the irish free state became a republic in 1949.
the irish free state became a republic in 1949.
when did the irish free state become a republic?
1949
the may 1922 draft of the constitution of the irish free state used only irish forms of many names and titles, but on british insistence these were replaced with english equivalents; one exception was that references to "saorstát éireann" were amended to "the irish free state (saorstát éireann)". after the establishment of the free state the irish government often used the name "saorstát éireann" in documents in english as well as irish; an exception was that postage stamps of the period used "éire". because the irish free state was not a republic, since 1922 the word "saorstát" has fallen out of use in irish as a translation of "republic". when the legal description of the state was declared to be the "republic of ireland" in 1949, its official irish description became not "saorstát éireann" but "poblacht na héireann". it appears that the "irish free state" name was not generally popular, "the times" reporting on the irish general election in 1932:
names of the irish state
in accordance with the treaty, on 6 december 1922 the entire island of ireland became a self-governing dominion called the irish free state ("saorstát éireann"). under the constitution of the irish free state, the parliament of northern ireland had the option to leave the irish free state one month later and return to the united kingdom. during the intervening period, the powers of the parliament of the irish free state and executive council of the irish free state did not extend to northern ireland. northern ireland exercised its right under the treaty to leave the new dominion and rejoined the united kingdom on 8 december 1922. it did so by making an address to the king requesting, "that the powers of the parliament and government of the irish free state shall no longer extend to northern ireland." the irish free state was a constitutional monarchy sharing a monarch with the united kingdom and other dominions of the british commonwealth. the country had a governor-general (representing the monarch), a bicameral parliament, a cabinet called the "executive council", and a prime minister called the president of the executive council.
republic of ireland