The Irish Free State (Irish: Saorstát Éireann ; 6 December 1922 – 1937) was the state established in 1922 as a dominion under the Anglo-Irish Treaty signed by British and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand. On the day the Irish Free State was established, it comprised the entire island of Ireland, but Northern Ireland almost immediately exercised its right under the treaty to remove itself from the new state. The Irish Free State effectively replaced both the self-proclaimed Irish Republic (founded 21 January 1919) and the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland. W. T. Cosgrave, the first President of the Irish Free State had led both of these "governments" since August 1922.
The Irish Free State came to an end in 1937, when the citizens voted by referendum to replace the 1922 constitution. It was succeeded by the sovereign and current state of Ireland.
Read more about Irish Free State: Historical Background, Northern Ireland "opts Out", Governmental and Constitutional Structures, The Irish Civil War, Demographics, After The Irish Free State
Famous quotes containing the words irish, free and/or state:
“The Irish are a fair people; they never speak well of one another.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Do we call this the land of the free? What is it to be free from King George and continue the slaves of King Prejudice? What is it to be born free and not to live free? What is the value of any political freedom, but as a means to moral freedom? Is it a freedom to be slaves, or a freedom to be free, of which we boast?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“If a hermit lives in a state of ecstasy, his lack of comfort becomes the height of comfort. He must relinquish it.”
—Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)