Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921)

In a hastily written note issued to the World Press, Arthur Griffith announced the outcome of the months-long treaty negotiations. The note reads:

“I have signed a Treaty of peace between Ireland and Great Britain. I believe that treaty will lay foundations of peace and friendship between the two Nations. What I have signed I shall stand by in the belief that the end of the conflict of centuries is at hand.”

Negotiations began in earnest in October 1921, a few months after a truce was declared, when an official delegation (headed by Arthur Griffith and including Michael Collins) was formed. The agreed terms of the treaty were the following: the withdrawal of British troops from the majority of the country; Ireland was given dominion status—meaning that the country was a self-governing entity within the Commonwealth, rather than an independent republic; Ireland would pledge an Oath of Allegiance to the Crown; and a border would be created to delineate between the Irish Free State and six counties of Ulster, which would remain under British rule.

The Irish negotiators were unhappy, but Prime Minister Lloyd George made it clear that a rejection would mean the continuation of the war; a war which the IRA was losing. There was also mounting pressure for an end to the war and the delegates desired a tangible victory of some sort.

The Treaty was narrowly ratified in the Dail, but it was quite controversial. Eamon de Valera rejected the Treaty, splitting the party, and a civil war erupted.[1]

[1] “The Signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, 1921,” The National Museum of Ireland, accessed March 10, 2026, https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Collections-Research/Collection/Documentation-Discoveries/Artefact/The-Signing-of-the-Anglo-Irish-Treaty,-1921/7a49e7e5-7cf7-4218-b3b4-c974d4adafa6.