Irish Free State

The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann) was (1922–1937) the name of the state comprising the 26 of Ireland's 32 counties which were separated from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Irish Free State Agreement (or Anglo-Irish Treaty) signed by British and Irish Republic representatives in London on December 6, 1921. The Irish Free State came into being in December 1922, replacing two co-existing but nominally rival states, the de jure Southern Ireland, which had been created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and which from January 1922 had been governed by a Provisional Government under Michael Collins and the de facto Irish Republic under the President of Dáil Éireann, Arthur Griffith, which had been created by Dáil Éireann in 1919. (In August 1922, both states in effect merged with the deaths of their leaders; both posts came to be held simultaneously by W.T. Cosgrave.)

The Irish Civil War

The compromises contained in the agreement caused the civil war in the 26 counties in June 1922-April 1923, in which Michael Collins's pro-Treaty "Free Staters" defeated the anti-Treaty Republicans led by Eamon de Valera, who had resigned as president of the Republic on the treaty's ratification, to the fury of some of his own supporters, notably Sean T. O'Kelly. On resigning, he then sought re-election in an attempt to wreck the treaty. However his ploy failed as the electorate voted for pro-treaty candidates. Arthur Griffith became President. Michael Collins was chosen by the House of Commons of Southern Ireland (a body set up under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 and to which the Provisional Government was nominally answerable) to become Provisional Prime Minister. As both the House of Commons and the Dáil had almost identical members, it was academic which body was meeting. Griffith's republican administration and Collins' Crown-appointed government merged with the deaths of both men, their respective offices being held by the same man, W.T. Cosgrave.

Related Topics:
Civil war - Michael Collins - Eamon de Valera - Sean T. O'Kelly - Arthur Griffith - House of Commons of Southern Ireland - Government of Ireland Act 1920 - W.T. Cosgrave

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