In 1937 a new Constitution was adopted establishing the contemporary Irish state named simply "Ireland" and entrenching the monarch's diminished role, transferring many of the functions performed by the King until 1936 to a new office of President of Ireland, who was declared to "take precedence over all other persons in the State". However, the 1937 constitution did not explicitly declare that the state was a republic, nor that the President was head of state, and it allowed for the King to have a role in the state's external affairs. The state's ambiguous status ended in 1949, when the Republic of Ireland Act ended the King's remaining role in external affairs and declared that the state was a republic.