The Irish Free State came into existence in 1922 as a self-governing state with a substantial Catholic majority. This article examines the special constitutional provisions adopted in 1922 that were aimed at religious minorities in the new state. The Protestant community comprised the largest religious minority in 1922 and was particularly vulnerable as many of its members had opposed the foundation of the Irish Free State. Nevertheless, this article recognizes the diversity behind the term ‘Protestant’ and also provides some attention to the position of the Quaker community, often perceived in Ireland as neither Catholic or Protestant, as well as that of the small Irish Jewish community. This article examines the origins and operation of the special provisions of the 1922 constitution of the Irish Free State aimed at protecting the rights of religious minorities and giving them a significant voice within the Irish legislature. It also analyses how and why most of these constitutional safeguards were removed from the text of the 1922 constitution. Most of these provisions were not replicated in the 1937 constitution of Ireland that remains in force to this day. The conclusion argues that one of the weaknesses of the constitutional provisions aimed at religious minorities was that they did not openly include this objective in their wording. This facilitated the removal of almost all of these provisions in the 1930s while ignoring or openly denying that they were aimed at religious minorities despite ample historical evidence to the contrary.

中文翻译：

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1922-1937 年爱尔兰自由州宪法下的宗教少数群体

爱尔兰自由邦成立于 1922 年，是一个以天主教徒占多数的自治州。本文考察了 1922 年通过的针对新州宗教少数群体的特殊宪法规定。新教社区是 1922 年最大的宗教少数群体，并且由于其许多成员反对建立爱尔兰自由邦而特别脆弱。尽管如此，本文承认“新教徒”一词背后的多样性，并且还对贵格会社区的立场给予了一些关注，该社区在爱尔兰通常被视为既不是天主教徒也不是新教徒，以及爱尔兰小犹太社区的立场。本文探讨了 1922 年爱尔兰自由州宪法中旨在保护宗教少数群体的权利并赋予他们在爱尔兰立法机构中重要发言权的特殊条款的起源和运作。它还分析了这些宪法保障中的大部分是如何以及为什么从 1922 年宪法文本中删除的。1937 年的爱尔兰宪法并未复制这些条款中的大部分，该宪法至今仍然有效。结论认为，针对宗教少数群体的宪法规定的弱点之一是它们没有在措辞中公开包含这一目标。