Long reads

Dáil Day One

This short animated film tells the story of the circumstances that drove the members of the first Dáil to set up an independent parliament.

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Military-political relations

The political and military dimensions of the struggle for Irish independence had distinct points of origin. Prior to 21 January 1919 they had developed along different paths, sometimes converging, at others diverging.

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Eamon de Valera in America

In its conception Eamon de Valera’s mission to America in 1919-20 dovetailed perfectly with the two principal goals of the separatist movement.

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Eamon de Valera's St. Patrick’s Day message

"Sons and daughters of the Gael, wherever you be today, in the name of the motherland, greetings."

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The underground Dáil

What transpired in the Mansion House on 21 January 1919 was the very definition of sedition. It might seem surprising that the British authorities in Ireland allowed the inaugural meeting of Dáil Éireann to happen at all.

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National Archives - Conservation of papers from the early Dáil Éireann

As part of the digitisation project, thousands of papers have been cleaned, flattened and repaired.

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Press coverage of the First Dáil

The inaugural sitting of Dáil Éireann on 21 January 1919 marked a moment when scores of newspapers across a disunited kingdom competed to capture what often is called “the first draft of history.”

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Eyewitness account - Raid on Dáil Éireann Headquarters

"On the 11th November, 1919, as I was leaving 76, Harcourt Street, to go to the Sinn Féin Bank, I observed that there was a raid on the Sinn Féin Headquarters at No. 6."

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Local government elections

Local government represented one of the undoubted success stories of the First Dáil, notwithstanding many problems and with certain minor reservations.

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Ireland and the Versailles Peace Conference

The attempt by Ireland to gain recognition of its independence by way of an appeal to the Versailles Peace Conference is one of the many neglected aspects of the revolutionary decade of 1912-23.

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Propaganda and publicity

Of all the endeavours by the First Dáil, perhaps none was more important or successful than the work to promote the republican cause through the national and international media.

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The inaugural public meeting of Dáil Éireann

The inaugural public meeting of Dáil Éireann, in Dublin’s Mansion House on 21 January 1919, was a solemn, dignified, self-consciously historic occasion.

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Recognition of the Republic of Ireland

"No, the Irish do not hate England. The Irish desire peace with England and with the rest of the world. It is not the Irish who are disturbing the world peace."

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National Archives - an invaluable insight into the government of the First Dáil

The administrative and procedural records of the First and Second Dáileanna help tell the story of the early Dáil and its Ministries.

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Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence was one of the three texts that were at the heart of the proceedings of the first public sitting of Dáil Éireann.

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Democratic Programme

The Democratic Programme was intended to be, and remains, the definitive statement of the aims of the revolutionary movement in the field of social policy.

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Before the Dáil, Ireland 1800-1919

When the Parliament of Ireland was abolished, the lack of a parliament in Ireland became the focus of Irish politics for more than a century.

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Dáil Éireann – a judgment

The scale of the task being undertaken and the obstacles in the Dáil’s path were immense. The failure to achieve their ultimate goals should not blind one to the intellectual feat inherent in setting those goals in the first place.

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Financing the First Dáil

If Dáil Éireann was to put flesh on the bones of its ambitious plan to achieve independence in the face of hostility from the British government then it was clear that it would have to raise, and spend, a lot of money.

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The First Dáil: Looking back from 1921

At the opening session of the Second Dáil on 16 August 1921, the President of Dáil Éireann, Eamon de Valera, looked back on the work of the First Dáil. He gave his account of the establishment of the Dáil, the disappointment of the Paris Peace Conference and the rationale for his negotiations with the British Government following the July truce.

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Eamon de Valera's Memorial address for Terence MacSwiney

"England has killed another son for Ireland to mourn. She has robbed another woman of the joy of her life, and made another orphan sad for the father she must never know."

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The 1918 general election

By 1918, a general election in Britain and Ireland was long overdue. The previous one had been held in 1910, but with the outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 the Government’s term had been extended.

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The Irish Language in the Oireachtas

The numerous foreign journalists present at the sitting of the First Dáil were somewhat baffled by the fact that the proceedings were carried out through Irish.

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Dáil courts

Nationalists of all stripes had long cherished the idea of establishing a “native” system of justice.

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Message to the Free Nations of the World

The plan to seek international recognition of an independent Irish Republic was the cornerstone of the strategy pursued by the First Dáil.

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Ministry of Local Government

One of the first tasks facing the Ministry of Local Government after its establishment was to win over the loyalty of the various local councils to the cause of the Republic.

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