1. Cumann na nGaedheal

2. Title: The Free State under
Cumann na nGaedheal (1923-1932)
Keywords:
• Public Safety Acts
• Gardai Siochana
• Eoin O’Duffy
• Kevin Higgins
• Army Mutiny
• Agricultural Credit Corporation
• Shannon Scheme
• Bord na Mona
• Statute of Westminster
• Electoral Amendment Act

3. August 1923 General Election
Cumann na Ngaedheal 63 Seats
Sinn Fein 44 Seats
Farmers Party 15 Seats
Labour Party 14 Seats
Independents 17 Seats
• In the election the Irish public largely backed the
pro-treaty party Cumann na nGaedheal
• Sinn Fein’s refusal to take their seats would
ensure no opposition to Cosgrave within the Dail

4. • President of Executive Council - William T. Cosgrave
• Minister for Home Affairs – Kevin O’Higgins
• Minister for Finance – Earnest Blythe
• Minister for Defence – Richard Mulcahy
• Minister for Education – Eoin MacNeill
Key Figures of the Government

5. The ‘New’ Government
• Government adopted a conservative policies in all
areas of administration that often differed little
from British rule
• This conservatism is sometimes seen as a failure of
the government
• Others argue that the ‘new’ independent Ireland
needed stability and conservative policies were
exactly what Ireland needed to survive
independence

6. An Garda Siochana
• Re-establishing law and order was key to the new
government
• A new unarmed police force, the Civic Guard was
established. (Take the gun out of Irish life)
• Made up mostly of former pro-treaty IRA men
• Renamed ‘Garda Síochána’ in 1924
• Public Safety Act 1923 gave ministers the power to
order the internment of anyone they felt was a risk to
the security of the state.
• A courts system was also established (High, circuit,
district) under the Courts of Justice Act (1924)

7. The Army Mutiny 1924
• Government wanted to reduce the size of the army from
49,000 to about 20,000
• Army officers didn’t trust the Minister Richard Mulcahy
feeling he would force many IRA men to retire
• The also complained about being force to take a pay cut
• They didn’t want British officers training Irish soldiers
and felt the Free State should push for a 32-county
Ireland
• Mulcahy receives reports that IRA members in the army
were about to seize barracks around the country.
• Officers then send a letter to the government demanding
-an end to demobilisation (not reduce numbers in army)
-an end to pay cuts in the army
-the government should push for a 32 country republic

8. • Mulcahy orders the arrest of the officers leading the
mutiny
• The government appoints Eoin O’Duffy as General Officer
of the army behind the back of the Minister Richard
Mulcahy.
• Vice President Kevin O’Higgins orders Mulcahy to resign
as Defence Minister as it was clear he had lost control of
the army
• Cosgrave offers to negotiate with the army
• O’Higgins and Cosgrave now ensured that the Army was
answerable to the government
The Army Mutiny 1924

9. Compromises:
- review of who would be force to retire (Army reduced to
15,000)
- return of all officers to their previous positions
- introduction of army pension.
Consequences
• Up to crisis - army was semi-independent
• After crisis - government firmly in control of army
• The Government had weathered it’s first crisis and had
succeeded in establishing control
The Army Mutiny 1924

10. Boundary Commission
= Mainly Catholic
= Mainly Protestant
Boundary Commission
= Mainly Catholic
= Mainly Protestant

11. Boundary Commission 1925
• This was established under the terms of the Anglo-
Irish treaty of 1921. The commission was made up
of 3 men, Mr Justice Richard Feetham (Chairman),
Eoin MacNeill (Irish Free State) and J.R. Fisher
(Northern Ireland)
• Met between November 1924 and November 1925
• Work of the Boundary Commission was meant to
be kept secret.
• It was expected that the heavily Catholic areas of
Fermanagh and Armagh would be ceded to the
South.
• However, the ‘Morning post’ newpaper leaked a
report of the commissions findings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6IcpMCv-2E

