The Irish Republic (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann) was a revolutionary state that declared its independence from Great Britain in January 1919. It established a legislature (Dáil Éireann), a government (Aireacht), a court system and a police force. At the same time, the Irish Volunteers, who came under the control of the Dáil and became known as the Irish Republican Army, fought against British armed forces in the Irish War of Independence.
The War of Independence ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed on 6 December 1921 and narrowly approved by Dáil Éireann on 7 January 1922. A Provisional Government was set up under the terms of the treaty, but the Irish Republic nominally remained in existence until 6 December 1922, when Ireland became a self-governing British Dominion called the Irish Free State. The six counties of Northern Ireland exercised its right under the Treaty to opt out of the new dominion and rejoin the United Kingdom on 8 December 1922, leading to the Partition of Ireland, so that the Irish Free State consisted of only 26 of the island's 32 counties.
Read more about Irish Republic: Name, Establishment, Institutions of Government, Functionality, Recognition, Anglo-Irish Treaty, Dissolution, Legacy, The Irish Republic in The Post-Treaty Republican Tradition
Famous quotes containing the words irish and/or republic:
“For generations, a wide range of shooting in Northern Ireland has provided all sections of the population with a pastime which ... has occupied a great deal of leisure time. Unlike many other countries, the outstanding characteristic of the sport has been that it was not confined to any one class.”
—Northern Irish Tourist Board. quoted in New Statesman (London, Aug. 29, 1969)
“Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions. A Republic is a government in which that attention is divided between many, who are all doing uninteresting actions. Accordingly, so long as the human heart is strong and the human reason weak, Royalty will be strong because it appeals to diffused feeling, and Republics weak because they appeal to the understanding.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)