The
partition of Ireland between the
six north-eastern counties of Ireland and the rest of
Ireland took place on 3 May 1921 under the
Government of Ireland Act 1920.
[1] The 1920 Act created two jurisdictions on the
island of Ireland Northern Ireland and
Southern Ireland both of which were parts of the United Kingdom.
On 6 December 1922, in accordance with the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the entire island of Ireland became the Irish Free State, a dominion in the British Commonwealth.[2] However, the Houses of Parliament of Northern Ireland exercised their right to opt out of the new Dominion the following day.[3] Today Northern Ireland is still part of the United Kingdom while the rest of the island is a sovereign state named Ireland (or, if differentiation between the state and the whole island is required, the state can be referred to as the Republic of Ireland).
Under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 the island of Ireland was partitioned into two autonomous regions Northern Ireland (six north-eastern counties) and Southern Ireland (the rest of the island) on 3 May 1921.[1] The Parliament and Governmental institutions for Northern Ireland were quickly established afterwards. In contrast, the Parliament and Governmental institutions for Southern Ireland failed to function or take root. This was because of the political circumstances in Ireland at the time – with the very large majority of Irish Members of Parliament giving their allegiance to Dáil Éireann and supported the Irish War of Independence.
That Irish War of Independence ultimately led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The Treaty was given legal effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. Under that Act, at 1pm on 6 December 1922, the King (at a meeting of his Privy Council at Buckingham Palace)[4] signed a proclamation establishing the new Irish Free State.[5] The Irish Free State then established encompassed the whole island of Ireland. Therefore on 6 December 1922 Northern Ireland stopped being part of the United Kingdom and became part of the newly created Irish Free State.[6] This remarkable constitutional episode arose because of the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the legislation introduced to give that Treaty legal effect.[7]
