The governor-general of the Irish Free State (Irish: Seanascal Shaorstát Éireann) was the official representative of the sovereign of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1936. By convention, the office was largely ceremonial. Nonetheless, it was controversial, as many Irish Nationalists regarded the existence of the office as offensive to republican principles and a symbol of continued British involvement in Irish affairs, despite the Governor-General having no connection to the British Government after 1931. For this reason, the office's role was diminished over time by the Irish Government.

The 1931 enactment in London of the Statute of Westminster gave the Irish Free State full legislative independence. However, the Irish considered that full legislative independence had been achieved in 1922. The role of governor-general in the Irish Free State was removed from the Constitution on 11 December 1936, at the time of Edward VIII's abdication as king of the United Kingdom and all the Dominions.

The governor-general was appointed by the King on the advice of his Irish ministers. Initially, the British government had some involvement in the appointment process. However, this ended following the 1926 Imperial Conference; thenceforth, only the government of the Irish Free State was formally involved. A further effect of the 1926 conference (in particular, of the Balfour Declaration) was that the monarch also ceased to receive formal advice from the British government in relation to his role in the Irish Free State; such advice thenceforth came officially only from the Executive Council of the Irish Free State (the Cabinet).

The Free State constitution did not limit the governor-general to a fixed term of office. But, in 1927, the Irish government decided that no governor-general would serve a term longer than five years.^{[citation needed]}

Under the constitution of the Irish Free State, the governor-general was bound to act in accordance with the "law, practice and constitutional usage". His formal duties included the following:

Until 1928, the governor-general served an additional role as the British government's agent in the Free State. This meant that all official correspondence between the British and Irish governments went through the governor-general and that he had access to British government papers. It also meant that he could receive secret instructions from the British government. For example, Tim Healy was formally advised by the British government to veto any attempt to abolish the controversial Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, sworn by Irish parliamentarians. ^{[citation needed]}

However, at the same imperial conference from which the change in the mode of the governor-general's appointment arose, it was agreed that thenceforth the governors-general of dominions such as the Free State would lose the second half of their dual role and no longer be representatives of the British government, with this role being carried out instead by high commissioners. Furthermore, because, under the changes agreed, the British government lost the right to advise the king in relation to the Irish Free State, it could no longer issue binding instructions to the Irish governor-general.

The first two governors-general lived at the Viceregal Lodge (now known as Áras an Uachtaráin, the official residence of the president of Ireland). The last governor-general resided in a specially leased private residence in Booterstown, County Dublin. The governor-general was officially referred to as His Excellency. However, unlike all the other governors-general within the British Empire in the 1920s and 1930s, none of the governors-general of the Irish Free State were ever sworn in as members of the Imperial Privy Council. Uniquely among all the governors-general in the British Empire at that time, none of the governors-general of the Irish Free State ever publicly wore the official ceremonial uniform for someone of their rank.