Governor-General of the Irish Free State
Under the 1922 Constitution drafted by a committee under the chairmanship of Michael Collins, the Governor-General of the Irish Free State was the Representative of the Crown in the Irish Free State. Three men held the post: Tim Healy, KC (1922 - 1927), James McNeill (1928 - 1932) and Domhnall Ua Buachalla (1932 - 1936).The office was abolished by two enactments, the Constitution (Amendment No.27) Act, 1936 and the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act, 1937 passed by Oireachtas Éireann in 1936 and 1937 respectively. (The latter Act retrospectively dated the abolition back to the date of the former, ie December 1936.)
The first two governors-general resided in an official residence, the Viceregal Lodge, now known as Áras an Uachtaráin, the residence of the President of Ireland. The last governor-general resided in a specially hired private residence in Booterstown, County Dublin.
The last surviving governor-general, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, died aged 97 on the 30th October 1963.
Note: The Governor-General was NOT a head of state, merely the representative of one, but is described here as RESIDENT head of state because he fulfilled the functions of head of state in the Irish context.According to Irish Constitutional Theory
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Preceded by:
President of the Republic (1921-22)
Irish Heads of State/Resident Heads of State
Succeeded by:
President of Ireland (1937-present)
According to British Constitutional Theory
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Preceded by:
Lord Lieutenant (mediaeval - under different names - up to 1922)
Irish Heads of State/Resident Heads of State
Succeeded by:
President of Ireland (1937-present)
