United Ireland

A United Ireland is the common demand of Irish nationalists, envisaging that the island of Ireland (currently divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) be reunited as a single political entity. Nationalists have suggested many different models for unification, including federalism, and joint sovereignty, as well as a unitary state.

1653-1921

Although ruled by Britain, Ireland was a united political entity from the end of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in 1653 until 1921.

Related Topics:
Britain - Wars of the Three Kingdoms - 1653 - 1921

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Until the Constitution of 1782, Ireland was placed under the effective control of the British-appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland due to restrictive measures such as Poynings Law. From 1541 to 1801, the island's political status was of a Kingdom of Ireland in personal union with the English (and later the British) Crown. After the Act of Union, Ireland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, a single entity ruled by the Parliament at Westminster.

Related Topics:
Constitution of 1782 - Lord Lieutenant of Ireland - Poynings Law - 1541 - 1801 - Kingdom of Ireland - Personal union - Act of Union - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland - Parliament - Westminster

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Ireland was last undivided at the outbreak of World War I after national self-government in the form of the Third Home Rule Act 1914, won by John Redmond leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party was placed on the statute books, but suspended until the end of the war. It was amended to partition Ireland following the objections of Ulster Unionists.

Related Topics:
World War I - Home Rule Act 1914 - John Redmond - Irish Parliamentary Party - Ulster - Unionists

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In the 1918 general election, the republican Sinn Féin political party won a landslide victory. The newly elected Sinn Féin candidates formed a republican assembly Dáil Eireann which unilaterally declared itself in 1919 the Government of the Irish Republic and independent of the British Empire. Its claims over the entire island were, however, not accepted by Unionists. Under the Anglo-Irish Treaty the Irish Free State became in 1922 the name of the state covering twenty-six counties in the south and west, replacing the Irish Republic, while six counties in the northeast remained within the United Kingdom under the 1920 Government of Ireland Act.

Related Topics:
1918 general election - Sinn Féin - Dáil Eireann - 1919 - Irish Republic - British Empire - Unionists - Anglo-Irish Treaty - Irish Free State - United Kingdom - 1920 - Government of Ireland Act

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