The Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act, 1936 was an amendment to the Constitution of the Irish Free State that abolished the office of Governor-General in the constitution, removed all reference to the King and almost completely eliminated the King's constitutional role in the state. Under the amendment most of the functions previously performed by King and his Governor-General were transferred to various other organs of government. Henceforth, the only role retained by the King was as representative of the state in foreign affairs. The amendment became law on 11th December, 1936. Its long title was: The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the constitution of the southern Irish state established in December 1922. ... Governor-General (or Governor General) is a term used both historically and currently to designate the appointed representative of a head of state or their government for a particular territory, historically in a colonial context, but no longer necessarily in that form. ... King George V, the first monarch to reign in the Irish Free State. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

An act to effect certain amendments of the Constitution in relation to the executive authority and power and in relation to the performance of certain executive functions.

Background

As adopted in 1922 the Free State constitution established a system of constitutional monarchy, under the same monarch who reigned in the United Kingdom. This form of government had not been freely chosen by Irish nationalists but rather imposed by the British goverment as a condition of allowing the Free State to seceed from the United Kingdom. This aspect of the Free State constitution was bitterly opposed by many Irish nationalists, both as a symbol of foreign subjugation and on grounds of philosophical republicanism. A constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitutional system which acknowledges a hereditary or elected monarch as head of state. ...

The Fianna Fail government of Eamon de Valera, elected in 1932, was determined to remove to overhaul the constitution as part of a process of 'constitutional autochthony' or 'legal nationalism'. In part the freedom to do that resulted from the Statutes of Westminster enacted in 1931, and which was based on a series of decisions at British Commonwealth conferences which had been directly shaped by Cumann na nGaedhael ministers Kevin O'Higgins and Patrick McGilligan. De Valera used the occasion of the controversial abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 to begin the introduction of a series of constitutional reforms that would nativise the constitution. However, de Valera did not wish, at this time, to declare a republic or to eliminate the role of the monarch entirely. Either of these actions would have entailed leaving the British Commonwealth. Fianna Fáil - The Republican Party (Pronounced fee-na fall.) (English: Soldiers of Destiny) is the largest political party in the Republic of Ireland. ... Eamon de Valera (born Edward George de Valera, Irish name Éamonn de Bhailéara (October 14, 1882 – August 29, 1975), was an Irish politician, best known as a leader of Irelands struggle for independence from Britain in the early 20th Century, and the Republican anti-Treaty opposition in the... This article deals with the Statutes of Westminster passed in thirteenth century. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of independent sovereign states, most of which were once governed by the United Kingdom and are its former colonies. ... Cumann na nGaedheal (League of the Gaels) was an Irish language name given to two Irish political parties. ... Kevin Christopher OHiggins ( 7 June 1892- 10 July 1927), Irish politician. ... Patrick McGilligan (1889-1979), Irish politician and lawyer. ... King Edward VIII King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, King of Ireland Emperor of India His Majesty King Edward VIII, (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David), later His Royal Highness The Duke of Windsor (23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was the second British monarch of the House... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... In a broad definition a republic is a state or country that is led by people who do not base their political power on any principle beyond the control of the people living in that state or country. ... Flag of the Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations is an association of independent sovereign states, most of which are former colonies once governed by the United Kingdom as part of the British Empire. ...

De Valera's process of legal enactment to abolish the governor-generalship was however unsucessful. As the Secretary to the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, Maurice Moynihan, the Parliamentary Draftsman's Office, and Attorney-General James Geoghegan all argued, the governor-generalship also existed outside the constitution in Letters Patent, Orders in Council, in Statute law and elsewhere, and all of those would also need to be amended to definitively abolish the governor-generalship. In May 1937, to clear up the confusion, a second and successful attempt at full abolition, the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act was enacted to retrospectively re-abolish the governor-generalship again from December 1936. The Executive Council (Irish: Ard-Chomhairle) was the cabinet and de facto executive branch of government of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State. ... James Geoghegan (1886-1951) was a senior Irish politician. ... An Order-in-Council is an executive order issued in Commonwealth Realms operating under the Westminster system. ... A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... The Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937 was an Act of the Oireachtas which retrospectively completed the abolition of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State. ...

