The Origins of the Irish Constitution, 1928?1941 by Gerard Hogan

• Date: 01 January 2013

THE ORIGIN OF THE IRISH CONSTITUTION,

1928–1941

GERARD HOGAN1

Royal Irish Academy, August 2012

ISBN 978-1-904890-75-1

David Gwynn Morgan

This is a wonderful book. Since it is impossible in the scope of a review to

do justice to all the rich harvest it gathers, the matters picked out here ref‌lect

this reviewer’s own preoccupations. A different reviewer could have found

equally substantial sustenance in such f‌ields as Article 29, external relations

(set in the contemporary context of the Kellogg Briand Pact of 1928–29, on

the peaceful settlement of international disputes) coupled with the position

of the King and the abolition of the off‌ice of Attorney General. The Abdication

crisis broke in December 1936, just a few months after the provision of the

new Constitution on the position of the King had been drafted. Again another

reviewer would have been more interested in the religious and family provisions

(including Mr Justice Hogan’s by now generally accepted view that, by the

standards of the era in which these were drafted, they were relatively secular

and liberal). Another might have been interested in the origins of the Irish

language provision; Article 8. Yet despite these riches, the author remarks at

p.271:

decisions appear to have been made during [September 1936–March

1937] that the Constitution would def‌ine the extent of the national

territory; provide for a Second House; provide for a ban on divorce;

that it could only be amended by referendum; to drop the idea of a

special Constitutional Court and to provide for a general obligation to

protect fundamental rights via Article 40.3. But no documentation has

been located which explains the rationale for any of these decisions or

when or how or by whom they were taken.

This passage perhaps suggests, encouragingly, that there may be other discoveries

for future researchers to make.

Most of the chapters centre around the preparation and drafting of the

Constitution, for example: the Constitution Committee of 1934; submissions

from religious bodies; observations on the draft Constitution (March, 1937);

and revising the draft. However, some chapters focus on a signif‌icant episode,

1 Gerard Hogan, The Origins of the Irish Constitution, 1928–1941 (RIA, 2012)

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