The ‘Articles of Agreement for a Treaty’, better known as the Anglo-Irish Treaty, was signed in London on 6 December 1921. It brought to an end the Irish War of Independence and was formally ratified by an Act to provide for the constitution of the Irish Free State, the ‘Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922’ which received Royal Assent on 5 December 1922. On 7 December 1922, Northern Ireland requested and was granted its secession from the Irish Free State.

The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Bill was introduced into Dáil Éireann in September 1922, the Dáil sitting as a ‘Constituent Assembly’ and was enacted on 25 October 1922. Article 83 of the Constitution provided that:

‘The passing and adoption of this Constitution by the Constituent Assembly and the British Parliament shall be announced as soon as may be, and not later than the sixth day of December, Nineteen hundred and twenty-two, by Proclamation of His Majesty, and this Constitution shall come into operation on the issue of such Proclamation.’

The Irish Free State therefore came into existence when its constitution became law on 6 December 1922.