[1][2] The Constitution was closely associated with Éamon de Valera, the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State at the time of its approval (and who assumed the position of Taoiseach on its adoption).

The largest political group in the anti-treaty faction, who opposed the treaty initially by force of arms, had boycotted the institutions of the new Irish Free State until 1926.

After 1932, some of the articles of the original Constitution which were required by the Anglo-Irish Treaty were dismantled by acts of the Oireachtas, as permitted in British law by the Statute of Westminster 1931.

These amendments removed references to the Oath of Allegiance, appeals to the United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the British Crown and the Governor General.

The sudden abdication of Edward VIII in December 1936 was quickly used to redefine the royal connection via the Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936.

The main opponents of the Treaty had been elected to power as Fianna Fáil under Éamon de Valera in 1932, and a commitment was made to replace the constitution of the Free State.

[7] So closely tied to the policies of Fianna Fáil was the proposed new constitution that the 1937 referendum has been described as a vote of confidence in the republican government.

De Valera wanted to put an Irish stamp on the institutions of government, and chose to do this in particular through the use of Irish-language nomenclature.

He also received significant input from John Charles McQuaid, the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, on religious, educational, family and social welfare issues.

A draft of the constitution was presented personally to the Vatican for review and comment on two occasions by the Department Head at External Relations, Joseph P. Walsh.

Prior to its tabling in Dáil Éireann and presentation to the Irish electorate in a plebiscite, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, said about the final amended draft, "I do not approve, neither do I disapprove; We shall maintain silence.

"[9][10] The quid pro quo for this indulgence of the Catholic Church's interests in Ireland was the degree of respectability which it conferred on De Valera's formerly denounced republican faction and its reputation as the 'semi-constitutional' political wing of the 'irregular' anti-treaty forces.

The Free State Oireachtas was originally bicameral, consisting of the Dáil and the Seanad or Senate, as well as the Governor-General, who gave royal assent to bills to enact them.

Opponents of the new constitution included a coalition of supporters of Fine Gael and the Labour Party,[15] and former unionists who were concerned about permanently losing the last vestiges of Britain's influence on the institutions of Irish government.

That statute made provision for a plebiscite on the draft constitution "throughout Saorstát Éireann" defined in Irish law as excluding Northern Ireland.

Consequential acts were passed between July and December 1937 to provide for the establishment of, and holding elections for, the new Seanad[22] and the Presidency,[23] as well as for other adaptations.

[24] The Presidential Establishment Act 1938 was passed after the Constitution had come into effect but before the first President, Douglas Hyde, took office.