ABSTRACT
Ireland’s decade of political revolution (followed by a calamitous Civil War) ended in 1922 with the establishment of the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion within the British Empire having the same constitutional status as Canada. The establishment of the new state effectively completed the partition of Ireland as the Government of Ireland Act had already established the Northern Ireland state in 1920. Ireland was now divided into two political units: the twenty-six-county Irish Free State, a dominion of the British Empire and the six-county semi-autonomous Northern Ireland. This state, designed to possess a durable unionist majority, remained within the United Kingdom and included a significant nationalist minority whose allegiance was to the Irish Free State (English 2007, 235-345; Fanning 2013; Hopkinson 2004; McGarry 2010; Townshend 2014). The political solution that secured Irish independence meant that defining Irish nationality was particularly difficult. Citizenship was the key, if somewhat narrow, principle used to define nationality. The Constitution of the Irish Free State effective from 6 December 1922 conferred a limited Irish citizenship on all those ordinarily born in and resident on the island, including residents of Northern Ireland, when the constitution became operative (Daly 2001, 391). This citizenship was only effective within ‘the limits of the Irish Free State’; for international purposes, Irish citizens, as natives of a Dominion, were British subjects. This position continued until Britain formally recognized Ireland’s separate nationality in the 1948 British Nationality Act, an act which also acknowledged that the member states of the Commonwealth were free to enact their own legislation on nationality (Daly 2001, 388). With the exception of the Irish Football Association, partition did not extend to the management of Irish amateur sport, and governing bodies continued to
Ireland’s decade of political revolution (followed by a calamitous Civil War) ended in 1922 with the establishment of the Irish Free State as a self-governing dominion within the British Empire having the same constitutional status as Canada. The establishment of the new state effectively completed the partition of Ireland as the Government of Ireland Act had already established the Northern Ireland state in 1920. Ireland was now divided into two political units: the twenty-six-county Irish Free State, a dominion of the British Empire and the six-county semi-autonomous Northern Ireland. This state, designed to possess a durable unionist majority, remained within the United Kingdom and included a significant nationalist minority whose allegiance was to the Irish Free State (English 2007, 235-345; Fanning 2013; Hopkinson 2004; McGarry 2010; Townshend 2014). The political solution that secured Irish independence eant that defining Irish nationality was particularly difficult. Citizenship was the key, if somewhat narrow, principle used to define nationality. The Constitution of the Irish Free State effective from 6 December 1922 conferred a limited Irish citizenship on all those ordinarily born in and resident on the island, including residents of Northern Ireland, when the constitution became operative (Daly 2001, 391). This citizenship was only effective within ‘the li its of the Irish Free State’; for international purposes, Irish citizens, as natives of a Dominion, were British subjects. This position continued until Britain formally recognized Ireland’s separate nationality in the 1948 British Nationality Act, an act which also acknowledged that the member states of the Commonwealth were free to enact their own legislation on nationality (Daly 2001, 388). With the exception of the Irish Football Association, partition did not extend to the management of Irish amateur sport, and governing bodies continued to
organize sport on an all-Ireland basis. This work examines how the interested parties and, in particular, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Irish Olympic Council dealt with the participatory circumstances created by the political settlement. The management of the situation provides an insight into the internal politics of the IOC, as well as the role Irish Olympic history played in the evolution of the Olympic Charter.
