The Kingdom of Ireland (Irish Ríoghacht Éireann) was a country in Western Europe. It was created by King Henry VIII of England by an act of the Irish Parliament in 1541. It had been a colony previously. It was subservient to England partially because of a law passed by the Irish Parliament during Henry VII's reign called Poynings's law which was sponsored by Sir Edward Poynings the Lord Deputy and gave the English Parliament power to veto Irish legislation. It was abolished in 1801 when it joined the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is now two states. These states are Republic of Ireland, an independent country, and Northern Ireland, a state of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.