There is a huge library of books on the Irish revolutionary period but a dearth of material on the first ten years of independent Ireland. This book fills that gap in the literature.
Freedom to Achieve Freedom reviews the processes of state-building and the policies adopted in all the major areas of government, paying particular attention to law and order, the creation of the Irish public service, land, health, education and the Irish language, as well as other areas of public policy.
It is easy to forget that the establishment of a stable, democratic state in the circumstances in which Ireland found itself in 1922 was an achievement unique in Europe: all the other independent states that emerged from the rubble of World War I soon yielded to some form of authoritarian or fascist government.
Considered in that light, the achievement of the founding fathers of the Irish state, so ably chronicled in this book, remains remarkable.
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The First World War radically changed the political landscape of Europe. The Austro-Hungarian, German, Ottoman and Russian empires suffered defeat
and collapsed, and many new nation-states emerged. The Irish seized the opportunity afforded by that conflict to gain independence from Britain, one of the victors.
Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish treaty signed on 6 December 1921, the Irish achieved political independence and in the following decade succeeded in establishing a viable independent
democratic state despite the loss of a significant part of the population and national territory, and a civil war. This is the story of those who guided the state through that difficult period:
their choices, decisions and actions, and the institutions they created.
Irelandâs relationship with Britain was fundamentally altered in December 1920 when the Westminster parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act, which granted home rule (devolved
government with limited powers within the United Kingdom). But it partitioned the country by providing for two parliaments, one for âSouthern Irelandââthe provinces of Munster,
Leinster and Connacht together with three counties in Ulsterâand the other for âNorthern Irelandâ, the remaining six counties of Ulster.
The British relinquished their hold over Ireland unwillingly. Three years after being victorious in World War I and expanding their empire in its aftermath, they lost
their oldest colony and an integral part of the United Kingdom. The attempt to resolve the âIrish questionâ by belatedly granting home rule failed. Armed revolt in Ireland, a war-weary
population at home and a shortage of troops due to over-commitments in Chanak, Egypt and Iraq convinced British Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George that the Irish nationalists had to be
conceded more than home rule to achieve a settlement. As the Conservatives, who dominated his coalition government, would not agree to the separatist demand for a republic, he offered a
compromiseâdominion statusâthe maximum the Tories could be persuaded to accept. Lloyd George also threatened immediate resumption of hostilities in the event of a breakdown of the
negotiations which had begun in October 1921.
The treaty divided the nationalists, resulting in civil war in the Irish Free State between those who accepted it as the best deal possible, leaving outstanding matters of sovereignty to be
dealt with later, and those who opposed it for a variety of reasons. Regardless of how it was presented in ideological terms, the civil war was a power struggle between two factions of the
independence movement for control over the new state. Personal ambitions, vested interests and antagonisms, which had been submerged to present a united front during the war of independence, came
to the fore in the aftermath of the treaty. These coupled with the frustration of some of those who had fought for an all-Ireland republic resulted in a violent outcome.
The first Irish Free State government was confronted by an internal revolt soon after it took office. Its ministers were young and inexperienced, under pressure from ruthless opponents and
desperately short of money. They feared they might be unable to govern, allowing the British an opportunity to resume control over Irish affairs. Consequently they made hard and pragmatic decisions
with little regard for the political, social or economic outcomes, as their objective was to restore order and create an independent democratic state.
The treaty delivered political independence on paper. Michael Collins and the provisional government immediately set about translating it into reality by seizing power before the treaty
timetable prescribed and rapidly transferring governmental, judicial and administrative functions from British to Irish control. The first decade of the Irish Free State was the most crucial period
in independent Irelandâs history. Executive President William T. Cosgrave and his Cumann na nGaedheal (Party of the Irish) governments suppressed an internal rebellion, overcame an acute
scarcity of money, enacted a constitution and defined how the state should be governed. They established an Irish civil service, army, police force, courts service and diplomatic corps; passed
legislation to purchase the remaining agricultural land from the landlords; commenced exploitation of natural resources; extended the use of Irish in schools and increased the stateâs
sovereignty. The administration of the state was changed from the British system of loosely co-ordinated boards and departments to a tightly controlled centralised Irish system.
The political and military events which took place in Ireland during and immediately after World War I have been the subject of many studies but historians have paid less
attention to the creation of the Irish Free State. Yet the decisions made and actions taken by the first governments and newly formed civil service were fundamental to how Ireland has been governed
and administered subsequently.
This book covers the period from the approval of the treaty by the second DĂĄil on 7 January 1922 to the end of Cosgraveâs period in office on 9 March 1932. It seeks to explain how
the new Irish state was created in the aftermath of the treaty by those who accepted it because, while it fell short of the desired republic, it gave the Irish, in the words of Michael Collins,
âthe freedom to achieve freedomâ. Those who accepted the treaty believed that dominion status was preferable to a continuation of a war, the outcome of which was uncertain. They were
apprehensive that the British, once they had re-established themselves economically and militarily after the Great War, would more strenuously resist Irish freedom. They also feared that improved
British social welfare and healthcare benefits would undermine future support for independence within Ireland.
As the treaty did not deliver the republic it was accepted reluctantly. The DĂĄil-appointed plenipotentiaries signed it because they believed they had achieved the maximum possible through
negotiation. The second DĂĄil ratified the treaty and the provisional government began the task of creating a new state. Cosgrave resolutely stood by the terms of the treaty, which he
considered an international agreement. He did so because he feared the British would use any deviation by the Irish to renege on its terms and regain influence over Irish affairs. However, while
Cosgrave succeeded in keeping the British out of Irish internal affairs, he exposed himself to criticism, particularly from the opposition Fianna FĂĄil (Soldiers of Destiny) party, that he
supported the treatyâwhile in reality he was surreptitiously unravelling it. Cumann na nGaedhealâs poor party organisation, inept public relations, near-obsession with law and order,
inability to reduce unemployment, and failure to understand the extent to which both Britain and Ireland changed in political terms during the decade after 1922 ultimately led to its rejection by
the Irish electorate at the 1932 general election.
The Cosgrave governments faced the harsh reality that political independence alone would not provide a resolution to the problems confronting the fledgling state. They settled down to the
mundane task of creating a new state after eight continuous years of world and national warfare, disruption, terror, violence and dreams of independence. They did not meet the Irish peopleâs
expectation of prosperity, nor did they perform as well as they could have. Expectations were unrealistic and based on the myth that once the British left everything would improve. But, after their
departure, the economy deteriorated due to the post-World War I economic depression, an unavoidable external factor, and the civil war which destroyed life and property,
squandered scarce resources, undermined civic trust and left a legacy of bitter division. The high cost of that conflict resulted in diminished public services and a lack of economic and social
investment, causing further discontent.
The Irish independence movement was focused on separation from Britain. Despite its rhetoric about a Gaelic Ireland, little serious consideration had been given to future public policy,
government and administration apart from some administrative reforms, tariff protection, economic self-sufficiency and the restoration of the Irish language. But these were mainly political ideals
that had been neither studied in depth nor developed into coherent plans and so remained aspirations rather than policies. The revival of the Irish language was a clear objective but there was no
carefully considered plan to implement this mammoth task. Given the lack of realistic policies, partition, the economic depression, the civil war, the inexperience of the first governments and the
conservatism of influential interest groups, it is not surprising that the state taken over from British rule continued to be administered as a going concern with minimal alteration. Future
Minister for Education John Marcus OâSullivan commented, âGetting rid of foreign control rather than vast social and economic changes was our aim.â1 Cosgrave and his governments succeeded in creating a viable democracy despite violent opposition and, when Cosgrave left office in 1932, he handed over a functioning state where
the military took its orders from the democratically elected government, and a system of strict financial control with low inflation and borrowings.
After 1932 Eamon de Valera and his Fianna FĂĄil party further undermined the British connection. In 1937 a new constitution created a de facto republic and changed the name of the
state to Ăire (Ireland). John A. Costelloâs first inter-party coalition government enacted the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, removing the last residual political link with the British
Commonwealth, and Ireland formally became a republic on Easter Monday 18 April 1949.
Chapter 2
IRELAND BEFORE INDEPENDENCE
IRELAND BEFORE THE TREATY
Ireland played a significant part in the development of European civilisation and Christianity between the death of St Patrick in the fifth century and the arrival of the Vikings in the ninth century. The country was a patchwork of some 150 tuatha (groups of families) headed by chieftains, without a clearly defined central authority, although an individual chieftain occasionally achieved dominance over large parts of the country and claimed the title âĂĄrd rĂâ (high king). The Irish shared a common language, Irish; a common religion, Christianity; and a common legal system, the Brehon laws. The Vikings devastated parts of the country before being assimilated into Irish society. The Normans invaded in 1169, assisted by disaffected Irish groups, and captured large areas due to their superior military technology. They brought in settlers and extended cultivation. Unlike in England, where the Normans took over the existing society and created a centralised feudal system, their arrival in Ireland initially increased the fragmentation of society.
