King of Ireland

The designation King of Ireland has been used during three periods of Irish history.

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In the centuries prior to 1169 Ireland had coalesced into a national kingdom under a High King of Ireland. In the aftermath of an Anglo-Norman incursion into Ireland in 1169 Henry II and his successors became "Lord of Ireland". The Treaty of Windsor in 1175 recognised the last native king as overlord of all Ireland outside Anglo-Norman control but further Anglo-Norman incursions weakened his authority and after his abdication the office fell dormant.

Related Topics:
High King of Ireland - Henry II - Treaty of Windsor

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After Henry VIII made himself head of the Church of England, he also requested and got legislation through the Irish Parliament, in 1541 (effective 1542), naming him King of Ireland and head of the Church of Ireland (which, both in Ireland and Northern Ireland, remains a member of the Anglican communion today but is no longer an established church like the Church of England or the Church of Scotland). The title "King of Ireland" was then used until 1 January 1801, the effective date of the second Act of Union, which merged Ireland and Great Britain to create the United Kingdom.

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After creation of the Irish Free State as a dominion of the British Empire in 1922, the question whether the King reigned in Ireland as "King of the United Kingdom" or as "King of Ireland' took on important constitutional significance that would have later ramifications for the entire British Empire as it was transformed into the Commonwealth of Nations.

Related Topics:
Irish Free State - 1922 - Ireland

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King George V continued to reign in Northern Ireland as King of the United Kingdom, because Northern Ireland had opted to remain within U.K.; but this provided no answer for the Free State. The question was solved in that regard in 1927, when the old Anglo-Irish title "King of Ireland" was revived. So the question began to arise in the other dominions of the British Empire — especially after the Statute of Westminster 1931 made them fully independent of Britain — whether the King-Emperor was king of Canada, Australia, etc., because he was head of the British Empire, or because he was head of state of each individual country. At the centre of the issue was the notion of the indivisibility of the Crown, with constitutional experts across the Empire, but especially in London, pondering the question of how the Crown could be indivisible on the head of one sovereign if that person were separately king (or queen regnant) of each division of the one Empire.

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This grand question was finally put to bed in 1952, when Elizabeth II was proclaimed Queen separately by the parliaments of United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan (became a republic in 1954), and Ceylon (since 1971, the Republic of Sri Lanka). Revival of the title King of Ireland in 1927 thus turned out to be a catalyst for reforming the concept of the indivisibility of the Crown, by elevating the concept of "The Crown" from concrete physicality (the literal crown, as presentation) to abstract principle (the crown as representation). This followed upon the other important development by which the British Empire became the Commonwealth of Nations, namely the provision to allow India to become a republic in 1950 and still remain in the Commonwealth; thus paving the way for then-Princess Elizabeth to become, in 1952, the first "Head of the Commonwealth."

Related Topics:
Elizabeth II - United Kingdom - Canada - Australia - New Zealand - Union of South Africa - Pakistan - Ceylon - Sri Lanka

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Meanwhile, in 1949, the last link with the monarch was severed in Dublin when the Irish Free State became the Republic of Ireland, thereby leaving the Commonwealth and laying the title "King of Ireland" well and truly to rest.

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