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. The Republic of Ireland has a common law legal system with four main sources of law: Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann) Legislation Primary Legislation - Acts of the Oireachtas Secondary Legislation - Statutory Instrument Case law European Community Law Historical The state became independent in 1922 as the Irish Free... The Governor-General (Irish: Seanascal) was the representative of the King in the 1922-1937 Irish Free State. ...

In December 1936 then President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State Eamon de Valera had ensured the passage of the Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act which proported to abolish the office of governor-general. However he was advised by his Attorney-General, James Geoghegan, the Secretary to the Executive Council, Maurice Moynihan and Mr Matheson of the Parliamentary Draftsman's office that that Act did not actually abolish the office. They informed de Valera that removing the governor-generalship from the Irish Free State Constitution in itself did not abolish the office, as the office had an existence independent to the constitution in a number of sources, namely 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). ... 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... The Constitution (Amendment No. ... James Geoghegan (1886-1951) was a senior Irish politician. ... The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the constitution of the southern Irish state established in December 1922. ...

• Letters Patent from the King constructing and regulating the office
• Orders-in-Council
• Statutory Instruments
• Statute law

and in other sources. To conclusively abolish the office, all mention of the governor-generalship would need to be removed from these and others also. In May 1937 de Valera introduced the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937 to do that. Letters Patent by Queen Victoria creating the office of Governor-General of Australia Letters patent are a type of legal document which is an open letter issued by a monarch or government granting a right, monopoly, title, or status to someone or some entity such as a corporation. ... An Order-in-Council is an executive order issued in Commonwealth Realms operating under the Westminster system. ... Statutory Instruments (SIs), also referred to as delegated or secondary legislation, are parts of United Kingdom law separate from Acts of Parliament which do not require full Parliamentary approval before becoming law. ... 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 Act had three main aims:

• 1. to re-abolish the governor-generalship in those areas where the office had legally survived

• 2. to retrospectively sort out constitutional and legal problems that the removal of the office from the constitution in December 1936 had created, notably
  • the illegal installation of the Chief Justice of the Irish Supreme Court, who had been legally to make a declaration of office in front the governor-general, but did not do so as it was unclear as to whether there was still a governor-general, as so participated in a phoney 'installation' ceremony which de Valera claimed had been created in a recent Courts of Justice Act (it hadn't.)
  • the illegal installation of three judges of the Supreme Court, all of whom made their declarations of office in front on an illegally installed Chief Justice
  • the illegal installation of a new Attorney-General, in breach of the requirement of the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 that only the governor-general could appoint him.

• 3. The granting of a pension to the 'former' governor-general, Domhnall Ua Buachalla.

The media and the opposition focused exclusively on the issue of the pension and failed to draw the public's attention to the fact that the new Bill was re-abolishing an office that de Valera had told them he had already abolished. By focusing on the pension (as he had hoped) the opposition failed to make capital out of one of de Valera's most dramatic and potentially humiliating mis-judgments, his first failed attempt to abolish the office of governor-general. The Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924 was one of the key statute laws enacted by the Irish Free State. ... Domhnall Ua Buachalla (pronounced Donal ou-a Bu-calla) or Donal Buckley (February 3, 1866 - October 30, 1963) was an Irish politician, who served as third and final Governor-General of the Irish Free State. ...