Members of the 1st Dáil

1st Dáil Éireann
1st Dáil Éireann
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Overview
Legislative body	Dáil Éireann
Jurisdiction	Irish Republic
Meeting place	Mansion House; UCD (Earlsfort Terrace)
Term	21 January 1919 – 10 May 1921
Election	1918 general election
Government	1st Dáil Ministry until 22 January 1919; 2nd Dáil Ministry1919–22
Members	105
Ceann Comhairle	Seán T. O'Kelly; — Count Plunkett; 22 January 1919; — Cathal Brugha; until 22 January 1919
President of Dáil Éireann	Éamon de Valera; — Cathal Brugha; until 1 April 1919

This is a list of the 105 MPs who were elected for Irish seats at the 1918 United Kingdom general election. Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party, in their first general election. They adopted a policy of abstention from the House of British House of Commons in Westminster. Instead they took their election as a mandate for independence and established a revolutionary parliament known as Dáil Éireann, with its members known as Teachtaí Dála or TDs. It met for the first time on 21 January 1919 in Mansion House in Dublin. The majority of Sinn Féin's MPs were imprisoned at the time so only 27 elected representatives attended the initial meeting of the First Dáil. The First Dáil lasted 892 days. Those elected for the remaining Irish seats, from the Irish Parliamentary Party and the Irish Unionist Party, for the most part ignored the invitation to attend the First Dáil. Thomas Harbison, elected for the Irish Parliamentary Party for North East Tyrone, did acknowledge the invitation, but "stated he should decline for obvious reasons".^[1]

Under this Irish republican theory, all 105 MPs were members of the Dáil, and their names were called out on the roll of membership. The database of Oireachtas members includes only those elected for Sinn Féin.^[2] For clarity on the representation of constituencies, they are listed here in a single list.

Members of the First Dáil of the Irish Republic, taken on the steps of the Mansion House in Dublin after their first meeting on 21 January 1919, with caption indicating their names in the Irish language. Note that some members were not present because they were either in prison or in danger of arrest.

Election result (Ireland only)

style="width: 2px; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Irish Unionist Alliance" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #99FF66;" data-sort-value="Irish Parliamentary Party" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Ulster Unionist Labour Association" | style="width: 2px; background-color: #aadfff;" data-sort-value="Independent Unionist" |

Party		Seats
Sinn Féin	73^[a]
Irish Unionist	22
Irish Parliamentary	6^[b]
Labour Unionist	3
Ind. Unionist	1

Members by constituency

Members of the 1st Dáil^[3]
Constituency	Name	Party

Changes

Vacancies

When Pierce McCan died on 6 March 1919, his East Tipperary seat was left vacant at Westminster. In April 1919 a Dáil committee considering how to fill the vacancy considered allowing nomination by the Labour Party (which had stood aside in the 1918 election to avoid splitting the nationalist vote)^[4] before recommending that the Sinn Féin constituency organisation should nominate.^[5] However, in June 1919 the Dáil decided that "it was due to the memory of the late Pierce McCann that his place should not be filled at present".^[6] Later vacancies were also left unfilled; when Diarmuid Lynch resigned his seat in 1920, Arthur Griffith said "as the letter of resignation was addressed to the people of South-East Cork, the next step in the matter lay with the South-East Cork Executive of Sinn Fein".^[7]

Four TDs represented two separate constituencies: Éamon de Valera, Arthur Griffith, Eoin MacNeill and Liam Mellowes. Ordinarily, this would prompt them to choose one constituency to represent, and to move a writ for a by-election in the other constituency.

Constituency	Outgoing TD	Party		Reason for vacancy
Tipperary East	Pierce McCan style="width: 2px; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" \|	Sinn Féin	Death in prison	6 March 1919
Cork South East	Diarmuid Lynch style="width: 2px; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" \|	Sinn Féin	Resignation	6 August 1920
Cork Mid	Terence MacSwiney style="width: 2px; background-color: #326760;" data-sort-value="Sinn Féin" \|	Sinn Féin	Death from hunger strike	25 October 1920

By-elections

The following Westminster by-elections to Irish seats were filled by Unionists who sat at Westminster.

Winner	Party		Constituency	Date	Outgoing	Party
Hugh T. Barrie style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Irish Unionist Alliance" \|	Irish Unionist	North Londonderry	4 March 1919	Hugh Anderson style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Irish Unionist Alliance" \|	Irish Unionist	Resignation	The only by-election contested by Sinn Féin, Patrick McGilligan losing.^[8]
George Hanna style="width: 2px; background-color: #aadfff;" data-sort-value="Independent Unionist" \|	Ind. Unionist	East Antrim	27 May 1919	Robert McCalmont style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Irish Unionist Alliance" \|	Irish Unionist	Appointed commander of the Irish Guards
William Jellett style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Irish Unionist Alliance" \|	Irish Unionist	University of Dublin	28 July 1919	Arthur Samuels style="width: 2px; background-color: #9999FF;" data-sort-value="Irish Unionist Alliance" \|	Irish Unionist	Appointed to the High Court of Justice in Ireland

Notes

^ Sinn Féin won 73 constituencies but 4 MPs were elected for 2 constituencies, so there were 69 persons elected for Sinn Féin in total.
^ T. P. O'Connor also elected for Liverpool Scotland.

References

^ "ROLL CALL". Houses of the Oireachtas. 22 January 1919. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
^ "TDs & Senators". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
^ "3. AN ROLLA". Houses of the Oireachtas. 21 January 1919. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
^ Mitchell, Arthur (1995). Revolutionary Government in Ireland: Dáil Éireann, 1919-22. Gill & MacMillan. p. 24. ISBN 9780717114818.
^ "East Tipperary Vacancy". Dáil Éireann debate. Oireachtas. 17 June 1919. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
^ "Report of Select Committee on East Tipperary Vacancy – Dáil Éireann (1st Dáil) – Wednesday, 18 June 1919". Oireachtas. 17 June 1919. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
^ "Resignation Of Deputy For South-East Cork". Dáil Éireann debate. Oireachtas. 6 August 1920. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
^ Laffan, Michael (1999). The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923. Cambridge University Press. p. 309. ISBN 9781139426299. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

[3] Sinn Féin won 73 constituencies but 4 MPs were elected for 2 constituencies, so there were 69 persons elected for Sinn Féin in total.

[4] T. P. O'Connor also elected for Liverpool Scotland.

[1] "ROLL CALL". Houses of the Oireachtas. 22 January 1919. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

[2] "TDs & Senators". Houses of the Oireachtas. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

[5] "3. AN ROLLA". Houses of the Oireachtas. 21 January 1919. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

[6] Mitchell, Arthur (1995). Revolutionary Government in Ireland: Dáil Éireann, 1919-22. Gill & MacMillan. p. 24. ISBN 9780717114818.

[7] "East Tipperary Vacancy". Dáil Éireann debate. Oireachtas. 17 June 1919. Retrieved 18 August 2018.

[8] "Report of Select Committee on East Tipperary Vacancy – Dáil Éireann (1st Dáil) – Wednesday, 18 June 1919". Oireachtas. 17 June 1919. Retrieved 22 July 2020.

[9] "Resignation Of Deputy For South-East Cork". Dáil Éireann debate. Oireachtas. 6 August 1920. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

[10] Laffan, Michael (1999). The Resurrection of Ireland: The Sinn Féin Party, 1916–1923. Cambridge University Press. p. 309. ISBN 9781139426299. Retrieved 13 August 2018.

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