In December 1937 the new Constitution of Ireland was adopted. This transferred most of the functions that had been performed by the King and his Governor-General before 1936 to a new office of President of Ireland. However the King continued to exercise the function of representing the state abroad until the state was declare to be a republic in 1949. 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. ... The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of the Republic of Ireland. ... In a broad definition a republic is a state or country that is led by people who do not base their political power on any principle beyond the control of the people living in that state or country. ... 1949 is a common year starting on Saturday. ...

Transfer of royal competences

After the adoption of the Act the duties usually performed by a head of state were distributed among a number of organs. Most importantly, the power to exercise the executive authority was vested explicitly in the Executive Council (cabinet), the right to appoint the President of the Executive Council (prime minister) was transferred to Dáil Éireann (the sole house of the 'Oireachtas' or parliament), and the duty of promulgating the law was vested in the Ceann Comhairle (chairman of the Dáil). The King retained only a role in foreign affairs.

Though a term originally coined for presidents of republics, a head of state or chief of state is now universally known as the chief public representative of a nation-state, federation or commonwealth, whose role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers... The Executive Council (Irish: Ard-Chomhairle) was the cabinet and de facto executive branch of government of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State. ... The President of the Executive Council (Irish: Uachtaráin na hArd-Chomhairle) was the head of government or prime minister of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State, and the leader of the Executive Council (cabinet). ... The Dáil Chamber The chamber was remodelled in the early 1920s. ... From 1922-1937 the Oireachtas was the legislature, or parliament, of the Irish Free State. ... The Ceann Comhairle1 is the chairman or speaker of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland. ...

The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, or the Sovereigns representative in Commonwealth Realms, completes the process of the enactment of legislation by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. ...

Foreign affairs

After the amdment of December 1936 the King was no longer mentioned in the constitution by name. However the amendment introduced a new provision that, without explicitly referring to the King, allowed the state to continue to use him as its representative in foreign affairs by passing a law allowing him to do so. A law for this purpose, the External Relations Act, was passed shortly after the amendment was passed. Thus after December 1936 treaties continued to be signed in the name of the King and the King continued to accredit Irish ambassadors, and receive the Letters of Credence of foreign diplomats. The provision allowing the King to do this was inserted in Article 51 and read: The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936 was an enactment of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) in 1936. ... A Letter of Credence is a formal letter sent by one head of state to another formally accrediting a named individual (usually but not always a diplomat) to be their ambassador in the country of the head of state receiving the letter of credence. ...

..it shall be lawful for the Executive Council, to the extent and subject to any conditions which may be determined by law to avail, for the purposes of the appointment of diplomatic and consular agents and the conclusion of international agreements of any organ used as a constitutional organ for the like purposes by [other nations of the Commonwealth].

When the Constitution of Ireland was enacted in 1937 it duplicated the provision contained in the Free State constitution with a similar provision that allowed the King to continue to exercise his external role. The 1936 amendment and the External Relations Act thus created, for many years, a situation in which it was unclear whether or not the King of Ireland was indeed the Irish head of state. This situation came to an end in 1949 when the Republic of Ireland Act stripped the King of his role in foreign affairs and de jure made the President of Ireland head of state, a new status celebrated by President Sean T. O'Kelly by paying the first ever state visit by an Irish president abroad. The Republic of Ireland Act was an enactment of Oireachtas Éireann passed in 1948, which came into force on April 18, 1949 and which declared that the official description of Éire was to be the Republic of Ireland. ... Though a term originally coined for presidents of republics, a head of state or chief of state is now universally known as the chief public representative of a nation-state, federation or commonwealth, whose role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers... Sean Thomas OKelly (Irish name: Seán Tomás Ó Ceallaigh, pronounced ) (August 25, 1882 - November 23, 1966) was the second President of Ireland (1945-1959). ...

See also

• History of the Republic of Ireland
• Irish head of state from 1936-1949

The state known today as the Republic of Ireland came into being when twenty-six of the counties of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1922. ... During the period of 1936 to 1949 it was unclear whether or not the Irish state was a republic or a form of constitutional monarchy, and whether its head of state was the President of Ireland or the King of Ireland, George VI. The exact constitutional status of the state...

External links

• Full text of the Act from Acts of the Oireachtas.