Walter Long and the making of the Government of Ireland Act, 1919–20

Bibliographic Data

ID8099412
AuthorsRichard Murphy (0000-0002-3063-515X, University of Bristol, corresponding author)
Year1986
Volume25
Issue97
Pages82-96
Publication date1986-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueIrish Historical Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0021-1214 • E-ISSN: 2056-4139
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0021121400025359
OpenAlexW2505735227
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited6

From the autumn of 1918 until late in 1919 home rule was dead as a practical issue in British politics, and the government concerned itself with the administration in Ireland and the means by which republican violence might be stamped out. During the spring and summer of 1918 Lloyd George had attempted to follow what he called the ‘dual policy’ — home rule in return for military compulsion — and a cabinet committee, under the chairmanship of Walter Long, had drafted a home-rule bill which, in view of the deteriorating situation in Ireland, the cabinet had refused to take up. This bill had foreshadowed the basic outlines of the settlement which was to be embodied in the Government of Ireland Act more than two years later Despite the considerable historical attention given to Anglo-Irish affairs in the period 1918-22 comparatively little attention has been paid to the making of the Government of Ireland Act, though it was this piece of legislation which laid the basis for partition. The act is something of an historical aberration in that its application within nationalist Ireland was superseded within less than a year of reaching the statute book, for the treaty of 6 December 1921 effectively repealed it by granting full dominion status

Cabinet (room · Dominion · Government (linguistics · Home rule · Irish · Legislation · Political science · Politics · Statute · History · Irish and British Studies · Law · Public Administration

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