Background
Ironically, in view of the opposition expressed to the Oath by anti-treatyites, it was in fact largely the work of Michael Collins, based in its open lines on a draft oath suggested by the President of the Republic, Éamon de Valera, and also on the oath of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. In fact, Collins cleared the Oath with the IRB before proposing it during the Treaty negotiations. By the standards of the oaths of allegiance to be found in other British Commonwealth dominions, it was quite mild, with no direct personal Oath to the monarch, only an indirect oath of fidelity by virtue of the King's role in the Treaty settlement as "King in Ireland", a figurehead position. The public perception among those who were hostile to the Treaty was that it was an offensive Oath to the British monarch.
Read more about this topic: Oath Of Allegiance (Ireland)
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