Great Seal of the Irish Free State

The Great Seal of the Irish Free State (Irish: Séala Mor do Shaorstát Éireann) is the seal which was used to seal official documents of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) by the Governor-General. The Great Seal is currently on public display at National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks, Dublin.

Both sides of the Great Seal feature an image of the harp surrounded by the words "SAORSTÁT ÉIREANN" in Gaelic script. One side is engraved in silver, the other in copper.

After the 1937 Constitution of Ireland was enacted the Seal of the President of Ireland was struck as a replacement to the Great Seal. It is substantially the same as the former Seal but features the word "ÉIRE" instead of "SAORSTÁT ÉIREANN".

As early as August 1922 civil servants in the Provisional Government sought Ministerial approval to adopt a seal. It was thought a seal was necessary for legal reasons. An approach was made by Hugh Kennedy, the Attorney General to Thomas Sadleir, Registrar of the Office of Arms at Dublin Castle. In his reply Sadlier noted that he was “satisfied that the harp was very early in the 12th century an Irish badge...” In December 1922, George Sigerson, the President of the National Literary Society, recommended to Tim Healy, the Governor-General of the Irish Free State that the harp should be adopted as the symbol of the Free State. His view was that:

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