The
Oireachtas of the Irish Free State () was the
legislature of the
Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the
1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the
Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was the first officially recognised independent Irish Parliament outside of Ireland since the historic
Parliament of Ireland which was disbanded with the
Act of Union.Statutory Rules & Orders published by authority, 1921 (No. 533). Additional source for 3 May 1921 date: Alvin Jackson,
Home Rule - An Irish History, Oxford University Press, 2004, p198; The
Act of Union, two complementary Acts, one passed by the
Parliament of Great Britain, the other by the
Parliament of Ireland.
The Parliament was
bicameral, consisting of the Dáil Éireann (the lower house) with 153 seats and the Seanad Éireann (the upper house; also known as the 'Senate') with 60 seats. The
King, who was officially represented by the
Governor-General, was also a constitute part of the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State were disbanded by the
1937 Constitution of Ireland which created the modern
Oireachtas Éireann.
Like the modern Oireachtas, the Free State legislature was dominated by the powerful, directly elected Dáil. Unlike the modern organ, the Free State Oireachtas had authority to amend the constitution as it saw fit, without recourse to a referendum. During the Free State it was also the Oireachtas as a whole, rather than the Dáil, that had...
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