First Dáil
The First Dáil (pronounced 'dawl') was the first independent Irish parliament, formed by Irish MPs elected in Ireland in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland general election of 1918. A majority of the MPs, who were members of Sinn Féin, refused to take their seats in Westminster but instead set up an illegal Irish parliament in Dublin.
Among its primary decisions were
The Parliament, called Dáil Éireann, assembled on January 21, 1919, in the Round Room of the Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin. It elected a speaker, called the Ceann Comhairle, a prime minister called the Príomh Aire and a ministry or cabinet called the Aireacht. Dáil Éireann was subsequently declared illegal by the British government.
The First Dáil met intermittently until it was replaced by a new Dáil, called the Second Dáil, formed by MPs elected to the House of Commons of Southern Ireland in 1921. All modern Dála (pronounced 'dawla', plural for Dáil) are counted as successors to that First Dáil of 1919-21. The first Dáil elected Cathal Brugha as President of Dáil Éireann in January 1919. He was replaced by Eamon de Valera in April 1919. De Valera also used a variation on the title, namely 'President of Dáil Éireann.'
Though more recent Irish politicians (notably current Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern have suggested that Irish independence only really began in 1922 with the foundation of the Irish Free State successive Dála [plural for Dáil] have been numbered from the 1st Dáil formed in 1919. The current Dáil, elected in 2002, is as a result, the Twenty-Ninth Dáil.
 First Dáil Michael Collins (second from left, front row), Cathal Brugha (third from left, front row) Arthur Griffith (fourth from left, front row) Eamon de Valera (centre, front row), Eoin MacNeill (third from right, front row) W.T. Cosgrave (second from right, front row) Kevin O'Higgins (first on right, third row)
The First Dáil's most prominent members included:
External Link
Modern Dáil Éireann website
Referenced By
Aireacht | Anglo-Irish War | Arthur Griffith | Bank of Ireland, College Green | Dail | Dail Eireann | Dail Éireann | Domhnall Ua Buachalla | Donal Buckley | Dáil | Dáil Constitution | Dáil Éireann | Easter Proclamation | Easter Rising | Easter Rising of 1916 | Easter Uprising | First Dáil | Governments of Ireland | History of the Republic of Ireland | Ireland | Irish (UK) general election, 1918 | Irish Houses of Parliament | Irish Parliament | Irish Parliament House | Irish War of Independence | Irish general election, 1918 | Island of Ireland | List of Prime Ministers of Ireland | Mansion House, Dublin | Message to the Free Nations of the World | Message to the Nations of the World | Michael Collins (Irish leader) | Michael Collins (Irish patriot) | Michael Collins (revolutionary) | President of Dáil Éireann | Priomh Aire | Priomh Áire | Proclamation of the Republic | Príomh Áire | The Mansion House, Dublin | The Old Parliament House | Áireacht
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