Talk:Monarchy in the Irish Free State

Technically but symbolically
re a user's edits. Actually the monarch didn't merely reign 'technically but symbolically' between 1937 and 1949. He actually reigned. He


 * signed treaties on behalf of the Irish state. Without his signature they were invalid.
 * appointed every Irish ambassador and signed their Letters of Credence.
 * accepted Letters of Credence on behalf of the Irish state (either directly from the ambassador, or indirectly via the Department of External Affairs in Dublin)
 * accepted Letters of Recall.
 * fulfilled other functions.

When the King was unable to sign a letter of credence for the new Irish ambassador-designate to the Papal Court in the mid 1940s Ireland was ambassadorless, and remained that way until the King was able to sign the Letter of Credence.

The King had a very direct role in the Irish state's functioning, albeit restricted to external relations, until 1 April 1949 when that role went directly to the President of Ireland. FearÉIREANN \(caint)|undefined 00:34, 17 August 2006 (UTC)


 * This seems an extremely limited role that is difficult to accept as being the reign of a constitutional monarch as commonly understood. I do not find the 'fulfilled other functions' heading to be particularly impressive 195.92.168.163 08:24, 21 December 2006 (UTC)


 * On this note, here's a query I put in the "Irish Head of State 1936-1949" talk page, which didn't get any response ... maybe a better one here?


 * Out of curiosity, how was the "advice" of the Irish government as to the conduct of his few remaining functions relayed to the King in the absence of a Governor General? I suppose they could just pick up the phone and call, but still ... I notice also that the article says that treaties were signed by Irish ministers "in the name of" the monarch; it would be interesting learn what the precise wording on these documents were.  To what extent did the King personally enact his Irish duties at all during this period?  Did ambassadors to Ireland present themselves to the King in London before heading on to Dublin?  Were treaties sent to the UK for his signature or seal?


 * A related question: During World War II, Ireland remained neutral, and thus maintained diplomatic relations with the Axis power. Did King George himself accredit ambassadors to or receive letters of credence from the German government during the war? --Jfruh (talk) 20:21, 28 June 2007 (UTC)


 * They were Representatives (or similar) rather than full ambassadors (as was the German fellow on whom de Valera (in)famously called in 1945 to express his condolences at Hitler's death. David Gray, the US Representative during WW2, arrived via London in April 1940, and had a number of meetings with British politicians including Churchill. I don't know whether this was to be formally received by the King or was just to get some handy meetings with the British. There were no direct transatlantic flights into London from the US at this time (planes used to hop via Greenland and Iceland into the north of Scotland), so he could just have easily have travelled to Dublin by sea, one supposes.Paulturtle (talk) 05:45, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

King in Ireland/King of Ireland
I believe that these titles or styles never actually existed, that is they are not found in any law, constitution, etc but are merely used descriptively by the writers of this article and connected articles. My point is that in the absense of any citation to an official source for these titles or styles (as I recall the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 does not include any such title or style) that this should be made clear within the article (the use of inverted commas is not sufficient) and that the capitalisation in King should be removed. 195.92.168.166 08:40, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

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Merge of content fork
A recently created article, Monarchy of the Irish Free State, appears to be a content fork of this article. Suggest that relevant material be merged here. RashersTierney (talk) 22:19, 17 January 2013 (UTC)
 * Support Laurel Lodged (talk) 23:11, 18 February 2013 (UTC)