republic · British Isles

Ireland

1937 CE – present · capital Dublin

The sovereign Irish state established under the 1937 Constitution, which became a republic in 1949 and an EU member in 1973.

Origins

The Constitution of Ireland, drafted under Eamon de Valera and approved by referendum in 1937, replaced the Irish Free State with a state named Ireland, or Eire, with an elected President, Douglas Hyde being the first. It claimed the whole island but applied its laws to twenty-six counties.

Rule and society

Ireland stayed neutral in the Second World War and declared itself a republic in 1949, leaving the Commonwealth. It is a parliamentary democracy with the Oireachtas and a Taoiseach. Long dominated by the Catholic Church and emigration, it changed through economic openness, EEC membership in 1973 and the 'Celtic Tiger' boom of the 1990s.

To the present

The Good Friday Agreement of 1998 replaced its territorial claim with an aspiration to unity by consent. Referendums legalised divorce, same-sex marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018, and Ireland is a member of the eurozone.

Lineage

Irish Free State 1922 CE – 1937 CEIreland

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ireland. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ireland
MLA
“Ireland.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ireland. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ireland.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ireland.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ireland’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ireland (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