Aliens Act, 1935

What is this act about?

This law, the Aliens Act, 1935, provides for the control of individuals who are not citizens of Saorstát Eireann and addresses other related matters concerning them.

Who it applies to: Any person who is not a citizen of Saorstát Eireann (defined as an "alien"); Masters of ships, pilots of aircraft, railway companies, and drivers of road vehicles entering or leaving Saorstát Eireann.

At a glance

Country: Ireland
Area of law: Environment and agriculture
Articles: 15
Source: irishstatutebook.ie
Text retrieved: 2026-06-17
Explanation updated: 2026-07-07

What does this act regulate?

The rights of aliens regarding property ownership and inheritance.
The subjection of aliens to the laws of Saorstát Eireann.
The control of aliens, including their entry, exit, residence, and activities within Saorstát Eireann.
Restrictions and licensing for aliens changing their names.

Who does this act apply to?

Any person who is not a citizen of Saorstát Eireann (defined as an "alien").
Masters of ships, pilots of aircraft, railway companies, and drivers of road vehicles entering or leaving Saorstát Eireann.
Hotelkeepers, innkeepers, and other persons providing lodging for reward.

What are the key points?

Aliens can own and dispose of property in Saorstát Eireann in the same way as citizens, but this does not qualify them for certain offices, franchises, or ownership of Saorstát Eireann registered ships or aircraft.
The Minister for Justice can issue "aliens orders" to prohibit or restrict aliens from landing, leaving, or residing in certain areas, and can make provisions for their deportation.
Aliens are subject to the law of Saorstát Eireann in the same manner as citizens.
An alien ordinarily resident for at least five years and employed or practicing a profession in Saorstát Eireann cannot be deported unless they have served a prison term, a court has recommended deportation, or they receive three months' notice.

Environment and agriculture

Euro Changeover (Amounts) Act, 2001

Minister For the Environment and Local Government (Performance of Certain Functions) Act, 2002

Continental Shelf Act, 1968

Intoxicating Liquor Act, 1953

Constitution (Amendment No. 17) Act, 1931

Constitution (Verification of Petition) Act, 1944

Industrial Grants Act, 1959

Destructive Insects and Pests (Consolidation) Act, 1958

Environment and agriculture

Legal text

Contents (15)

Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6
Section 7
Section 8
Section 9
Section 10
Section 11
Section 12
Section 13
Section 14
Section 15

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ALIENS ACT, 1935.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Section

Section 1

Definitions generally.

Section 2

Definition of “alien.”

Section 3

Rights of aliens in relation to property.

Section 4

Subjection of aliens to the law of Saorstát Eireann.

Section 5

Control of aliens.

Section 6

Contravention of aliens order.

Section 7

Search warrants.

Section 8

Restrictions on change of name by aliens.

Section 9

Licences for change of name by aliens.

Section 10

Power to exempt citizens of certain countries from application of provisions of Act, etc.

Section 11

Regulations.

Section 12

Prosecution of offences.

Section 13

Expenses.

Section 14

Repeals.

Section 15

Short title.

SCHEDULE.

Enactments Repealed.

Number 14 of 1935.

ALIENS ACT, 1935.

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE CONTROL OF ALIENS AND FOR OTHER MATTERS RELATING TO ALIENS. [10th April, 1935.] BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:— Definitions generally.

1.—In this Act— the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Justice; the word “prescribed” means prescribed by regulations made by the Minister under this Act.

Definition of “alien”.

2.—In this Act the word “alien” means a person who is not a citizen of Saorstát Eireann.

Rights of aliens in relation to property.

3.—(1) Real and personal property of every description in Saorstát Eireann or subject to the law of Saorstát Eireann may be taken, acquired, held, and disposed of by an alien in the like manner and to the like extent as such property may be taken, acquired, held, or disposed of by a citizen of Saorstát Eireann.

(2)A title to real or personal property of any description in Saorstát Eireann or subject to the law of Saorstát Eireann may be derived through, from, or in succession to an alien in the like manner and to the like extent in all respects as such property may be derived through, from, or in succession to a citizen of Saorstát Eireann.

