Anglo-Irish Treaty
Treaty Negotiations took place between 11th October and 6th December 1921
Main points of the Treaty can be summarised as follows;
1. The Irish Free State was a self-governing nation within the British commonwealth, with the
same dominion status as Canada (NO REPUBLIC!!)
2. All T.Ds in the Irish Parliament had to take an oath of allegiance to the King, who would be
represented in Ireland by the Governor- general (the wording of the oath was a compromise
on British terms, as they pledged their allegiance first to Ireland and then to the King Of
Ireland)
3. For purpose of defence and security, Britain was to have three ports as mentioned above.
The British Army was to leave Ireland, but the Irish Army was to be limited in size
4. NI could opt out of a United Ireland and in such case, a Boundary Commission was to be set
up to establish a border between north and south
When studying the Treaty we have to consider 4 factors:
1. Difficulties for both Lloyd George and the Irish
2. The tactics used to overcome the difficulties-skills of Lloyd George
3. Treaty was a victory for Lloyd George and the British – no republic
4. Divisions within Sinn Fein
*how it weakened the Irish delegates
*De Valera vs Michael Collins
*De Valera straightjacketed by republic – 1916
*Michael Collins – Treaty a stepping stone
Difficulties facing Lloyd George
Lloyd George was dependent on the Conservative’s party’s overall majority in the House of
Commons for his survival as Prime Minister
Essence of the British position in the treaty negotiations was to offer Sinn Fein dominion
status with “No Navy, no hostile tariffs and no coercion of Ulster” as always Ulster was the
key
Tory and Liberal ministers alike cared little about the settlement with Sinn Fein
There were three major issues at conference:
1) national status
2) partition/ Essential unity
3) British security and defence
British security dealt with quite quickly, by allowing Britain to have control of three ports;
Queenstown, Bearehaven and Lough Swilly.
The question of Ulster was later compromised by the Irish delegates by agreeing to shelve
the problem until a boundary commission was set up to agree a border between north and
south
They believed NI would then be reduced to such a size that it could no longer exist and
would have to be incorporated into the rest of Ireland- aimed to gain Tyrone and
Fermanagh
The problem of Ireland’s independence was the main stumbling block as Lloyd George
insisted that Ireland must remain in the British empire
Treaty Negotiations took place between 11th October and 6th December 1921
Main points of the Treaty can be summarised as follows;
1. The Irish Free State was a self-governing nation within the British commonwealth, with the
same dominion status as Canada (NO REPUBLIC!!)
2. All T.Ds in the Irish Parliament had to take an oath of allegiance to the King, who would be
represented in Ireland by the Governor- general (the wording of the oath was a compromise
on British terms, as they pledged their allegiance first to Ireland and then to the King Of
Ireland)
3. For purpose of defence and security, Britain was to have three ports as mentioned above.
The British Army was to leave Ireland, but the Irish Army was to be limited in size
4. NI could opt out of a United Ireland and in such case, a Boundary Commission was to be set
up to establish a border between north and south
When studying the Treaty we have to consider 4 factors:
1. Difficulties for both Lloyd George and the Irish
2. The tactics used to overcome the difficulties-skills of Lloyd George
3. Treaty was a victory for Lloyd George and the British – no republic
4. Divisions within Sinn Fein
*how it weakened the Irish delegates
*De Valera vs Michael Collins
*De Valera straightjacketed by republic – 1916
*Michael Collins – Treaty a stepping stone
Difficulties facing Lloyd George
Lloyd George was dependent on the Conservative’s party’s overall majority in the House of
Commons for his survival as Prime Minister
Essence of the British position in the treaty negotiations was to offer Sinn Fein dominion
status with “No Navy, no hostile tariffs and no coercion of Ulster” as always Ulster was the
key
Tory and Liberal ministers alike cared little about the settlement with Sinn Fein
There were three major issues at conference:
1) national status
2) partition/ Essential unity
3) British security and defence
British security dealt with quite quickly, by allowing Britain to have control of three ports;
Queenstown, Bearehaven and Lough Swilly.
The question of Ulster was later compromised by the Irish delegates by agreeing to shelve
the problem until a boundary commission was set up to agree a border between north and
south
They believed NI would then be reduced to such a size that it could no longer exist and
would have to be incorporated into the rest of Ireland- aimed to gain Tyrone and
Fermanagh
The problem of Ireland’s independence was the main stumbling block as Lloyd George
insisted that Ireland must remain in the British empire
