From 1922-1937 Dáil Éireann served as the lower house of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State. The Free State constitution described the role of the house as that of a "Chamber of Deputies". Until 1936 the Free State Oireachtas also included an upper house known as the Seanad. The Free State Dáil ceased to be with the creation of a new 'Dáil Éireann' under the terms of the 1937 Constitution of Ireland.
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Under the Free State constitution membership of Dáil Éireann was open to all citizens who had reached the age of twenty-one. However those who were legally disqualified or who were members of the Seanad were excluded. For most of the period of the Irish Free State the constitution also contained a controversial requirement that all members of the Oireachtas swear a oath of fidely to the King, known as the Oath of Allegiance. The oath was, however, abolished by a constitutional amendment in 1936.
As today, during the Irish Free State Dáil Éireann was elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage. However the franchise was restricted to those over twenty-one. The Free State constitution merely required that the Dáil be elected by "proportional representation" but in practice it was the Single Transferable Vote system that was used. While every Irish Government since 1937 has restricted Dáil constituencies to a maximum of five seats, during the Irish Free State there were several six, seven and eight seat constituencies. During the Free State Galway was a single nine seat constituency.
As well as geographical constituencies the Free State also included two university constituencies which each returned three TDs (MPs). The franchise for the university constituencies was open to all those who had been awarded degrees from either institution. However anyone voting in a university constituency was excluded from voting in their geographical district. The university constituencies were abolished in 1936 under the Electoral (University Constituencies) Act, 1936. However, in 1937 university constituencies would be revived for the newly created Senate.
Technically a bill had to be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas and to receive the Royal Assent in order to become law. However, in practice the Dáil was the dominant house of the legislature. Before its complete abolition the Free State Seanad merely had power to delay money bills for 21 days and any other bill for nine months. Furthermore, while during the early years of the Irish Free State there existed a possibility that the King might, through his Governor-General, veto an act of the Oireachtas, this never in fact came to pass.
After his appointment Governor-General Tim Healy was instructed by the British Government to withhold the Royal Assent from any bill that sought to abolish the Oath of Allegiance. However, after the passage of the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act, 1927 the British Government lost the right to formally advise the King in relation to the Free State and so the possibility of a royal veto became a remote possibility.
During the later days of the Irish Free State the Dáil, as the dominant component of the Oireachtas, had the effective authority to amend the constitution in any way it chose. Today this is a level of authority that no Dáil has had since 1941.
From 1919-1922 Dáil Éireann served as the title of a revolutionary, unicameral parliament established by Irish nationalists. The First Dáil and the Second Dáil thus existed outside of British law. The Third Dáil was elected under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty as a constituent assembly to approve the Free State constitution and pave the way for the creation of the new state. However, once the Constitution of the Irish Free State was in effect the Third Dáil served as the lower house of a new parliament, called the Oireachtas. Under the terms of the constitution, however, the Third Dáil merely carried out the functions of the Dáil during this period until a new chamber could be elected. The first Dáil of the Irish Free State was therefore officially the Fourth Dáil, which was elected in 1923.
On 29th December, 1937 the Constitution of Ireland came into force and the Irish Free State was succeeded by a state know today as the Republic of Ireland. The new constitution had been adopted by plebiscite on the 1st July of that year, and on the same day the Ninth Dáil was elected. The Ninth Dáil was therefore elected as the lower house of the Free State Oireachtas but in December its role changed to that of lower house of a new legislature.