(3)Nothing in this section shall operate— (a) to qualify an alien for any office or for any municipal, parliamentary, or other franchise for which he would not be qualified if this section had not been enacted, or (b) to qualify an alien to be the owner of a ship or of any share in a ship registered in Saorstát Eireann, or (c) to qualify an alien to be the owner of any aircraft registered in Saorstát Eireann, or (d) to qualify any alien for any right or privilege conferred by an Act of the Oireachtas (whether passed before or after this Act) on any class or group of persons, whether defined as citizens or as nationals of Saorstát Eireann or in any other manner whatsoever, of which such alien is not a member at the relevant time.

Subjection of aliens to the law of Saorstát Eireann.

4.—An alien shall be amenable to and triable under the law of Saorstát Eireann in the like manner and to the like extent in all respects as a citizen of Saorstát Eireann.

Control of aliens.

5.—(1) The Minister may, if and whenever he thinks proper, do by order (in this Act referred to as an aliens order) all or any of the following things in respect either of all aliens or of aliens of a particular nationality or otherwise of a particular class, or of particular aliens, that is to say:— (a) prohibit the aliens to whom the order relates from landing in or entering into Saorstát Eireann; (b) impose on such aliens restrictions and conditions in respect of landing in or entering into Saorstát Eireann, including limiting such landing or entering to particular places or prohibiting such landing or entering at particular places; (c) prohibit such aliens from leaving Saorstát Eireann and for that purpose prohibit such aliens from embarking on ships or aircraft in Saorstát Eireann; (d) impose on such aliens restrictions and conditions in respect of leaving Saorstát Eireann including limiting such leaving to particular places or particular means of travelling or prohibiting such leaving from particular places or by particular means of travelling; (e) make provision for the exclusion or the deportation and exclusion of such aliens from Saorstát Eireann and provide for and authorise the making by the Minister of orders for that purpose; (f) require such aliens to reside or remain in particular districts or places in Saorstát Eireann; (g) prohibit such aliens from residing or remaining in particular districts or places in Saorstát Eireann; (h) require such aliens to comply, while in Saorstát Eireann, with particular provisions as to registration, change of abode, travelling, employment, occupation, and other like matters.

(2)An aliens order may contain provisions for all or any of the following purposes, that is to say:— (a) imposing such obligations and restrictions on the masters of ships entering or leaving Saorstát Eireann, the pilots or other persons in charge of aircraft entering or leaving Saorstát Eireann, railway companies whose railway lines cross the land frontier of Saorstát Eireann, and the drivers or other persons in charge of road vehicles entering or leaving Saorstát Eireann as may, in the opinion of the Minister, be necessary for giving full effect to or securing compliance with such order; (b) conferring on the Minister and on officers of the Minister, officers of customs and excise and the military and police forces of the State all such powers (including powers of arrest and detention) as are, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary for giving full effect to or enforcing compliance with such order; (c) determining the nationality to be ascribed to aliens whose nationality is unknown or uncertain; (d) in the case of an aliens order which provides for the exclusion or the deportation and exclusion of aliens, continuing the operation of such order and every order made thereunder notwithstanding any change in the nationality of the aliens or the alien to which such order or the order made thereunder relates; (e) requiring hotelkeepers and innkeepers and other persons providing for reward on premises owned or occupied by them lodging or sleeping accommodation to keep registers of persons lodging or sleeping in such hotel, inn, or premises and to permit officers of the Minister and members of the police forces of the State to inspect and take copies of or extracts from such registers.

(3)If in any proceedings, whether civil or criminal, any question arises under or in relation to an aliens order or an order made under an aliens order whether any person is or is not an alien, or is or is not an alien of a particular nationality or otherwise of a particular class, or is or is not a particular alien specified in such order, the onus of proving (as the case may require) that such person is not an alien, or is not an alien of a particular nationality or of a particular class, or is not such particular alien, shall lie on such person.

(4)An aliens order shall not apply to any of the following persons, that is to say:— (a) the head of any diplomatic mission duly accredited to Saorstát Eireann, the members of the household of such head, and every member of the diplomatic staff of such mission whose appointment as such has been officially notified to the Minister for External Affairs or is otherwise entitled to diplomatic immunities and the spouse and child of such member; (b) the consul-general and any consul or vice-consul in Saorstát Eireann of any other country and the spouse and child of such consul-general, consul or vice-consul; (c) any person to whom neither of the preceding paragraphs of this sub-section applies who is declared by an order made by the Minister for External Affairs to be an official representative in Saorstát Eireann of the Government of another country.

