I.

Introduction

Irish Free State (1922-1937), Irish dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations established by the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. In 1937 it became the independent state of Éire (later the Republic of Ireland). The Free State was composed of 26 of the counties on the island of Ireland; it did not include the six northern counties that became Northern Ireland.

The establishment of the Irish Free State was the culmination of the Irish Revolution (1912-1922), in which Irish nationalists conducted a guerrilla campaign to convince the British to allow Ireland an independent government. The revolution ended with the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, which created the Irish Free State.