Editing Irish states since 1171

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{{Use Hiberno-English|date=March 2023}}

{{More sources|date=November 2024}}

'''Irish states''' have existed under a number of different names for nearly a thousand years. A unified Irish proto-state had been coalescing from the multitude of small tribal kingdoms that existed circa AD 500, similar to the pattern elsewhere in [[Europe]]. The independent development of the several dynastic regional kingdoms into a nascent national kingdom, however, was extinguished by the [[Norman invasion of Ireland]] in 1169, although these regional [[Gaelic Ireland]] kingdoms continued to resist for centuries until the [[Tudor conquest of Ireland]] was completed in the 17th century.

This list deals with the various states that existed from 1171 onwards that owed their origin to [[Normans|Norman]] and later, [[England|English]] involvement on the island of [[Ireland]]. These were recognised by the [[Holy See]] before 1570 and after 1766. Until the whole island was subdued following the end of the [[Nine Years' War (Ireland)|Nine Years' War]] in 1603 these states shared the island of Ireland with a patchwork of [[List of Irish kingdoms|indigenous states]] that existed outside of their authority.
[[Image:Ireland 1450.png|thumb|250px|right|Ireland in 1450]]
The list below refers to all-Ireland (or nominally all-Ireland) states and to the 1922 [[partition of Ireland|post-partition]] states, not the individual [[List of Irish kingdoms|Gaelic kingdoms]] which exercised the actual governance in their area when they existed, including during the 1350–1500 "[[History of Ireland (1169–1536)#Gaelic resurgence .281350.E2.80.931500.29|Gaelic resurgence]]".

* '''[[Lordship of Ireland]]''' (1171–1541)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lydon |first=J. F. |title=The Lordship of Ireland in the Middle Ages |publisher=University of Toronto Press |year=1972 |isbn=9781487576387 |series=Heritage |jstor=10.3138/j.ctvcj2k6f}}</ref>
* '''[[Kingdom of Ireland]]''' (1541–1800)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Crown of Ireland Act 1542, section I. |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/aip/Hen8/33/1/section/I. |access-date=3 November 2024 |website=legislation.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Reilly |first=Gavan |date=17 March 2013 |title=So you know Ireland's national colour might not be green, right? |url=https://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-national-colour-blue-828597-Mar2013/ |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=The Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 July 2016 |title=Cross of St Patrick: 'Unity flag' for Northern Ireland? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-36846914 |access-date=3 November 2024 |work=BBC News}}</ref>
:* [[Confederate Ireland]] (1642–1649) was an Irish government that controlled about two thirds of Ireland during the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]] and is arguably the only large successful sustained period of Irish self-government between the time of [[Brian Boru]] the [[Ard Rí|High King of Ireland]] and the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922.
:* [[Patriot Parliament]] (1689)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Simms |first=J. G. |title=War and Politics in Ireland, 1649-173 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-0907628729 |pages=66–69 |chapter=The Jacobite Parliament of 1689}}</ref>
:* The [[revolutionary republic|revolutionary]] [[France|French]] backed '''[[Irish Republic (1798)|Irish Republic]]''' (late August and early September 1798) controlled only parts of [[Connacht]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78ZNAAAAcAAJ&q=%22General+Humbert%22 |title=A collection of state papers relative to the war against France now carrying on by Great Britain and the several other European Powers |publisher=Stockdale |year=1799 |volume=7 |pages=361–362}}</ref> and is often overlooked today
* Part of the '''[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]''' (1801–1922)
:* The [[revolutionary republic|revolutionary]] '''[[Irish Republic (1916)|Irish Republic]]''' ([[Easter Week]], 1916)<ref>{{Cite document |date=24 April 1916 |title=Proclamation of the Irish Republic |title-link=Proclamation of the Irish Republic |type=Proclamation |publisher=[[Provisional Government of the Irish Republic]]}}</ref> controlled only small parts of the capital, [[Dublin]], for 6 days, but has had great [[Easter Rising#Legacy|symbolic significance]] ever since<ref>{{Cite news |title=Explainer: What was the Easter Rising? |url=https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/articles/what-was-the-easter-rising |access-date=2 November 2024 |work=[[RTÉ]]'s Century Ireland}}</ref>
* The [[revolutionary republic|revolutionary]] '''[[Irish Republic]]''' (1919–22)<ref>{{Cite document |date=21 January 1919 |title=The Declaration of Irish Independence |type=Declaration |place=[[Mansion House, Dublin]] |publisher=[[First Dáil|Dáil Éireann]] |title-link=Irish Declaration of Independence}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=21 January 2019 |title=Ireland independence: Why Jan 1919 is an important date |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46480953 |access-date=2 November 2024 |work=BBC Newsround}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Sproule |first=Luke |date=1 January 2022 |title=Ireland 1922: The new Irish state descends into civil war |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-59548846 |access-date=2 November 2024 |work=CBBC News}}</ref>
* '''[[Northern Ireland]]''' (1921–present)<ref name=":0">{{Cite legislation UK|type=act|year=1920|chapter=67|act=Government of Ireland Act, 1920|section=1|accessdate=2 November 2024|date=23 December 1920}}</ref><ref>{{Cite legislation UK|type=act|year=1998|chapter=47|act=Northern Ireland Act 1998|section=1|accessdate=2 November 2024|date=19 November 1998}}</ref> and '''[[Southern Ireland (1921–22)|Southern Ireland]]''' (1921–22), both created by the [[Government of Ireland Act 1920]],<ref name=":0" /> though only the former existed in reality.
* '''[[Irish Free State|Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann)]]''' (1922–37)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lee |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KiIZ_x8IWQUC&pg=PA94 |title=Ireland, 1912-1985: Politics and Society |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1989 |isbn=9780521377416 |pages=93–94}}</ref>
* '''[[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]]''' (1937–present),<ref name=":1">{{Cite constitution|article=4|polity=Ireland|date=1937|url=https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html#article4|access-date=2 November 2024|via=Irish Statute Book}}</ref> often known since 1949 by [[Names_of_the_Irish_state#Official_description|its official description]], '''Republic of Ireland''',<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 April 2020 |others=Compiled by Richard Nelsson |title=The day Ireland became a republic - archive, April 1949 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/from-the-archive-blog/2020/apr/08/ireland-becomes-a-republic-april-1949 |access-date=2 November 2024 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite ISB|title=[[The Republic of Ireland Act 1948]]|year=1948|number=22|access-date=2 November 2024|section=2|signedby=[[Seán T. O'Kelly]]|date=21 December 1948}}</ref> and sometimes in [[English language|English]] as '''[[Éire]]''', the word for Ireland in [[Irish language|Irish]].<ref name=":1" />

For international purposes the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]] was also [[Monarchy of Ireland|King of Ireland]] until 1949, after which time the [[President of Ireland]] became the sole sovereign. The Monarch's internal powers had already been [[Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949|removed by 1937]]. With the enactment of the [[Republic of Ireland Act 1948|Republic of Ireland Act]] in 1949, all powers of the British monarch were transferred to the president. The name of the state remained ''Ireland'', even after the passing of the Republic of Ireland Act, see [[names of the Irish state]].

==See also==

* [[List of Irish uprisings]] – from 1534 to 1998
* [[History of Ireland (800–1169)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Timeline of Irish states ==

{{Timeline of Irish states}}
{{Irish states since 1171}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish States Since 1171}}
[[Category:Political history of Ireland]]
[[Category:British Empire]]
[[Category:History of the Commonwealth of Nations]]
[[Category:Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations]]