Subsistence state may be Ireland's free state (9)
I believe the answer is:
breadline
'subsistence state' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both groups as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I can't see?
'ireland's free state' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
an anagram of 'ireland' is 'readlin' which is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'be' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
'may be' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for breadline that I've seen before include "People in need" , "who may expect to get damper?" , "Subsistence level - queue for food" , "subsistence-level employment" , "in poor condition" .)