12. • The Catholic areas would be exchanged for parts of East
Donegal which was protestant.
• Cosgrave insisted no part of the free state would be given.
MacNeill resigned in response to the article.
• A conference was called to find a solution. Ireland was
represented by Kevin O’Higgins and the following was
decided upon:
-The report to be supressed
-The border would be left unaltered
-Ireland would be relieved of certain financial
commitments
• While a political headache for CnaG, most people in
Ireland viewed the incident with indifference
• members of the IRA believed that violence represented
the only was to achieve a republic
Boundary Commission 1925

13. Foreign Policy:
• The new government wanted to assert Ireland’s independence. The
free state applied to the League of Nations and was admitted on the
23rd of September 1923. Cumann na nGaedheal also sent
Ambassadors to many countries starting with the USA.
• The British & Free state met to discuss financial arrangements in the
aftermath of the treaty. An arrangement was signed in March 1926.
It stated Ireland would pay:
Land Annuities
RIC pensions
In return, Ireland did not have to pay for military equipment
supplied by Britain during the civil war.
• A number of imperial conferences were held to ensure the
successful running of the empire. At these conferences, the free
state continued to push for further independence.

14. • At the 1926 conference, largely thanks to the work of
Kevin O’Higgins, dominions were granted full rights as
sovereign states. (Previously the laws of England overruled the Dominion’s laws)
• This became known as the ‘Balfour definition’. This
legislation was followed in 1931 with the passing of the
‘Statute of Westminster’.
• This act allowed commonwealth dominions to “accept,
amend or annul” any existing and future British
legislation. In effect this meant that Ireland could
abolish existing laws from the pre-free state days,
particularly the Anglo-Irish treaty of 1921.
• CnaG didn’t immediately abolish the Treaty as they had
done well in the previous decade and didn’t want to
rock the political boat

15. The Economy:
• The treaty had given the free state complete
economic independence. Ireland now had to rely on
their own economic resources without the North-
east, it’s most industrial region.
• Loans were obtained and the government succeeded
in establishing a stable currency. The economic policy
was generally conservative.
• Taxes were low (17%) but this meant government
spending was low. Pensions were cut, relief to the
poor was almost non-existent.
• Public housing was insufficient to meet demand.
• Emigration and unemployment remained high.

16. Industry:
• An ambitious project was started on the River
Shannon in Co. Clare, with the Ardnacrusha Hydro-
electric power station. It became known as the
Shannon scheme.
• The Electical Supply Board was established in 1927
and helped change the face of rural Ireland.
• These improvements saw the economy stabilise
and put the country on a firm if unspectacular
financial footing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2C7_a1xe6c

17. Agriculture:
• Two-thirds of Ireland’s population lived in rural areas
and so was important
• Patrick Hogan(Minister for Agriculture), introduced
acts that allowed inspectors on agriculture
production. This saw the standard of Irish agriculture
improve.
• However, the government only favoured very limited
protectionism and some areas suffered as a result.
• A sugar beet factory was established in 1926 and by
1930 had become an exporter of sugar.
• In 1927 the Agricultural Credit Corporation was set
up to provide loans for farmers, though initially few
availed of this new facility.

18. Industrial and Social Unrest
• Major Post office Strike in September 1922
• In 1924 Government cut the old age pension by 10% and
restricts unemployment payments
• Government cuts wages for Civil Servants, Teachers and
Gardai
• Major strike against wage cuts in Limerick during the
construction of Ardnacrusha Power Station in 1925-26
• Weathering these storms was important for the new
government. However, it was clear by the end of the 1920’s
that the Irish electorate were looking for an alternative after
years of single party rule.

19. 1927 - The Assassination of
Kevin O’Higgins
• 10 July 1927, Kevin O’Higgins assassinated by two IRA
men on his way to mass in Booterstown, Co. Dublin.
• The assassination brought back memories of the civil
war.
• The government responded by introducing three new
Bills in the Dail

20. • The Public Safety Bill made the IRA illegal.
• The Constitutional Amendment Bill removed the
provision for referendum
• Previously a petition signed by 75,000 people could force a
referendum on a constitutional amendment.
• The Electoral Amendment Bill stated that all elected TD’s
must take their seats in the Dail or resign
• A by-election would then be called to fill the vacancy.
• This was important as it now forced DeValera and his
Fianna Fail party to take their seats in the Dail
Effects of the Assassination of O’Higgins