(5)An alien who is ordinarily resident in Saorstát Eireann and has been so resident for a period (whether partly before and partly after the passing of this Act or wholly after such passing) of not less than five years and is for the time being employed in Saorstát Eireann or engaged in business or the practice of a profession in Saorstát Eireann shall not be deported from Saorstát Eireann under an aliens order or an order made under an aliens order unless— (a) such alien has served or is serving a term of penal servitude or of imprisonment inflicted on him by a Court in Saorstát Eireann, or (b) the deportation of such alien has been recommended by a Court in Saorstát Eireann before which such alien was indicted for or charged with any crime or offence, or (c) three months' notice in writing of such deportation has been given by the Minister to such alien.

(6)Every order made under the Aliens Restriction Acts, 1914 and 1919, and in force at the date of the passing of this Act may be amended or revoked by an aliens order, and until so revoked, and subject to any such amendment, shall continue in force and be deemed to have been made under this Act, and shall be an aliens order within the meaning of this Act.

(7)The Minister may, at any time, by order revoke or amend an aliens order previously made.

(8)Every aliens order and every order revoking or amending an aliens order shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and, if a resolution is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which such House has sat after such order is laid before it annulling such order, such order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order.

(9)Whenever an order made under an aliens order is made in respect of aliens of a particular class, such order shall be published in the Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after it is made.

Contravention of aliens order.

6.—(1) Every person who does any act, whether of commission or omission, which is a contravention of any provision of an aliens order made or deemed to have been made under this Act or of an order made under an aliens order shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or, at the discretion of the Court, to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months, and the Court, before which such person is so convicted, may, either in addition to or in lieu of any such fine or imprisonment, order such person to enter into recognizances, either with or without sureties, binding such person to comply with the provisions or any of the provisions of such order.

(2)Every person who fails to comply with an order of the Court, made under the foregoing sub-section of this section, requiring him to enter into recognizances, shall be guilty of an offence under this sub-section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds or at the discretion of the Court to imprisonment for any term not exceeding six months.

Search warrants.

7.—(1) Whenever a Justice of the District Court is satisfied, on the information on oath of an officer of the Gárda Síochána not below the rank of superintendent, that it is reasonably necessary, for the purposes of the enforcement of an aliens order or an order made under an aliens order, that any particular land, building, premises, or other place should be searched by members of the Gárda Síochána, such Justice may issue to such officer such search warrant as is mentioned in this section.

(2)A search warrant issued by a Justice of the District Court under this section shall be expressed and shall operate to authorise a named member of the Gárda Síochána not below the rank of inspector accompanied by such other members of the Gárda Síochána as he shall think proper, at any time within forty-eight hours after the issue of such search warrant, and if needs be by force, to enter and search the land, building, premises, or place specified in such search warrant and to search and interrogate and to arrest all or any persons or person found in such place.

Restrictions on change of name by aliens.

8.—(1) Save if and so far as may be authorised by a licence issued under this Act, it shall not be lawful for any alien of or over the age of twenty-one years to assume or use or purport to assume or use or to continue the assumption or use after the appointed day of any name other than the name by which he was ordinarily and usually known on whichever of the following days is the later, that is to say, the 6th day of December, 1922, or the day before the date on which he attained the age of twenty-one years.

(2)Save if and so far as may be authorised by a licence issued under this Act, it shall not be lawful for an alien to carry on or continue to carry on after the appointed day either alone or in partnership with another person or other persons any trade or business under any name or style other than the name or style under which such trade or business was or is carried on— (a) where such alien began or begins to carry on, either alone or in partnership with another person or persons, such trade or business before the appointed day (whether before or after the passing of this Act), on whichever of the following days was or is the later, that is to say, the 6th day of December, 1922, or the day on which he began or begins so to carry on such trade or business, or (b) where such alien begins so to carry on such trade or business on or after the appointed day, the day on which he so begins to carry on such trade or business.

(3)In the case of a trade or business carried on by two or more persons in partnership under a style or name which is substantially a combination of the respective names of such persons, no change in such style or name which is made in consequence of and substantially corresponds to a change in the membership of such partnership shall be a change of such style or name for the purposes of the next preceding sub-section of this section.

