T.M. Healy and James Hamilton appointed Ireland’s first governor-generals
Dublin, 12 December 1922 – T.M. Healy and James Hamilton also known as Lord Abercorn have been appointed the governor-generals for the Irish Free State and for Northern Ireland, respectively.
The Governor-General of the Irish Free State will take up official residence at the Viceregal Lodge in the Phoenix Park, where all of the Lord Lieutenants of Ireland resided during their tenures.
Article 60 of the Free State Constitution defines the status and responsibilities of the governor-general as that of the ‘representative of the Crown’ who is to be appointed in the same manner as the Governor-General of Canada, and in accordance with the practices observed in the making of such appointments. The salary is to be similar to that of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia – £10,000 – which will be paid from the public funds of the Irish Free State which must also provide for the maintenance of the official residence.
The residence in Dublin will now be occupied by Tim Healy. He is one of the most prominent and successful members of the Irish bar and has been a high profile figure in Irish political life for over 40 years.
Healy, who was born in Bantry, was elected as an Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) MP for Wexford in the Westminster Parliament in 1880, later representing Monaghan (1883-1885), South Derry (1885-86), North Longford (1897-92), North Louth (1892-1910), and North East Cork (1910-18). He retired from politics in 1918, when the IPP was effectively wiped out by the rising Sinn Féin.
Since news of his appointment as governor-general has been announced, Mr Healy has received the blessing of Pope Pius XI, who ‘prays that a happy era of peace and prosperity may now set in for the beloved people of Ireland, and from his heart send you the Apostolic Benediction.’
In his first address to the new Oireachtas, the governor-general drew attention to existing divisions on the island. Firstly, he noted the ‘small number who have not yet bowed to the will of the majority’ in respect of acceptance of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Secondly, he noted that Northern Ireland has opted to stay separate from the Free State.
The proposal to establish a Boundary Commission in the event of Northern Ireland opting out of the Free State area, is one that James Craig is anxious to resist. Craig has declared that he would not be party to any commission that would place his ‘fellow loyalists under a foreign flag and a foreign jurisdiction.’
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
