Crown of Ireland Act 1542 - The 20th Century

The 20th Century

As a result of the Irish War of Independence, most of Ireland left the United Kingdom in 1922 and became the Irish Free State, an independent country which still retained the British monarch as its head of state. The remaining six north-eastern counties continued as Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, but with their own parliament and system of government. Despite these fundamental changes, the 16th-century Act remained unamended on the statute books.

The Irish Free State adopted a republican constitution in 1937, although its remaining ties with the British monarchy were not formally broken until 1949. However, the Tudor Act remained on the republic's statute books until formally repealed in 1962.