(4)In the case of a woman, neither the assumption on her marriage of the surname of her husband nor the use of that surname after her marriage shall be a contravention of this section.

(5)Every person who acts in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds and a further fine not exceeding one pound for every day on which the offence is continued.

(6)The Minister may by order appoint a day, not earlier than three months after the date of such order, to be the appointed day for the purpose of this section and the next following section, and in this section and the said next following section the expression “the appointed day” means the day so appointed:

Licences for change of name by aliens.

9.—(1) An alien who desires— (a) to continue to use after the appointed day a name which he is prohibited by the next preceding section of this Act from so continuing to use, or (b) to assume or use after the appointed day a name which he is prohibited by the next preceding section of this Act from so assuming or using, or (c) to carry on or continue to carry on, after the appointed day, a trade or business (either alone or in partnership with another person or other persons) under a style or name under which he is prohibited by the next preceding section of this Act from so continuing to carry on such business, may apply in the prescribed form and manner to the Minister, either before or after the appointed day, for a licence, as the case may be, to continue to use such name, or to assume and use such name, or to carry on or continue to carry on such trade or business under such style or name.

(2)The Minister may, at his absolute discretion, either issue or refuse to issue a licence applied for under this section, and, if he issues any such licence, may attach thereto such conditions as he shall think proper and shall specify therein.

(3)A licence issued under this section shall be expressed and shall operate to authorise the licensee named therein either, as the ease may require, to continue to use a specified name, or to assume and use a specified name, or to continue to carry on a specified trade or business under a specified style or name or to carry on a specified trade or business under a specified style, as on and from the date of such licence or any later date specified therein and, in any case, subject to such conditions as shall be specified in such licence.

(4)There shall be charged and paid on the issue of every licence under this section such fee as the Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, prescribe.

(5)All fees payable in respect of licences issued under this section shall be collected and taken in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall, from time to time, direct and shall be paid into or disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the said Minister.

(6)The Public Offices Fees Act, 1879, shall not apply in respect of any fees payable under this section.

(7)The Minister may, at any time at his absolute discretion, revoke a licence issued by him under this section.

(8)As soon as may be after the issue or the revocation of a licence issued under this section, the Minister shall publish in the Iris Oifigiúil notice of the fact of the issue or the revocation (as the case may be) of such licence together with such particulars of such licence as the Minister shall think proper for the purpose, in the case of the issue of a licence, of indicating the person or the trade or business in respect of which such licence is issued and the general purport of such licence or, in the case of the revocation of a licence, of identifying the licence which is revoked.

Power to exempt citizens of certain countries from application of provisions of Act, etc.

10.—(1) The Executive Council may by order exempt from the application of any provision or provisions of this Act, or of any aliens order, the citizens, subjects or nationals of any country in respect of which the Executive Council are satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances and in particular the laws of such country in relation to immigrants, it is proper that the exemption mentioned in such order should be granted.

(2)Every order made by the Executive Council under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and, if a resolution is passed by either House of the Oireachtas within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which such House has sat after the order is laid before it annulling such order, such order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under such order.

(3)The Executive Council may, at any time, by order, revoke any order previously made by them under this section.

Regulations.

11.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations in relation to any matter or thing referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed, but no such regulation shall be made in relation to the amount of a fee without the consent of the Minister for Finance.

(2)Every regulation made by the Minister under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made, and if a resolution annulling such regulation is passed by either such House within the next subsequent twenty-one days on which such House has sat after such regulation is so laid before it, such regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Prosecution of offences.

12.—Every offence under any section or sub-section of this Act may be prosecuted by or at the suit of the Minister as prosecutor.

Expenses.

13.—All expenses incurred by the Minister in carrying this Act into execution shall, to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

Repeals.

14.—The enactments mentioned in the Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of the said Schedule.

Short title.

15.—This Act may be cited as the Aliens Act, 1935.

SCHEDULE.

Enactments Repealed.

Session and Chapter Short Title Extent of Repeal 4 & 5 Geo. V, c. 12.

Aliens Restriction Act, 1914.

The whole Act.

9 & 10 Geo. V, c. 92.

Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act, 1919.

The whole Act so far as unrepealed.

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