The Vikings had founded towns and partially modernised Irish society by beginning the process of shifting it from rural to urban. The early English kings achieved a tenuous hold over the Hiberno-Normans, who established their central administration at Dublin Castle from 1204 onwards. This remained the seat of English government and administration until 1922. In the centuries after the Norman Conquest the Irish recovered some of the ground lost but were unable to dislodge the English, whose common law was extended to Ireland by the end of the thirteenth century. Poyningâs Law (1494) brought the English-dominated parts of Ireland under the administrative control of the kingdom of England. After the Reformation, the division between the Irish and English in Ireland, which had hitherto been based on the language spoken, changed to the religion practiced. Increasing pressure was exerted by the Protestant English on the native Irish and the Catholic descendants of the Vikings and Normans. The defeat of the Irish chieftains in 1603; the depredations of Cromwell, his soldiers and financiers; and William IIIâs military victories, ending with the treaty of Limerick (1691) completed the conquest of Ireland. The English planted settlers and put down rebellions but never achieved legitimacy by prescription (continuous occupation accepted by the majority of the population).
After 1691 Ireland was firmly under English control. From then until 1801 it was administered as a colony by the Protestant Anglo-Irish ascendancy backed by English military power. The Penal Laws impoverished Catholics and eliminated them as a political force. A period of prosperity after 1750 encouraged the Protestant ascendancy to seek more powers for their âIrish Parliamentâ and they achieved parliamentary independence in 1782. However, the American and French Revolutions spread radical ideas which led to a rebellion in 1798 (despite the Catholic Relief Acts, which mitigated many of the Penal Laws in force since the 1690s). Rebel leader Theobald Wolfe Toneâs separatist and republican philosophy profoundly influenced later generations of Irish nationalists. He attempted to unite the Irish of all religious persuasions and break the link with England, but the consequence of the failed rising was the Act of Union (1800) which forced the political union of Britain and Ireland.
In 1641 60 per cent of the land was still owned by Catholics; by 1703 it had declined to 14 per cent and by 1778 to five per cent.1 After the union, Daniel OâConnell mobilised the first mass movements in support of Catholic emancipation (basic civil rights) and repeal of the union. He merged liberalism, democracy and constitutionalism, offering a way forward other than through violent revolt. The country became polarised on religious lines as Catholics sought concessions which diminished the power of the established Anglican Church of Ireland. Dissenters, many of whom had supported the 1798 rebellion, competed with Catholics for land and jobs, and moved politically closer to their fellow Protestants, the greatest concentration of whom lived in northeast Ulster.
After the union, Ireland was governed not by direct rule from London but as a crown colony. Its administration was ramshackle, poorly co-ordinated and run in the interests of Britain rather than Ireland. Appointments of British and Anglo-Irish public servants were made by the lord lieutenant (monarchâs representative) and the chief secretary (political head), who governed Ireland in a semi-autonomous manner together with the under-secretary, who was in charge of the Irish civil service.
The economy was in a poor state. Ireland was a primary agricultural producer supplying Britain, which had a low-cost food policy. Much of Irish industry, apart from that in the northeast, found it increasingly difficult to compete with British manufacturers after the industrial revolution and particularly when tariffs were dismantled following the union. Between the Norman invasion and the seventeenth century the ancient Gaelic system of land tenure had been destroyed as most of the land was forcibly seized by the English and granted to colonists. Many Irish were driven into the poorer land on the western seaboard while subdivision of holdings led to overcrowding, leaving the poor vulnerable to famine if crops failed. By 1845 most of the land was held by landlords, many of whom were absentees who left its management to profit-motivated middlemen.
The tithe war of the 1830s began the process of undermining the Protestant ascendancy. The great famine of 1845â49 decimated Ireland and in time halved the population through deaths from hunger and disease, and subsequent emigration. The population fell from 8.2 million in the 1841 census to 4.4 million in 1911, while that of the rest of the United Kingdom increased from 18.5 to 41 million in the same period.
The Young Ireland and Fenian rebellions of 1848 and 1867 were military failures. However, the Fenians reorganised in 1873 under the title of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), keeping alive the spirit of the 1798, 1848 and 1867 rebellions. The Municipal Reform Act 1840 ended Protestant conservative monopoly of local government. The disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869 and the Ballot Act 1872, which introduced secret ballots, further weakened Protestant and landlord control. Charles Stewart Parnellâs campaign for home rule, in parallel with Michael Davittâs land league agitation for land reform, based on the passive resistance tactics adopted in the tithe war, resulted in the nationalist Irish Parliamentary Party winning the majority of Irish seats at Westminster by 1885. This paved the way for a series of land acts allowing tenants to purchase the farms they occupied and discharge the debt by annuities; local government reforms; and other concessions including grants ...
