In the first of a four part series of articles about the origins of the Irish Constitution, we look at the impetus for a new Irish constitution in 1937.

In 1937, the current Irish Constitution replaced the first constitution of the Irish Free State. The first constitution had been introduced in 1922 following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty which had brought to an end the War of Independence.

The impetus for bringing in a new constitution was twofold – legal and political. Firstly, there were legal reasons why the Fianna Fáil government wished to replace the 1922 constitution.

There were the two Supreme Court cases, Moore v Attorney General (1935) and The State (Ryan) v Lennon (1934), which combined with the 1931 Statute of Westminster, created ‘an astonishing paradox’. On the one hand, the Statute of Westminster said that former British colonies like Ireland and Canada would now have the independence to make their own laws without permission from London. Yet on the other hand, Moore and The State (Ryan) said that the Irish Free State’s power to make its own laws was restricted by the terms of the Treaty and therefore that the United Kingdom continued to have a say in the matter.

In order to make clear that Ireland had the power to legislate for itself, the government would have to assert its claim in a new constitution.

The other impetus was political. Head of government, Eamonn de Valera, intended to edge Ireland towards full independence from the United Kingdom. As part of this programme, de Valera abolished the oath to the king that members of the Dáil were obliged to take under the Treaty. The Senate, however, attempted to block this change. De Valera responded by abolishing the Senate. This act led to the creation of a Constitution Committee in 1934. Having begun as an attempt to revise the Constitution in accordance with de Valera’s changes, the Constitution Committee ended up recommending the introduction of a new constitution.

Next: Drafting the 1937 Constitution

Go Back