On September 27, 1922, during the Irish Civil War, Dáil Éireann passed the Public Safety Act by a vote of 41 to 18. This emergency legislation granted the National Army powers to punish individuals taking up arms against the state, including the authority to impose the death penalty. The act was a response to the ongoing guerrilla tactics employed by anti-Treaty forces following a pro-Treaty offensive. Although initially a Dáil resolution due to legal complexities, it was retrospectively legalized in August 1923. The act led to 81 executions and over 12,000 imprisonments by the time it was a year old, significantly impacting the conflict.
