Following the establishment of the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between th ...
, three deep water Treaty Ports () at
Berehaven
Castletownbere () is a town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the Beara Peninsula by Berehaven Harbour. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven.
A regionally important fishing port, the town also serves as a commercial and retail hub ...
,
Spike Island (off modern
Cóbh), and
Lough Swilly
Lough Swilly () in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen, Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three glaci ...
were retained by the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
in accordance with the
Anglo-Irish Treaty
The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...
of 6 December 1921.
![Treaty Ports (Ireland)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Treaty_Ports_%28Ireland%29.png)
The main reason for the retention of the ports was the
U-boat Campaign
The U-boat Campaign from 1914 to 1918 was the World War I naval campaign fought by German U-boats against the trade routes of the Allies. It took place largely in the seas around the British Isles and in the Mediterranean.
The German Empir ...
around Irish coasts during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the concern of the British government that it might recur. As a part of the overall Anglo-Irish settlement, all other
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
,
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
personnel and equipment were to evacuate the Free State.
As part of the settlement of the
Anglo-Irish Trade War
The Anglo-Irish Trade War (also called the Economic War) was a retaliatory trade war between the Irish Free State and the United Kingdom from 1932 to 1938. The Irish government refused to continue reimbursing Britain with land annuities from fi ...
in the 1930s, the ports were transferred to
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
(the Free State's successor) in 1938 following agreements reached between the British and Irish governments.
Terms of the treaty
In 1921,
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of governm ...
originally offered – in an early version of the Anglo-Irish Treaty – to allow the British to continue to use the ports for a further period of five years. The British would also be able to use whatever harbours they required in wartime.
However, Article 8 was defeated by republicans within de Valera's own party and removed from the final terms of the treaty. Instead, the issue of the ports was addressed in Article 7:
The Annex referred to in that Article read as follows:
The Annex included reference to
Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough is a large, intertidal sea inlet on the east coast of Northern Ireland. At its head is the city and port of Belfast, which sits at the mouth of the River Lagan. The lough opens into the North Channel and connects Belfast to th ...
because
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
was included within the original territory of the Irish Free State, although under the Treaty it had the right to opt out of the Free State and back into the UK. It
did so on 8 December 1922. With the departure of Northern Ireland from the Free State, this left three United Kingdom bases in the territory of the Free State (subsequently renamed "Ireland" in the
1937 Constitution). The continued occupation by the United Kingdom of these bases was increasingly irksome, because Irish foreign policy had moved from a position of wanting some
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
protection in 1922 to being a champion for neutrality in the 1930s at the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
.
Notably, the position of the Treaty Ports was raised by de Valera in correspondence with the British government in 1932 shortly before the beginning of the
Economic War
The Anglo-Irish Trade War (also called the Economic War) was a retaliatory trade war between the Irish Free State and the United Kingdom from 1932 to 1938. The Irish government refused to continue reimbursing Britain with land annuities from fi ...
, where he noted:
Agreement on transfer of Treaty Ports
From 1932 until 1938, the governments of the former Irish Free State and the United Kingdom had been involved in a long-running Anglo-Irish Trade War that was not in the interest of either state's economy. In September 1937
Malcolm MacDonald
Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professional footballer, manager and media figure. Nicknamed 'Supermac', Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built prolific goalscorer. He played for Fulham, Luton Town, Newcastle U ...
made it clear to de Valera that the United Kingdom was prepared to give up the ports if the Irish gave a guarantee that the British could use them in times of war.
[David McCullagh (2018), ''De Valera Rule 1932–75'', pp. 140–142, Gill Books] Under pressure to ease the burden of the Trade War, in November 1937 de Valera proposed talks between the two governments.
Shortly afterwards, the
Irish Situation Committee
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
chaired by
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician of the Conservative Party who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. He is best known for his foreign policy of appeasemen ...
recommended a potential package deal for Ireland that would include returning the ports subject to the agreement of the chiefs of staff.
Chamberlain had come to the view that it was worth surrendering the treaty ports unconditionally "to obtain the essential goodwill of the Irish Free State".
Negotiations to settle the matters in dispute took place in 1938. The
Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement
The Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement was signed on 25 April 1938 by Ireland and the United Kingdom. It aimed to resolve the Anglo-Irish Trade War which had been on-going from 1933.
Scope
The prime minister Neville Chamberlain summarised the 4 possibl ...
was signed on 25 April 1938; the section relating to the Treaty Ports was as follows:
The Agreement was subject to parliamentary approval by both parties. The United Kingdom subsequently enacted the
Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938
The Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on 17 May 1938. It was the British implementing measure for the 1938 Anglo-Irish Agreements which were signed at London on 25 April 1938 b ...
, which put in effect, among other things, the British government's agreement to transfer the Treaty Ports.
