The Privy Council appeal as a minority safeguard for the Protestant community of the Irish Free State, 1922-1935

This article examines the history of the appeal from the Irish courts to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as a purported safeguard for minority rights in the Irish Free State during the inter-war years. It analyses relevant caselaw in this area and attempts to illustrate why the Irish appeal became of central importance to the entire British Commonwealth in this period. Historians tend to ignore the existence of the Privy Council appeal as a significant aspect of inter-denominational relations in the early years of the self-governing Irish State. Other commentators have been content to echo the claims made by the Irish governments of the time to the effect that the overwhelming majority of Southern Protestants did not want this purported safeguard of their rights. This article will challenge both of these positions. The overall objective of this work is not to revive forgotten sectarian controversies but to provide new data on the nature of inter-denominational relations in the years that followed the secession of much of the island of Ireland from the United Kingdom.