T. O'Kelly]] signed the act into law, he commemorated his new status as the clear and unambiguous Irish head of state with state visits to the [[Vatican City|Holy See]] and France. A visit to meet George VI at [[Buckingham Palace]] was also provisionally planned, but timetabling problems with the president's schedule prevented the meeting.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

One practical implication of explicitly declaring the state to be a republic in 1949 was that it automatically led to the state's termination of membership of the then [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]], in accordance with the rules in operation at the time. However, on 26 April, just days after the Act came into effect, the Commonwealth issued the [[London Declaration]], which allowed India to remain within the Commonwealth while becoming a republic.<ref>{{cite web |title=London Declaration |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/london-declaration |website=The Commonwealth |access-date=5 September 2021 |archive-date=4 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704130811/https://thecommonwealth.org/london-declaration |url-status=live }}</ref> The formula used in the Declaration—that India would "accept ... The King as the symbol of the free association of its independent member nations and as such the Head of the Commonwealth"—has been noted for its similarity to de Valera's 1921 proposal for an Irish Republic's "external association" with the Commonwealth, and to the wording of the 1936 External Relations Act.<ref name="McIntyre1999">{{cite journal|last=McIntyre|first=W. David|year=1999|title=The strange death of dominion status|journal=The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History|volume=27|issue=2|pages=193–212|issn=0308-6534|doi=10.1080/03086539908583064}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Mansergh|first=Nicholas|date=July 1952|title=Ireland: The Republic Outside the Commonwealth|journal=International Affairs|publisher=Royal Institute of International Affairs; Wiley-Blackwell|volume=28|issue=3|pages=277–291|jstor=2607413|doi=10.2307/2607413}}</ref><ref name="Mcintyre2002">{{cite journal|last=Mcintyre|first=W. David|year=2002|title='A formula may have to be found': Ireland, India, and the headship of the Commonwealth|journal=The Round Table|volume=91|issue=365|pages=391–413|issn=0035-8533|doi=10.1080/00358530220138578|s2cid=154390097 }}</ref>

The United Kingdom responded to the Republic of Ireland Act by enacting the [[Ireland Act 1949]]. This Act formally asserted that the Irish state had, when the Republic of Ireland Act came into force, ceased "to be part of His Majesty's dominions"<ref>Section 1(1) of the [[Ireland Act 1949]]</ref> and accordingly was no longer within the Commonwealth. Nonetheless, the United Kingdom statute provided that Irish citizens would not be treated as aliens under [[British nationality law]]. This, in effect, granted them a status similar to the citizens of Commonwealth countries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heater |first1=Derek |title=Citizenship in Britain: a history |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2006 |isbn=074862225X |place=Edinburgh |page=224}}</ref>

==List of monarchs==
{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
|-
! rowspan="2" |Portrait
! rowspan="2" style="width:20%;" | Regnal name<br />{{small|(birth–death)}}
! rowspan="2" | House
! colspan=2   | Reign
|-
!Start
!End
|- style="background:#eee;"
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |[[File:King George 1923 LCCN2014715558 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |'''[[George V]]'''<br />{{small|(1865–1936)}}
| rowspan="8" style="text-align:center;" |[[House of Windsor|Windsor]]
|6 December 1922
|20 January 1936
|-
| colspan="4" |{{Underline|Governor-general:}}<br />{{ubl|[[Tim Healy (politician)|Timothy Healy]]|[[James McNeill]]|[[Domhnall Ua Buachalla]]}}{{Underline|President of the Executive Council:}}<br />{{ubl|[[W. T. Cosgrave]]|[[Éamon de Valera]]}}
|- style="background:#eee;"
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |[[File:HRH The Prince of Wales No 4 (HS85-10-36416).jpg|100px]]
| rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |'''[[Edward VIII]]'''<br />{{small|(1894–1972)}}
|20 January 1936
|12 December 1936{{efn|The Government of the Irish Free State recognised [[Abdication of Edward VIII|Edward VIII's abdication]] on 12 December 1936 in the [[External Relations Act]], leading to a 24-hour period wherein Edward was king in the Irish Free State, while his brother was king of the UK and other Dominions.<ref>{{citation| url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9372/CBP-9372.pdf| last=Torrance| first=David| title=The Death of a Monarch| page=35| date=8 September 2022| publisher=House of Commons Library| accessdate=1 March 2023}}</ref>}}
|-
| colspan="4" |{{Underline|Governor-general:}}<br />[[Domhnall Ua Buachalla]]<br />{{Underline|President of the Executive Council:}}<br />[[Éamon de Valera]]
|- style="background:#eee;"
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |[[File:King George VI LOC matpc.14736 (cleaned).jpg|100px]]
| rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;" |'''[[George VI]]'''<br />{{small|(1895–1952)}}
|12 December 1936
|''29 December 1937''<ref>The date on which the present [[Constitution of Ireland]] came into force, creating the office of [[President of Ireland]] and abolishing the Irish Free State.</ref>
|-
| colspan="4" |{{Underline|Governor-general:}}<br />''Office abolished''<br />{{Underline|President of the Executive Council:}}<br />[[Éamon de Valera]]
|- style="background:#eee;"
|''29 December 1937''
|18 April 1949<ref>The date on which the [[Republic of Ireland Act]] came into force, finally eliminating the role of the King in the Irish state.</ref>
|-
| colspan="4" |{{Underline|President:}}<br />{{ubl|[[Douglas Hyde]]|[[Seán T. O'Kelly]]}}{{Underline|Taoiseach:}}<br />{{ubl|[[Éamon de Valera]]|[[John A. Costello]]}}
|}

