Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic)
Dáil Éireann (English: Assembly of Ireland), also called the Revolutionary Dáil, was the revolutionary, unicameral parliament of the Irish Republic from 1919 to 1922. The Dáil was first formed on 21 January 1919 in Dublin by 69 Sinn Féin MPs elected in the 1918 United Kingdom general election, who had won 73 seats of the 105 seats in Ireland, with four party candidates (Arthur Griffith, Éamon de Valera, Eoin MacNeill and Liam Mellows) elected for two constituencies. Their manifesto refused to recognise the British parliament at Westminster and instead established an independent legislature in Dublin. The convention of the First Dáil coincided with the beginning of the War of Independence.
Dáil Éireann Assembly of Ireland | |
---|---|
Irish Republic | |
Type | |
Type | Unicameral |
History | |
Founded | 21 January 1919 |
Disbanded | 6 December 1922 |
Preceded by | House of Commons of the United Kingdom |
Succeeded by | Oireachtas of the Irish Free State |
Leadership | |
Cathal Brugha (Jan 1919) George Noble Plunkett (Jan 1919) Seán T. O'Kelly (Jan 1919 – Aug 1921) Eoin MacNeill (Aug 1921 – Sep 1922) Michael Hayes (Sep–Dec 1922), Sinn Féin | |
President of Dáil Éireann | Cathal Brugha (Jan–Apr 1919) Éamon de Valera (Apr 1919 – Jan 1922) Arthur Griffith (Jan–Aug 1922) W. T. Cosgrave (Aug–Dec 1922) |
Seats | 73 (1919–21) 128 (1921–22) |
Elections | |
First-past-the-post voting | |
First general election | 1918 |
Last general election | 1921 |
Meeting place | |
The Round Room, Mansion House, Dublin | |
Constitution | |
Dáil Constitution |
The First Dáil was replaced by the Second Dáil in 1921. Both of these Dála existed under the proclaimed Irish Republic; it was the Second Dáil which narrowly ratified the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The status of the Third Dáil of 1922–1923 was different as it was also recognised by the British. It was elected under the terms of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty as a provisional parliament to pave the way for the creation of an independent Irish state. With the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, a new parliament called the Oireachtas was established, of which Dáil Éireann became the lower house.