Editing Monarchy of Ireland (section)

===Abdication crisis, President of Ireland and Republic of Ireland Act, 1936–1949===
{{Main|Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949}}
The constitutional crisis resulting from the [[Edward VIII abdication crisis|abdication of King Edward VIII]] in December 1936 was used by [[Éamon de Valera]]'s government as a catalyst to amend the [[Constitution of the Irish Free State]] by eliminating all but one of the King's official duties. This was achieved with the enactment on 11 December of the [[Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act 1936|Constitution (Amendment No. 27) Act]], which removed the monarch from the constitution and, on 12 December, the [[Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936|External Relations Act]],<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1936/en/act/pub/0058/sec0003.html#zza58y1936s3 |title=Executive Authority (External Relations) Act, 1936 |date=12 December 1936 |publisher=Irish Statute Book |location=Dublin |id=3.2 |access-date=6 May 2009}}</ref> which provided that the monarch recognised by Britain and the rest of the Commonwealth could represent the Irish Free State "for the purposes of the appointment of diplomatic and consular representatives and the conclusion of international agreements" when authorised to do so by the Irish government. The following year, a new [[Constitution of Ireland|constitution]] was ratified, changing the name of the Free State to [[Éire]], or "Ireland" in the English language, and establishing the office of [[President of Ireland]]. The King's role in Ireland was ambiguous. Whether the [[Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949|Irish head of state]] was [[George VI]], or the President, was left unclear.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McMahon |first=Deirdre |url=https://archive.org/details/republicansimper0000mcma/page/181 |title=Republicans and Imperialists: Anglo-Irish Relations in the 1930s |date=1984 |isbn=0300030711 |page=[https://archive.org/details/republicansimper0000mcma/page/181 181]|publisher=Yale University Press }}</ref><ref>In the words of {{Cite journal |last=Mary E. Daly |date=January 2007 |title=The Irish Free State/Éire/Republic of Ireland/Ireland: "A Country by Any Other Name"? |journal=Journal of British Studies |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=72–90 |doi=10.1086/508399 |jstor=10.1086/508399 |doi-access=free}}: "After the enactment of the [[Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936|1936 External Relations Act]] and the [[Constitution of Ireland|1937 Constitution]], Ireland's only remaining link with the crown had been the accreditation of diplomats. The president of Ireland was the head of state. When opposition deputies asked de Valera whether Ireland was a republic—a favorite pastime in the mid-1940s—he tended to resort to dictionary definitions showing that Ireland had all the attributes of a republic."</ref> This ambiguity was eliminated with the enactment of the [[Republic of Ireland Act 1948]], which came into force in April 1949 and declared the state to be a republic.<ref>[http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1948/en/act/pub/0022/sec0001.html#zza22y1948s2 Section 1] of the [[Republic of Ireland Act 1948]].</ref> The External Relations Act was repealed, removing the remaining duties of the monarch, and Ireland formally withdrew from the [[British Commonwealth]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kondō |first=Atsushi |title=Citizenship in a Global World: Comparing Citizenship Rights for Aliens |publisher=Palgrave |date=2001 |isbn=0-333-80265-9 |location=Hampshire |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kVaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA120 120] |quote=Ireland reluctantly remained a member of the Commonwealth as Irish citizens remained British Subjects. However, Irish representatives stopped attending Commonwealth meetings in 1937 and Ireland adopted a position of neutrality in World War II. Ireland became a Republic in 1949 and formally left the Commonwealth.}}</ref> The position of the king in the Irish state was finally and formally ended by the [[Oireachtas]] with the repeal of the [[Crown of Ireland Act 1542]] by the [[Statute Law Revision (Pre-Union Irish Statutes) Act 1962]].

According to Desmond Oulton (owner of [[Clontarf Castle]]), his father John George Oulton had suggested to [[Éamon de Valera]] towards the end of the [[Irish Free State]], that Ireland should have its own king again, as it was in the times of [[Gaelic Ireland]].<ref name="ok">{{Citation | last1 = O'Keeffe | first1 = Jane | title =Voices from the Great Houses of Ireland: Life in the Big House: Cork and Kerry | publisher =  Mercier Press | year = 2013 | isbn = 978-1781171936 |page=21}}</ref> He suggested to him, a member of the [[O'Brien Clan]], descended in the paternal line from [[Brian Boru]], a previous [[High King of Ireland]]: the most senior representative at the time was [[Donough O'Brien, 16th Baron Inchiquin]].<ref name="ok"/> Oulton said that Donough's nephew [[Conor O'Brien, 18th Baron Inchiquin]], confirmed that De Valera did offer Donough O'Brien the title of Prince-President of the Irish Republic, but this was turned down and so a President of Ireland was instituted instead.<ref name="ok"/>

The [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarchy]], specifically, continued and continues in [[Northern Ireland]], which remains a part of the sovereign state that is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. From 1921 until 1973, the British monarch was officially represented in Northern Ireland by the [[Governor of Northern Ireland]].