==Title of the sovereign==
{{wikisource|Royal and Parliamentary Titles Proclamation 1927}}

While Henry VIII of England had [[Crown of Ireland Act 1542|adopted "King of Ireland" as a distinct title in 1544]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/england/king_england/01_kingstyle_1521.php |title=England: Royal Styles: 1521-1553 |access-date=21 October 2014 |archive-date=17 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117155759/http://www.archontology.org/nations/uk/england/king_england/01_kingstyle_1521.php |url-status=live }}</ref> that title was subsumed into a single royal title with the [[Acts of Union 1800|formal unification of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801]], and no distinct royal title or style was revived for use in Ireland between 1922 and 1949. Instead, a single [[Style of the British sovereign|style]] was used throughout the British Commonwealth{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}:

* 1922–1927: ''By the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India''
* 1927–1948: ''By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India''
* 1948–1949: ''By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith''

The changes during this period were effected by acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which authorized the monarchs to make alterations to their style via royal proclamation. However, the wording of the 1927 change, brought about by the [[Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927]], was agreed upon at the [[1926 Imperial Conference]], in which representatives of the Irish Free State participated, and was formulated specifically to reflect the changed Irish political situation.<ref name="Cmd 2768">''Imperial Conference, 1926: Summary of Proceedings'' Cmd 2768, p. 15 (London: HMSO, 1926).</ref>

Irish law did not provide any alternate royal style or title during this period. The original text of the Constitution of the Irish Free State simply referred to the monarch as the "King" without further elaboration.<ref>{{cite Irish legislation|year=1922|number=1|name=Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) Act 1922 |date=6 December 1922|parl=3rdd}}</ref> The opening words of Ireland's superseding constitution of 1937 were "In the Name of the Most Holy [[Trinity]], from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred", and there was no mention in it of the king or monarch;<ref>In the second stage of the Dáil debates on the Constitution, the President, Éamon de Valera, said that the Preamble was "a clear, unequivocal statement that authority comes from God", which was "fundamental Catholic doctrine": Dáil Debates 13 May 1937 col 416-417, quoted in "In the name of the Most Holy Trinity" by Brian O'Reilly [http://corkonlinelawreview.com/editions/2010/IN%20THE%20NAME%20OF%20THE%20MOST%20HOLY%20TRINITY.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119132935/http://corkonlinelawreview.com/editions/2010/IN%20THE%20NAME%20OF%20THE%20MOST%20HOLY%20TRINITY.pdf |date=19 November 2015 }}</ref><ref>Parliamentary Debates, Dáil Éireann – Volume 67 – 13 May 1937, Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, Dublin_ {{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1937-05-13/speech/204/ |title=Bunreacht na hEireann (Dréacht)—Dara Céim (Resumed). – Dáil Éireann (8th Dáil) – Thursday, 13 May 1937 – Houses of the Oireachtas |access-date=2013-08-03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305044044/http://www.oireachtas-debates.gov.ie/D/0067/D.0067.193705130005.html |archive-date=5 March 2012 }}</ref> the External Relations Act, the only Irish law referring to the monarch still in force after 1936, called him "the king recognised by those nations [of the British Commonwealth] as the symbol of their co-operation."

Despite the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act, "Great Britain, Ireland" was not officially omitted from the royal title until 1953. Then, each [[Commonwealth realm]] adopted a unique title for the monarch. No mention of Ireland was made in any except in the title within the United Kingdom and its dependent territories: it was changed from "of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas Queen" to "of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen".

==See also==
* [[Monarchy in Ireland]]
* [[Politics of the Republic of Ireland]]
* [[History of the Republic of Ireland]]
* [[Executive Council of the Irish Free State#"His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State"|"His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State"]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Sources===
* {{cite journal |last1=Coakley |first1=John |title=An ambiguous office? The position of head of state in the Irish Constitution |jstor=44027497 |journal=Irish Jurist |date=2012 |series=New Series |volume=48 |pages=43–70 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Lowry |doi=10.1057/9780230535695 |first1=Donal |editor1-last=Cronin |editor1-first=Mike |editor2-last=Regan |editor2-first=John M. |title=Ireland : the politics of Independence, 1922–49 |date=2000 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-230-53569-5 |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/80690847 |chapter=New Ireland, Old Empire and the Outside World, 1922–49: The Strange Evolution of a 'Dictionary Republic' }}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}
{{Irish Free State}}
{{Commonwealth realms}}

[[Category:Heads of state of Ireland]]
[[Category:Political history of the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:Monarchy in the Irish Free State]]
[[Category:Former Commonwealth monarchies|Ireland]]
[[Category:Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations]]
[[Category:Ireland–United Kingdom relations]]