The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State () was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was the first internationally recognised independent Irish Parliament since the historic Parliament of Ireland which was abolished with the Acts of Union 1800.

The Parliament was bicameral, consisting of Dáil Éireann (the lower house, also known as the Dáil) with 153 seats and Seanad Éireann (the upper house; also known as the Seanad) with 60 seats). The Seanad was abolished on 29 May 1936, and from then until its abolition the Oireachtas was unicameral. The King, who was officially represented by the Governor-General, was also a constituent part of the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State was disbanded by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland which created the modern Oireachtas.

Like the modern Oireachtas, the Free State legislature was dominated by the directly elected Dáil. Unlike the modern body, the Free State Oireachtas had de facto authority to amend the constitution as it saw fit, without recourse to a referendum. During the Free State it was also the Oireachtas as a whole, rather than the Dáil, that had authority to commit the state to war, although this distinction was not significant in practice.

History The earliest parliament in Ireland was the Parliament of Ireland, which was founded in the thirteenth century as the supreme legislative body of the lordship of Ireland and was in existence until 1801. This parliament governed the English-dominated part of Ireland, which at first was limited to Dublin and surrounding cities, but later grew to include the entire island. But the Parliament of Ireland was, from the passage of Poynings' Law (1494) until its repeal in 1782, subordinate to the Parliament of England, and later Parliament of Great Britain. This Parliament consisted of the King of Ireland, who was the same person as the King of England, a House of the Lords and a House of Commons. Under the Act of Union 1800 the separate Kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain were merged on 1 January 1801, to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Act of Union 1800. Throughout the 19th century Irish opposition to the Union was strong, occasionally erupting in violent insurrection.

The next legislature to exist in Ireland only came into being in 1919. This was an extra-legal, unicameral parliament established by Irish republicans, known simply as Dáil Éireann and thus existed outside of British law. The Dáil was notionally a legislature for the whole island of Ireland. The First Dáil and the Second Dáil did not therefore have any recognised legal authority outside Ireland. The 3rd Dáil was elected under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty as a constituent assembly to approve the Constitution of the Irish Free State and pave the way for the creation of the new state. Once the Constitution of the Irish Free State was in effect the 3rd Dáil served as the lower house of the Oireachtas. Under the terms of the constitution, however, the 3rd Dáil merely carried out the functions of the Dáil during this period until a new chamber could be elected. The First Dáil of the Irish Free State was therefore officially the 4th Dáil, which was elected in 1923.

In 1920, in parallel to the extra-legal Dáil, the British Government created the Parliament of Southern Ireland, a Home Rule legislature during the Irish War of Independence under the Fourth Home Rule Bill. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,Statutory Rules & Orders published by authority, 1921 (No. 533). Additional source for 3 May 1921 date: ; Southern Ireland did not become a state. Its constitutional roots remained the Acts of Union 1800, two complementary Acts, one passed by the Parliament of Great Britain, the other by the Parliament of Ireland. a political entity which was created by the British Government to solve the issue of rising Irish nationalism and the issue of partitionism, whilst retaining Ireland as part of the United Kingdom. It was made up of the King, the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and the Senate of Southern Ireland. The Parliament of Southern Ireland was formally abolished in 1922 by the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922, as per the Anglo-Irish Treaty which was the basis of the Constitution of the Irish Free State which established the Oireachtas.Text of Anglo Irish Treaty (New York Times)."An Act to give the force of Law to certain Articles of Agreement for a Treaty between Great Britain and Ireland, and to enable effect to be given thereto, and for other purposes incidental thereto or consequential thereon."preamble to the Act

Powers Under the constitution the Oireachtas had exclusive authority to: Legislate, including approving the budget. Create subordinate legislatures. Amend the Constitution. Permit the state to participate in a war. Raise and control armed forces.

There were however also a number of limitations to the Oireachtas power: Laws or constitutional amendments were invalid if they violated the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It could not retrospectively criminalise acts that were not illegal at the time they were committed. Until the 1931 Statute of Westminster, the British Parliament retained the power, in theory, to legislate for the Irish Free State without its consent. The Oireachtas could only legislate for the Irish Free State (defined as the area which had previously been known as Southern Ireland), and not for Northern Ireland.

