Plotting partition: The other Border options that might have changed Irish history Three plans were considered for the Irish Border before the six counties model was adopted
Fri, May 21, 2021, 16:08 Updated: about 5 hours ago Conor Mulvagh
A former customs guard hut is illuminated on the Irish Border in Ravensdale, Ireland. Photograph: Charles McQuillan/Getty
The Irish Border is the defining feature of Ireland’s modern political geography. Established in law in the 1920 Government of Ireland Act, it was intended separate two parts of the United Kingdom that were to undergo simultaneous devolution. When the mechanisms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty brought the Irish Free State into being in December 1922, that boundary line became an international border. However, the roots of partition go back even further to before the first World War.