Spike Island Handover (11 July 1938)
On 12 July 1938, ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' (London) reported on the handover of
Spike Island, near Cobh () on 11 July 1938 as follows:
The invitations to the Irish handover celebration read as follows:
Berehaven handover (29 September 1938)
On 1 October 1938, ''The Times'' reported the handover of forts and batteries (known collectively as Berehaven) around
Castletownbere and on
Bere Island
Bere Island or Bear Island (, although officially called ''An tOileán Mór'' meaning "the big island") is an island in Bantry Bay off the Beara Peninsula in County Cork, Ireland. It spans roughly 10 km x 3 km, with an area of 17.68&n ...
() on 29 September 1938 as follows:
''The Times choice of headline was a little misleading in one respect: the British troops at Berehaven were not the last troops to leave the Irish state. The evacuation of
Lough Swilly
Lough Swilly () in Ireland is a glacial fjord or sea inlet lying between the western side of the Inishowen, Inishowen Peninsula and the Fanad Peninsula, in County Donegal. Along with Carlingford Lough and Killary Harbour it is one of three glaci ...
was yet to take place.
Lough Swilly handover (3 October 1938)
On 4 October 1938, ''The Times'' reported on the handover of Lough Swilly at
Fort Dunree
Fort Dunree ( or ''Dún Fhraoigh'' meaning "Fort of Heather") is a coastal defence fortification located on the west side of the Inishowen peninsula, County Donegal, Ireland.
History
The fort is located on a rocky promontory accessed over a ...
in
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...
() on 3 October 1938 as follows:
British dissent
Following the agreement to handover the Treaty Ports to the Irish Free State,
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
was one of only a few MPs who were critical of the decision. In 1938 he addressed the UK's
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
calling it a "folly":
Churchill also remarked that the concessions under the Agreements of 1938 were "astonishing triumphs" for Irish leader, Éamon de Valera. Churchill also asked would it not be "far better to give up the £10,000,000
one-off Irish payment under the Agreement and acquire the legal right, be it only on a lease granted by treaty, to use these harbours when necessary?" Mr Churchill also made a remark concerning the name by which the Irish state would henceforth be described in the UK (Eire) – "I have not been able to form a clear opinion on the exact juridical position of the Government of that portion of Ireland called Southern Ireland, which is now called Eire. That is a word which really has no application at the present time, and I must say, even from the point of view of the ordinary uses of English, that it is not customary to quote a term in a foreign language, a capital town, a geographical place, when there exists a perfectly well-known English equivalent
reland
Adriaan Reland (also known as ''Adriaen Reeland/Reelant'', ''Hadrianus Relandus'') (17 July 1676, De Rijp, North Holland5 February 1718, UtrechtJohn Gorton, ''A General Biographical Dictionary'', 1838, Whittaker & Co.) was a noted Dutch Orientali ...
It is usual to say ''Paris'' not ''Paree''."
With the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in September 1939, Churchill's concerns proved justified. The
escort groups' refuelling facilities at Berehaven and Queenstown were further west than the nearest ones in Northern Ireland and
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
. To compensate for the distance, allied convoys from North America had to be routed via
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
to the ports in Northern Ireland in the early months of the
Battle of the Atlantic
The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...
. However, this decision arguably proved more practical because the shorter sea lanes around Ireland's southern coast soon became vulnerable to German anti-shipping air attacks following the
Fall of France
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
in June 1940. The Iceland route also provided adequate air cover and escort refuelling for allied convoys. Nevertheless, many in the Royal Navy felt resentment towards the handover of the Irish Treaty Ports because they would have provided cover to convoys heading south to
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
and
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
.
Formerly, when the country was part of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...
, the Royal Navy had designated its ''Ireland Station'' as a long-standing separate command.
[Archives on the "Ireland Station" are held at the ]Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
in Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
; se
online catalogue
See also
*
Statement relating to Defence (UK White Paper, 1935, initiating rearmament).
*
Irish neutrality during World War II
**
The Emergency
**
Donegal Corridor
The Donegal Corridor () was a narrow strip of Irish airspace linking Lough Erne to the international waters of the Atlantic Ocean through which the Irish Government permitted flights by British military aircraft during World War II. This was ...
*
Irish Naval Service
The Naval Service ( ga, An tSeirbhís Chabhlaigh) is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork.
Though preceded by earlier mar ...
*
Plan W
Plan W, during World War II, was a plan of joint military operations between the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom devised between 1940 and 1942, to be executed in the event of an invasion of Ireland by Nazi Germany.
Although Ire ...
*
Akrotiri and Dhekelia
Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...
Footnotes
References
External links
British-Irish tripartite agreement on Trade, Finance and Defence, 1938Anglo-Irish Treaty, 1921{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140206010137/http://treaty.nationalarchives.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Anglo-Irish-Treaty.pdf , date=6 February 2014
Irish Free State
Ireland and the Commonwealth of Nations
Former exclaves