History of Irish legislatures

The term Irish Parliament describes any of the parliaments that existed between mediaeval and modern times.

Those parliaments were:

• The mediaeval Irish Parliament (made up of the King of Ireland and two chambers, the Irish House of Commons and the Irish House of Lords which existed in Lordship of Ireland (1171-1541) and the Kingdom of Ireland (1541-1800). (This parliament operated under major restrictions, including Poyning's Law and the Penal Laws, imposed by the English and British Crown, by the English and British Parliament and by the King-in-Council. Many of these restrictions were removed in 1782, producing what became known as the Constitution of 1782. The Kingdom of Ireland merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801.)
  • The Irish Parliament was subject to an Irish executive, presided over by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (previously called the 'Lord Deputy'), which was ultimately answerable not to it but to the English/British Government in London.

• The single chamber Dáil Éireann (Assembly of Ireland), also known as the First Dáil formed by Irish MPs elected to the British House of Commons, who assembled in Dublin in January 1919;
  • Dáil Éireann was governed by a temporary constitution, called the Dáil Constitution, which created a prime minister called the President of Dáil Éireann (also known as Príomh Áire) and a ministry called the Áireacht. The prime ministerial office was updated to a headship of state, called President of the Republic, in August 1921.

• The bicameral Irish parliament created by the Government of Ireland Act, which consisted of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and a Senate. (This parliament did not in reality function, except to ratify the Anglo-Irish Treaty in January 1922.)
  • In 1922, a government theoretically answerable to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, called the Provisional Government, was created under Michael Collins.

• The bicameral Oireachtas Éireann, made up of the King and two chambers, Dáil Éireann (The Chamber of Deputies) and Seanad Éireann (Senate of Ireland), created by the Irish Free State's 1922 Constitution' (The Seanad and the King's role in the Oireachtas were both abolished by Constitutional Amendment in 1936)
  • The executive answerable to Dáil Éireann was called the Executive Council and was presided over by a prime minister called the President of the Executive Council.

• The bicameral Oireachtas Éireann, made up of the President of Ireland and two chambers, Dáil Éireann (The House of Representatives) and Seanad Éireann (The Senate of Ireland), created by the 1937 Constitution.
  • The executive answerable to Dáil Éireann is called the Government and is presided over by a prime minister called the Taoiseach.

Additional Reading

• Alan J. Ward, The Irish Constitutional Tradition: Responsible Government and Modern Ireland 1782-1992 (ISBN 0716525283)