The role of governor-general in the Irish Free State was removed from the Constitution on 11 December 1936,[2] at the time of Edward VIII's abdication as king of the United Kingdom and all the Dominions.

For example, Tim Healy was formally advised by the British government to veto any attempt to abolish the controversial Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, sworn by Irish parliamentarians.

While Irish political leaders favoured the creation of a republic, 'the Treaty' required, instead, that the new state would be a Dominion within the British Empire under a form of constitutional monarchy.

The new office was not named in the treaty, but the committee charged with drawing up the Free State constitution, under General Michael Collins, decided, after considering a number of names, including "Commissioner of the British Commonwealth"[4] and "President of Ireland",[5] that the representative would bear the title of "Governor-General", the same as that used by the Crown's representative in other Dominions, i.e. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

"[8]The Crown's representative was expressly bound by the same constitutional conventions as the governor general of Canada, which would limit him to a largely ceremonial role.

It was hoped that, if he was given the same title as that used in other dominions, then, if the British government attempted to violate convention by using the office of governor-general to interfere in the Free State's affairs, these other nations would see their own autonomy threatened and might object.

When it came to choosing the first governor-general, there was speculation about a number of possible candidates, including the famed Irish painter Sir John Lavery and Edward, Prince of Wales.

After the 1932 general election, the Cosgrave government left office and was succeeded by the anti-treaty Fianna Fáil party of Éamon de Valera, who now became President of the Executive Council.

King George V, however, acting as peacemaker, persuaded de Valera to withdraw the request on the basis that McNeill was due to finish his term of office within a few weeks.

On McNeill's retirement, de Valera advised the king to appoint the aged Domhnall Ua Buachalla, a former Fianna Fáil TD, to the post.

Also it might be of interest—it is of no interest now, except to constitutional lawyers—to consider how it was that the representative of the King who had abdicated the previous day was able to give the assent of that King to a constitutional amendment.However, de Valera was later advised by the attorney general and senior advisors that the amendment was not sufficient to abolish the office entirely, which still continued by virtue of Letters Patent, Orders in Council, and statute law.

Though officially insisting that the office had been abolished (de Valera instructed Ua Buachalla to act as though he had left office and to leave his official residence), de Valera introduced a second law, the Executive Powers (Consequential Provisions) Act 1937, to retrospectively eliminate the post from Irish law.