Irish Republic

Irish Republic Poblacht na hÉireann Saorstát Éireann
1916 Disputed with the United Kingdom 1919–1922 Disputed with the United Kingdom
Flag Proclamation flag
Anthem: God Save Ireland (Unofficial, popular)
Territory claimed by the Irish Republic
Status	Revolutionary state
Capital	Dublin 53°21′N 6°16′W / 53.350°N 6.267°W / 53.350; -6.267
Common languages	Irish, English
Religion	Christianity (Catholicism, Anglicanism, Presbyterianism)
Demonym(s)	Irish
Government	Unitary parliamentary revolutionary republic
President of Dáil Éireann (to August 1921) President of the Irish Republic (from August 1921)
• 21 January – 1 April 1919	Cathal Brugha
• April 1919 – January 1922	Éamon de Valera
• January–August 1922	Arthur Griffith
• August–December 1922	W. T. Cosgrave
Legislature	Dáil
Historical era	Interwar period
• Proclamation of the Irish Republic	24 April 1916
• Independence declared	21 January 1919
• Anglo–Irish War	1919–1921
• Anglo-Irish Treaty adopted	7 January 1922
• Irish Free State established	6 December 1922
Currency	Pound sterling
Preceded by Succeeded by United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Irish Free State Northern Ireland
Today part of	Republic of Ireland United Kingdom

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The Irish Republic (Irish: Poblacht na hÉireann or Saorstát Éireann)^[1] was an revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919.^[2] The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by 1920 its functional control was limited to only 21 of Ireland's 32 counties,^[3] and British state forces maintained a presence across much of the north-east, as well as Cork, Dublin and other major towns. The republic was strongest in rural areas, and through its military forces was able to influence the population in urban areas that it did not directly control.

Its origins date back to the Easter Rising of 1916, when Irish republicans seized key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic.^[4] The rebellion was crushed, but the survivors united under a reformed Sinn Féin party to campaign for a republic. The party won a clear majority of largely uncontested seats in the 1918 general election, and formed the first Dáil (legislature) of Ireland in Dublin on 21 January 1919. Republicans then established a government, 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 state 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 26 of the island's 32 counties became a self-governing British dominion called the Irish Free State. The island had been partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, and the six counties of Northern Ireland, which had been partitioned so as to create and ensure a unionist majority,^[5] exercised their right under the treaty to opt out of the Free State, and remain in the United Kingdom.^[6]