Irish Republic

:This article is about the historical Irish Republic. For the modern Irish state, see: Republic of Ireland1. The terms are not synonomous.

Institutions of government

The central institution of the republic was Dáil Éireann, which convened itself as a unicameral parliament. While the First Dáil consisted of members elected in 1918, two further general elections conducted by the British government in Ireland were also treated by nationalists as elections to the Dáil. The Second Dáil comprised members returned in the 1921 elections for the Parliament of Northern Ireland and the temporary Parliament of Southern Ireland; the Third Dáil was elected in 1922 as the "provisional parliament" of "Southern Ireland", as provided for by the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

Related Topics:
First Dáil - Second Dáil - 1921 - Parliament of Northern Ireland - Parliament of Southern Ireland - Third Dáil - 1922 - Provisional parliament - Southern Ireland - Anglo-Irish Treaty

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At its first meeting the Dáil adopted a brief, provisional constitution known as the Dáil Constitution. This vested executive authority in a cabinet called the "Aireacht" or "Ministry". The Aireacht was answerable to the Dáil which elected its head, known initially as the "Príomh Aire" or "prime minister". 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.

Related Topics:
Dáil Constitution - Executive - Cabinet - Aireacht - English - President of Dáil Éireann - United States

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Initially, because of the division between republicans and monarchists, the Irish Republic had no explicit head of state. In August 1921, de Valera, standing for re-election as President of Dáil Éireann, had the Dáil rename the post to "President of the Republic", so that he would be regarded as the head of state.

Related Topics:
Head of state - President of the Republic

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The military branch of the Irish Republic were the Irish Volunteers who, shortly after the outbreak of the War of Independence, were renamed as the "Irish Republican Army" to reflect their status as the national army of the new republic. Despite being theoretically under the command of the Dáil's Ministry, in practice individual IRA columns enjoyed a high level of autonomy.

Related Topics:
Irish Volunteers - Irish Republican Army

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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. These were first established in June 1919.

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