1936–1937 A series of constitutional amendments in 1936 substantially altered the functioning of the Oireachtas: The King ceased to be a part of the Oireachtas, and the responsibility for signing bills into law became a formality exercised by the Ceann Comhairle. The Seanad was abolished so the Irish Free State Oireachtas consisted solely of the Dáil. The original oath was abolished. The requirement for laws and constitutional amendments to comply with the Anglo-Irish Treaty was removed. The power to dissolve the legislature was exercised by the Ceann Comhairle when instructed to do so by the President of the Executive Council.

Dáil Éireann

Dáil Éireann from 1922 to 1936 served as the directly elected lower house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State, and from 1936 to 1937 the sole chamber. The Constitution of the Irish Free State described the role of the house as one of a "Chamber of Deputies". It sat in Leinster House. Like the modern Dáil, the Dáil was the dominant component of the legislature; and effectively had authority to enact almost any law it chose, and to appoint and dismiss the President of the Executive Council. Under the terms of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, the Dáil of the Irish Free State became the modern Dáil Éireann.

Composition and elections Under the Constitution of the Irish Free State membership of the Dáil was open to all citizens who had reached the age of twenty-one. However those who were legally disqualified or who were members of the Seanad were excluded. For most of the period of the Irish Free State the constitution also contained a controversial requirement that all members of the Oireachtas swear an oath of fidelity to the King, as well as an Oath of Allegiance to the constitution of the Free State. The oath was, however, abolished by a constitutional amendment in 1936.

The Dáil was elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage by "proportional representation" and the single transferable vote. The franchise was restricted to those over twenty-one. As adopted, the constitution required that term of a Dáil would last for four years, unless the law specified a shorter period or the house was dissolved early. However, after changes to the constitution and the law in 1927, the constitutional maximum became six years, and the legal maximum five.

While every Irish Government since 1937 has restricted Dáil constituencies to a maximum of five seats, during the Irish Free State there were several six-, seven- and eight-seat constituencies. During the Irish Free State Galway was a single nine-seat constituency. As well as geographical constituencies, there were two university constituencies: Dublin University and the National University. The franchise for the university constituencies was open to all those who had been awarded degrees from either institution. However anyone voting in a university constituency was excluded from voting in their geographical district. The constitution required that each return three TDs, regardless of population. Because these constituencies had much lower populations that the ordinary geographical constituencies this resulted in malapportionment. The university constituencies were abolished in 1936 under the Constitution (Amendment No. 23) Act 1936 and the Electoral (University Constituencies) Act. However, in 1937 university constituencies would be revived for the newly created Seanad.

The following general elections took place to the Free State Dáil during its existence: 1922 general election 1923 general election 1927 general election (June) 1927 general election (September) 1932 general election 1933 general election 1937 general election

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The Constitution of the Irish Free State provided that the President of the Executive Council would be appointed by the King "on the nomination of" the Dáil and that the Executive Council as a whole had to resign en bloc if it lost the confidence of the lower house. In practice these provision meant that the President was chosen by the Dáil, which could bring down his cabinet by a vote of no confidence, or failure to approve a vote of confidence. A constitutional amendment passed in 1936 removed the role of the King entirely and provided that, in the final months of the Free State, the President would be elected by the Dáil directly, rather than merely being 'nominated' by the lower house.

Technically a bill had to be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas and to receive the Royal Assent to become law. However, in practice it was the Dáil that decided what laws would be enacted and repealed. Before its complete abolition the Free State Seanad merely had power to delay legislation.

While during the early years of the Irish Free State there existed a theoretical possibility that the King, or the Governor-General acting on his behalf, might veto an act of the Oireachtas or dismiss the Executive Council against the wishes of the Dáil. With the passage of the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 the British Government lost the right to formally advise the King in relation to the Irish Free State and so the possibility of the Governor-General taking any action without the approval of the other institutions of government was a remote possibility.

Unlike its modern successor, the Dáil did not have authority to declare war, this power being reserved for the Oireachtas as a whole. However, in practice this distinction was not important. During the later days of the Irish Free State the Dáil, as the dominant component of the Oireachtas, had the effective authority to amend the constitution in any way it chose. Today this is a level of authority that no Dáil has had since 1941.

Seanad Éireann

Seanad Éireann ("Senate of Ireland") was the upper house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1936. It is sometimes referred to as the 'First Seanad'. The Seanad was established under the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State but a number of constitutional amendments were subsequently made to change the manner of its election and it powers. It was abolished in 1936 when it attempted to obstruct constitutional reforms favoured by the government. It sat in Leinster House.

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