Irish Free State founded

On December 6, 1922 the Irish Free State officially came into being, exactly one year after Irish and British negotiators signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty in London. The Free State was a self-governing dominion within the British Empire, like Canada and Australia, with its own parliament (the Dail), government and army. Twenty-six counties were included. The six counties of Northern Ireland used their right to opt out and stayed in the United Kingdom, creating the partition of the island that still shapes Irish politics.¹²

The roots lay deep. The Great Irish Famine of 1845 to 1852 killed about a million people and drove another million abroad, and left a lasting bitterness toward British government. Home rule was long promised, but Irish nationalists grew impatient, especially after the Easter Rising of 1916 and its harsh punishment. When Britain tried to extend conscription to Ireland during World War I, opposition united the country, and in the December 1918 election Sinn Fein won most Irish seats and set up its own parliament. The War of Independence (1919 to 1921) between the Irish Republican Army and British forces ended with a truce in July 1921.⁴

The treaty gave less than a republic. It required an oath of allegiance to the Crown, kept British naval bases, and accepted partition. The Dail approved it only by 64 votes to 57 in January 1922, and the country split. Pro-treaty forces under Michael Collins and W. T. Cosgrave fought anti-treaty republicans led politically by Eamon de Valera in a civil war from June 1922 to May 1923. Collins was killed in an ambush in August 1922. The pro-treaty side won. Over the following years the state loosened its ties to Britain, adopted a new constitution as 'Eire' in 1937, and became the Republic of Ireland in 1949.¹⁴