Governor-General of the Irish Free State in the context of "Irish Free State"

The Executive Council (Irish: Ard-Chomhairle) was the cabinet and de facto executive branch of government of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State. Formally, executive power was vested in the Governor-General on behalf of the King. In practice, however, it was the Council that governed, since the Governor-General was (with few exceptions) bound to act on its advice. The Executive Council included a prime minister called the President of the Executive Council and a deputy prime minister called the vice-president. A member of the council was called an executive minister, as distinct from an extern minister who had charge of a department without being in the council.

The President of the Executive Council was appointed by the Governor-General after being nominated by Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (parliament), and the remaining Executive Ministers were nominated by the President. The Executive Council could also be removed by a vote of no confidence in the Dáil.

The President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State (Irish: Uachtarán ar Ard-Chomhairle Shaorstát Éireann) was the head of government or prime minister of the Irish Free State which existed from 1922 to 1937. He was the chairman of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, the Free State's cabinet. The President was appointed by the Governor-General, upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas of parliament) and had to enjoy the confidence of the Dáil to remain in office. The office was succeeded by that of Taoiseach, though subsequent Taoisigh are numbered from the first President of the Executive Council.

The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State (Irish: Oireachtas Shaorstát Éireann) was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was the first internationally recognised independent Irish Parliament since the historic Parliament of Ireland which was abolished with the Acts of Union 1800.

The Parliament was bicameral, consisting of Dáil Éireann (the lower house, also known as the Dáil) with 153 seats and Seanad Éireann (the upper house; also known as the Seanad) with 60 seats). The Seanad was abolished on 29 May 1936, and from then until its abolition the Oireachtas was unicameral. The King, who was officially represented by the Governor-General, was also a constituent part of the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State was disbanded by the 1937 Constitution of Ireland which created the modern Oireachtas.

The state known today as Ireland is the successor state to the Irish Free State, which existed from December 1922 to December 1937. At its foundation, the Irish Free State was, in accordance with its constitution and the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, governed as a constitutional monarchy in the British Commonwealth with the British monarch as head of state. The monarch was represented in the Irish Free State by the governor-general, who performed most of the monarch's duties based on the advice of elected Irish officials.

The Statute of Westminster, passed in 1931, granted expanded sovereignty to the dominions of the British Commonwealth, and permitted the Irish state to amend its constitution and legislate outside the terms of the Treaty. The Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936, enacted in response to the abdication of Edward VIII, removed the role of the monarch for all internal purposes, leaving him only a few formal duties in foreign relations as a "symbol of cooperation" with other Commonwealth nations. The Constitution of Ireland, which took effect in December 1937, established the position of president of Ireland, with the office first filled in June 1938, but the monarch retained his role in foreign affairs, leaving open the question of which of the two figures was the formal head of state. The Republic of Ireland Act 1948 ended the statutory position of the British monarch for external purposes and assigned those duties to the president, taking effect in April 1949, from which point Ireland was inarguably a republic.

The vice-president of the Executive Council (Irish: Leas-Uachtarán na hArd-Chomhairle) was the deputy prime minister of the 1922–1937 Irish Free State, and the second most senior member of the Executive Council (cabinet). Formally the vice-president was appointed by the Governor-General on the nomination of the president of the Executive Council, but by convention the Governor-General could not refuse to appoint a vice-president whom the president had selected.

The office of Vice President of the Executive Council was established with the establishment of the Free State in 1922. Under Article 53 of the Free State constitution the role of the vice president was to "act for all purposes in the place of the President", until the appointment of a successor in the event of his death, resignation or "permanent incapacity", or until his return in the event of his "temporary absence". However, in practice the vice president also held a second ministerial portfolio, whose duties he carried out when not called upon to become acting head of government. The president did not have the authority to advise the Governor-General to dismiss the vice president. Rather, as was the case with all other ministers, the entire Executive Council had to be dismissed and reformed en bloc if a president wanted to dismiss the vice president.

In the Irish Free State, an extern minister, formally a Minister who shall not be a Member of the Executive Council, was a minister who had charge of a department but was not a member of the Executive Council. Extern ministers were individually nominated by Dáil Éireann (the lower house), whereas of the Executive Council only the President was: he in turn nominated the other members. All ministers were formally appointed by the Governor-General. The Executive Council included the senior ministers, exercised cabinet collective responsibility, and had to be TDs (members of the Dáil); the extern ministers filled more junior technocratic roles, and need not be legislators, though in fact all were TDs. In practice, all ministers formed a united administration, and no extern ministers were appointed after 1927.