People & Histories
1922–1949

From Free State to Republic

The Free State consolidates democracy, de Valera's 1937 Constitution creates "Éire", Ireland stays neutral in the Second World War, and in 1949 it becomes a republic outside the Commonwealth.

  • Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society — J. J. Lee, Cambridge University Press (1989)
  • The Transformation of Ireland 1900–2000 — Diarmaid Ferriter, Profile Books (2004)
  • de Valera, Éamon — Dictionary of Irish Biography, Royal Irish Academy

Well established statehoodreligionidentity

Despite being born in civil war, the Irish Free State became a stable parliamentary democracy. In 1932 the defeated anti-Treaty side, now de Valera’s Fianna Fáil, won power and the outgoing government handed it over peacefully, a significant moment in interwar Europe.

  • Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society — J. J. Lee, Cambridge University Press (1989)
  • The Transformation of Ireland 1900–2000 — Diarmaid Ferriter, Profile Books (2004)

De Valera dismantled the Treaty piece by piece. His 1937 Constitution, approved by referendum, renamed the state Éire, or Ireland in English, claimed the whole island as the “national territory” (Articles 2 and 3), recognised the “special position” of the Catholic Church, and described women’s place as within the home.

  • de Valera, Éamon — Dictionary of Irish Biography, Royal Irish Academy
  • Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society — J. J. Lee, Cambridge University Press (1989)
  • The Transformation of Ireland 1900–2000 — Diarmaid Ferriter, Profile Books (2004)
During the Second World War, “the Emergency”, Ireland stayed neutral, though it quietly helped the Allies in many ways, and tens of thousands of Irish people joined the British forces or worked in British factories.
  • Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society — J. J. Lee, Cambridge University Press (1989)
  • The Transformation of Ireland 1900–2000 — Diarmaid Ferriter, Profile Books (2004)

In 1948 a coalition government led by John A. Costello declared that Ireland would become a republic. The Republic of Ireland Act took effect on Easter Monday, 18 April 1949, and Ireland left the Commonwealth. Britain responded with the Ireland Act 1949, guaranteeing that Northern Ireland would not leave the UK without the consent of its parliament.

  • Ireland 1912–1985: Politics and Society — J. J. Lee, Cambridge University Press (1989)
  • Ireland: History — Encyclopaedia Britannica, Encyclopaedia Britannica

Why it matters today

Ireland

The 1937 Constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann, is still in force, and many of the referendums that have remade modern Ireland have been fights over its Catholic-era wording. Wartime neutrality remains a cherished, and debated, part of Irish identity.