Southern Ireland (1921–1922)
Southern Ireland | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1921–1922 Disputed with the Irish Republic | |||||||||
Flag | |||||||||
Capital | Dublin 53°20′22″N 06°15′14″W / 53.33944°N 6.25389°W | ||||||||
Common languages | English, Irish | ||||||||
Religion | |||||||||
Demonym(s) | Southern Irish | ||||||||
Government | Devolved parliamentary legislature within constitutional monarchy | ||||||||
Monarch | |||||||||
• 1921–1922 | George V | ||||||||
Chairman | |||||||||
• 1922 | Michael Collins | ||||||||
• 1922 | W. T. Cosgrave | ||||||||
Legislature | Parliament of Southern Irelanda (until 27 May 1922) Provisional Parliament (9 August 1922 onwards; unicameral) | ||||||||
Senate (until 27 May 1922) | |||||||||
House of Commons (until 27 May 1922) | |||||||||
History | |||||||||
3 May 1921 | |||||||||
6 December 1921 | |||||||||
16 January 1922 | |||||||||
6 December 1922 | |||||||||
Currency | Pound sterling | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Today part of | Republic of Ireland | ||||||||
a. A Council of Ireland was also envisaged with "a view to the eventual establishment of a Parliament for the whole of Ireland" (Source: GOI Act) |
Southern Ireland (Irish: Deisceart Éireann pronounced [dʲescaɾˠt̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ]) was the larger of the two parts of Ireland that were created when Ireland was partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It comprised 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland or about five-sixths of the area of the island, whilst the remaining six counties, which occupied most of Ulster in the north of the island, formed Northern Ireland.[1] Southern Ireland included County Donegal, despite it being the largest county in Ulster and the most northerly county in all of Ireland.
The Act of 1920, which became effective on 3 May 1921, was intended to create two self-governing territories within Ireland, each with its own parliament and governmental institutions, and both remaining within the
Southern Ireland, as a political entity, was superseded by the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922 (which later became the fully independent state of Ireland from 1937 with the adoption of its own constitution).[4]
Home Rule and Partition
The Government of Ireland Act 1920, also known as the Fourth Home Rule Act, was intended to provide a solution to the problem that had bedevilled
Government of Ireland Act 1920
The Government of Ireland Act, passed at the end of December 1920, envisaged that Southern Ireland would have the following institutions:[7]
- a Parliament of Southern Ireland, consisting of the King, the Senate of Southern Ireland, and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland;
- a Government of Southern Ireland;
- the Supreme Court of Judicature of Southern Ireland;
- the Court of Appeal in Southern Ireland; and
- His Majesty's High Court of Justice in Southern Ireland.
It was also envisaged that Southern Ireland would share the following institutions with Northern Ireland:
- the Lord Lieutenant;
- a Council of Ireland – established "with a view to the eventual establishment of a Parliament for the whole of Ireland", but subsequently abolished during 1925 after the termination of the Boundary Commission; and
- a High Court of Appeal for Ireland – which was established,[8] and heard a small number of cases before its abolition by the UK's Irish Free State (Consequential Provisions) Act 1922.
1921 parliamentary elections
While Northern Ireland did become a functioning entity, with a parliament and government that existed until 1972, Southern Ireland's Parliament, although established legally, never functioned (for example, it never passed an Act). The
Treaty and Free State
The Anglo-Irish Treaty was further ratified for the Irish on 14 January 1922 by "a meeting summoned for the purpose [of approving the Treaty] of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland".[9] The treaty, in specifying a "meeting of members", did not state that the treaty needed to be approved by the House of Commons of Southern Ireland as such. Hence, when that "meeting" was convened, it was convened by Arthur Griffith in his capacity as "Chairman of the Irish Delegation of Plenipotentiaries" (who had signed the Treaty). Notably, it was not convened by Viscount FitzAlan, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who, by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, was the office-holder with the entitlement to convene a meeting of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland.
The Provisional Government established by the treaty was constituted on 14 January 1922 at the above-mentioned meeting of members of the Parliament elected for constituencies in Southern Ireland. It began office two days later when Michael Collins became Chairman of the Provisional Government. Collins assumed charge of Dublin Castle at a ceremony attended by Lord FitzAlan. The new government was not an institution of Southern Ireland as provided by the Government of Ireland Act. Instead, it was a government established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and was a necessary transitional entity before the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922.
Southern Ireland was self-governing but was not a sovereign state. Its constitutional nature derived from the
On 27 May 1922 (some months before the establishment of the Irish Free State), Lord FitzAlan, as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, in accordance with the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922, dissolved the Parliament of Southern Ireland and by proclamation called "a Parliament to be known as and styled the Provisional Parliament".[10] From that date, the Parliament of Southern Ireland ceased to exist. With the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922 by the terms of the treaty, Southern Ireland ceased to exist.
See also
References
- ISBN 019522048X. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ISBN 023062913X. Archivedfrom the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ISBN 0-8132-0793-2.
- ISBN 978-0191029530. Archivedfrom the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ^ Geoffrey Lewis, Carson: The Man Who Divided Ireland Archived 1 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, p. 148
- ^ Joseph McKenna, Guerrilla Warfare in the Irish War of Independence, 1919–1921 Archived 10 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine, p. 3
- ^ "Government of Ireland Act 1920 (as assented to)". bailii.org. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
- ^ Austen Morgan, Belfast Agreement, pg. 34 wherein the author notes: "One all-Ireland institution – the High Court of Appeal for Ireland in section 38 [of the 1920 Act – did exist briefly.
- ^ Anglo-Irish Treaty Archived 8 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Macardle (1999), p718 and DCU Website. Archived 12 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine