Free State

Treaty ElectionParty Leader Seats VotesSinn Féin (Pro-Treaty) Collins 58 239,193

Sinn Féin (Anti-Treaty) De Valera 36 133,864Farmers 7

247,226Labour 16Other 11

Senate elected and appointed members includes:Yeats, “Buck Mulligan,” Ellen Cuffe (first Jewish member)

Constitution of 1922

• Universal suffrage over age 21• Governor general - Irish• Power of referendum– on demand of 40% of Dáil– Initiate laws and amendments

Women in Government

• Nine in the Dáil (125)• Five in the Seanad (60)• Constance Markievicz, Minister of Labour

Cumann na nGaedhael

• Pro-treaty• Balanced budget• Free trade

Boundary Commission

• Comes out of 1922 Collins-Craig agreement

• 1925 Commission only recommends minor transfers which are ratified

Boundary Dispute – Lough Foyle

• Fishing rights• Use as an escort base during WW II• Still disputed

Free State

• William T. Cosgrave, President of the Executive Council (1922-1932)

• 1923 Joins League of Nations– Diplomatic relations

independent of UK

1923 Election

Party Leader Seats % First Preference

VotesCumann na nGaedheal Cosgrave 63 39.0

Republican (Sinn Féin) De Valera 44 27.4Farmers 15 12.1Labour 14 10.6Other 17

Accomplishments

• Civil Service System• Reform of local governments – City and

County managers• Shannon Scheme & National Grid• Dairy Disposal Company: The Irish Sugar

Company; the Agricultural Credit Corporation; the Medical Registration Council; Dental Board; and Veterinary Council.

Almost Balanced Budget

Dairy Disposal Company

• Semi-public company• Replace bankrupt

Condensed Milk Company

Shannon Scheme

• Hydroelectric power• Cost £5.2m out of

budget of £25• Built by Siemens

Economic Changes – N. Ireland

Linen Industry• Short skirts; decline of petticoat • Eating out; placemats when eating in • Metal aircraft

Shipbuilding • Surplus war vessels • Overseas competitors

1927 Elections

• Narrow pluralities for Cumann na nGaedheal required Cosgrave to depend on coalitions

June 1927 Election

Party Leader Seats % First Preference

VotesCumann na nGaedheal Cosgrave 46 27.4

Fianna Fáil De Valera 44 26.2Farmers 11 8.9Labour 22 12.6Other 30 24.9

September 1927

Party Leader Seats % First Preference

VotesCumann na nGaedheal Cosgrave 61 38.6

Fianna Fáil De Valera 57 35.2Farmers 6 6.4Labour 13 9.1Other 16 10.7

Christian Art

1932 Eucharistic Congress

Protestant Minorities in the Free State  Church of

IrelandPresbyterian Methodist

1921

249,535 45,489 16,440

1926

164,215 32,429 10,663

1936

All protestants 208,000

Projection – No Protestants by ~2040

Irish Academy of Letters

• Founded 1932 by Yeats• Edith Somerville, George Bernard Shaw • New short story writers: Seán Ó Faoláin, Liam

O’Flaherty and Frank O’Connor• Poets: Austin Clarke, F. R. Higgins, Padraic

Colum, Seamus O’Sullivan• Playwrights: Lennox Robinson, T. C. Murray,

and Sir John Ervine

Jack Yeats - 1923

In the Tram Liffey Swim

Jack Yeats

A Race in Hy-Brazil, 1937 Two Travellers, 1942

Emigration

US/Canada Elsewhere1926-31 18,800/year 3,900/year1932-9 700/year 14,200/year

1931 Statute of Westminster

• Gave independent legislative powers to dominions (S. Africa, Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland)

• Gave dominions a vote on changes in laws on Succession