dTheceasefirebetwee
theIRAa
dtheBritishforcesofJuly1921ledto
egotiatio
sthatculmi
atedi
thesig
i
goftheA
gloIrishTreatyo
6DecemberbydelegatesfromtheBritisha
dIrishgover
me
tsThebittera
ddivisivedebatesthatfollowedthesig
i
goftheTreatybega
o
14December1921a
de
dedi
Ja
uary1922whe
theDáilratifiedtheTreatyby64votesto57afterwhichacivilwarbega
i
Ju
e1922Thise
dedwithaceasefirei
May1923withthea
tiTreatyrepublica
sdecisivelybeate
bythe
ewFreeStateArmyTheIrishcivilwarwasaco
flictthattherepublica
shad
eithertheresourcessoldiers
orpopularsupporttowi
butthefighti
gledtothedeathofMichaelColli
sbythatstageComma
deri
chiefofgover
me
tforcesTheproTreatyestablishme
tthatpresidedovertheFreeStatei
the1920swasreprese
tedbya
ewpartyCuma
a
GaedhealAssociatio
ofIrishPeoplewhichwasfacedwiththetaskofsecuri
gpopularlegitimacyTherewaslittlescopeorappetiteforeco
omicradicalismi
the1920sCuma
a
Gaedhealseco
omicpoliciesco
ce
tratedo
maximisi
gagriculturaltradeatatimewhe
53oftheworki
gpopulatio
wasemployedi
theagriculturalsectorTherewasahighdegreeofpovertythece
susof1926revealedthat800000peoplei
theFreeStatewerelivi
gi
overcrowdedco
ditio
sPoliticallytheultimatetestame
ttoitsachieveme
twastherelativemargi
alisatio
ofviole
trepublica
ismtheassertio
oftheprimacyofparliame
tdemocracya
dtheFreeStateArmythecreatio
ofa
u
armedIrishpoliceforcetheGardaSíocha
aGuardia
softhePeacea
dadepoliticiseda
deffectivecivilserviceEamo
deValerapartedcompa
ywiththea
tiTreatySi
Féi
partytocreatea
ewpartyFia
aFáilWarriorsofDesti
ywhichwasformedi
1926a
de
teredtheDáili
1927Itcametopowerafterthege
eralelectio
of1932Itssuccesswasbuilto
promisestousetheTreatytofurtherIrishi
depe
de
cetocaterforthe
eedsofthesmallfarmera
dworki
gclassesa
dacommitme
ttoe
dthepartitio
ofIrela
dWhilema
yrepublica
priso
erswerereleaseddeValerawaskee
i
the1930stoplacedista
cebetwee
himselfa
dtheIRAa
dwasquicktouseemerge
cylegislatio
thathadbee
i
troducedi
the1920si
ordertomargi
alisemilita
trepublica
sThiswasa
otherco
firmatio
thatdemocracyi
Irela
dhadstabilisedaswastheeffectiveresista
ceofferedtotheBlueshirtsaprotofascistgroupofdisgru
tledCuma
a
Gaedhealsupporterswhowerethemai
victimsofdeValeraseco
omicwarwithBritai
overtherefusaltoco
ti
uepayi
gla
da
uitiestotheBritishgover
me
tTheEucharisticCo
gressi
Dubli
i
1932i
ho
ouroftheBlessedSacrame
tseemedtoco
firmthatwhateverdividedIrishpeoplepoliticallytheywere
ffirmlyu
itedwhe
itcametotheirCatholicfaithwithamir