The evolution of the Irish Free State after 1923 offered support to each of the conflicting British images of Ireland. On the one hand, the new state experienced eight years of remarkable political stability. The pro-Treaty party, Cumann na nGaedheal, remained in government throughout this period, under the leadership of William T. Cosgrave. It was cautious in its nation building, placing pragmatism before idealism, because its priority was to restore economic, financial and social order after a decade of revolutionary upheaval. Irish ministers avoided radical economic reform, incorporated existing institutions into the new state and accepted assistance from the British imperial authorities. Kevin O'Higgins famously remarked that ‘we were probably the most conservative revolutionaries that ever put across a successful revolution’. Moreover, due to the bitterness engendered by the Civil War, they were implacably opposed to the republican movement and committed to working within the framework of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Developments appeared to support the British liberal imperialist expectation that the Free State would settle down to a peaceful existence as a loyal, co-operative Dominion within the empire.

Yet there were dissenting voices within the Free State. Although reeling from defeat in the Civil War, the republican movement maintained a latent strength. Its underground army had not gone away. The new IRA Chief of Staff, Frank Aiken, made this plain in his instructions to officers on 28 May 1923, five days after the cessation of hostilities: