Declaration
Commencement of the Republic of Ireland Act, 1949
The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 came into operation on 18 April 1949, declaring that the description of the state would be the Republic of Ireland and repealing the External Relations Act, thereby ending the state's remaining formal constitutional links to the British Crown.
What happened
The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 was enacted by the Oireachtas on 21 December 1948. Section 2 provided: "It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland."[1] Section 1 repealed the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936, which had given the British monarch a residual role in Irish external relations.[1] The Act itself left its commencement to a later government order rather than fixing a date in the text;[1] according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Act came into operation on 18 April 1949, Easter Monday, the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.[2]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948, enacted 21 December 1948, repealed the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936 (Section 1) and declared: "It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland" (Section 2). Its commencement (Section 4) was left to a later government order rather than fixed in the Act itself.
- Oireachtas of Ireland, The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 (No. 22 of 1948) (21 December 1948) link, Sections 1, 2 and 4. Government perspective or primary official source Source record
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2.
Claim: The Republic of Ireland Act, 1948 came into operation on 18 April 1949, Easter Monday, the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Republic of Ireland Act (Encyclopaedia Britannica) link, article text. Source record Consulted via citation, not a copy of the commencement order itself.