The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty
(Irish: An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great
Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of
the Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence.
It provided for the establishment of the Irish Free State within a year as a
self-governing dominion within the “community of nations known as
the British Empire”, a status “the same as that of the Dominion of
Canada”.
It also provided Northern Ireland, which had been created by
the Government of Ireland Act 1920, an option to opt out of the Irish
Free State, which the Parliament of Northern Ireland exercised.
The agreement was signed in London on 6 December 1921, by
representatives of the British government (which included Prime
Minister David Lloyd George, who was head of the British delegates) and
by representatives of the Irish Republic including Michael
Collins and Arthur Griffith. The Irish representatives
had plenipotentiary status (negotiators empowered to sign a treaty
without reference back to their superiors) acting on behalf of the Irish
Republic, though the British government declined to recognise that
status.
As required by its terms, the agreement was approved by “a meeting” of
the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern
Ireland and [separately] by the British Parliament.
In reality, Dáil Éireann (the legislative assembly for the de facto Irish
Republic) first debated then approved the treaty; members then went
ahead with the “meeting”.
Though the treaty was narrowly approved, the split led to the Irish Civil
War, which was won by the pro-treaty side.
Arthur Griffith led the Irish delegation. He was accompanied by Michael Collins and Robert Barton. Legal
advice was provided by George Gavan Duffy and Eamonn Duggan, with Erskine Childers acting as secretary.
The delegates were called “envoys plenipotentiary”. This meant that they had the power to negotiate and sign
a treaty with the British government on behalf of the Dáil. None of the hard-line IRA republicans like Cathal
Brugha and Austin Stack would go. They seemed to view holding discussions on terms less than the immediate
British withdrawal from Ireland as tantamount to treason.
The British team consisted of the country’s most capable politicians: David Lloyd George, Austen Chamberlain,
Winston Churchill, and Lord Birkenhead. Sir Gorden Hewart, the Attorney General, provided legal advice. They
were all experienced statesmen, well-versed in the practice of international negotiations. They could call upon
the resource and support of a massive civil service machine and they were on home ground. The Irish
delegates had none of these