There were two governments of the 2nd Dáil, which were ministries of Dáil Éireann, the assembly of

Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann ( ; , ) is the lower house and principal chamber of the Oireachtas, which also includes the president of Ireland and a senate called Seanad Éireann.Article 15.1.2° of the Constitution of Ireland reads: "The Oireachtas shall co ...

that was the legislature of the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( or ) was a Revolutionary republic, revolutionary state that Irish Declaration of Independence, declared its independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdict ...

, a unilaterally declared state which lasted from 1919 to 1922. The

Second Dáil The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

was elected at the

1921 Irish elections The 1921 Irish elections took place in Ireland on 24 May 1921 to elect members of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. These legislatures had been established by the Government of Ireland Act 19 ...

on 24 May 1921. The 3rd ministry (26 August 1921 – 9 January 1922) was led by

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (; ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was an American-born Irish statesman and political leader. He served as the 3rd President of Ire ...

as president and lasted 136 days. De Valera resigned as president after the Dáil voted to accept the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

. The 4th ministry (10 January – 9 September 1922) was led by

Arthur Griffith Arthur Joseph Griffith (; 31 March 1871 – 12 August 1922) was an Irish writer, newspaper editor and politician who founded the political party Sinn Féin. He led the Irish delegation at the negotiations that produced the 1921 Anglo-Irish Trea ...

as president. Griffith died in office on 12 August 1922, but a new Dáil ministry was not formed until 9 September 1922. Griffith served 214 days as president, with a further 28 days between his death and the appointment of W. T. Cosgrave as his successor by the Dáil. The provisional government of Ireland, established under the terms of the Treaty, overlapped with the later period of ministries of Dáil Éireann. The 1st provisional government was led by Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government from 16 January 1922 until his death on 22 August 1922. On 25 August 1922, W. T. Cosgrave was appointed as his successor, with the other members of the new provisional government appointed on 30 September. The 1st provisional government lasted 218 days from the appointment of Collins until his death, with three days elapsing until the appointment of Cosgrave as his successor.

3rd ministry

The members of the 2nd Dáil first met on 16 August 1921. The outgoing

ministry of Dáil Éireann The ministry of Dáil Éireann () was the cabinet of the 1919–1922 Irish Republic during the Irish War of Independence. The ministry was originally established by the Dáil Constitution adopted by the First Dáil on 21 January 1919, after i ...

did not resign immediately. On 26 August 1921,

resigned as president. De Valera was then proposed by Seán Mac Eoin and seconded by Richard Mulcahy to the position of President of the Irish Republic and approved unanimously. This was a change of title, suggesting that de Valera was now considered as the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

of the

, rather than only its

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

. De Valera then proposed the members of the 3rd ministry of the

(26 August 1921 – 9 January 1922), which were approved by the Dáil.

4th ministry

On 7 January 1922, the

was approved by Dáil Éireann in a vote of 64 to 57. Among those voting against were President de Valera. On Monday 9 January, he resigned as president. He was then proposed by Kathleen Clarke and seconded by Liam Mellowes for the position of president. This motion was defeated with 58 votes in favour to 60 against. On 10 January,

was proposed as President of Dáil Éireann by Michael Collins and seconded by

Eoin O'Duffy Eoin O'Duffy (born Owen Duffy; 28 January 1890 – 30 November 1944) was an Irish revolutionary, soldier, police commissioner, politician and fascist. O'Duffy was the leader of the Monaghan Brigade of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and a promin ...

. While the vote was to take place, de Valera and his supporters rose and left the Dáil chamber. Griffith was then approved unanimously by those members remaining in the Dáil. The members of the 4th ministry were then proposed by Griffith and approved by the Dáil. Under the terms of the Treaty another cabinet, the

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...

, was also established on 16 January, with Michael Collins as

Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State The Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State was a transitional post established in January 1922, lasting until the creation of the Irish Free State in December 1922. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 was passed by t ...

. The 4th ministry therefore held office in parallel with the 1st provisional government. In August, Griffith died of natural causes and Collins was killed in action. The remaining members of the ministry remained in office until the

Third Dáil Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

elected a new ministry on 9 September under W. T. Cosgrave. Cosgrave had also been named as Chairman of the Provisional Government on the death of Collins in August, and from 9 September the personnel of the two cabinets were identical. Both cabinets were replaced by the Executive Council of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922.

1st provisional government

The 1st provisional government was the

that held office from 16 January – 30 August 1922. The provisional government was established under the terms of the

as an interim administration that would govern Ireland (not including

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

) until the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

in December. Its members were nominated at a meeting of "the members elected to sit in the

House of Commons of Southern Ireland The Parliament of Southern Ireland was a Home Rule legislature established by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It was designed to legislate for Southern Ireland,Order in Coun ...

" (pro-Treaty Sinn Féin and four unionist members), on 14 January, and they took up office two days later. The British government formally transferred power to the cabinet on 1 April. Headed by Michael Collins as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

, its membership consisted solely of members of the pro-Treaty wing of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

. At the time the provisional government was established there was a pre-existing executive administration in the form of the 4th ministry of the Irish Republic, but that cabinet was not recognised by the British government. The 4th ministry had come to office on 10 January, just six days before the provisional government, and continued in office after the latter's establishment. There were thus two parallel administrations, with an overlapping membership. After the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

began on 29 June four members of the cabinet were seconded for military service and substitutes were appointed to temporarily take their places as acting ministers. Two new members, Michael Hayes and

Ernest Blythe Ernest William Blythe (; 13 April 1889 – 23 February 1975) was an Irish journalist, politician and managing director of the Abbey Theatre. He served as Minister for Local Government from 1922 to 1923, Minister for Finance from 1923 to 1932 ...

, began serving as acting ministers on 17 July and were added to the cabinet as permanent members on 27 July. Collins was killed in action on 22 August and so the cabinet met and elected Cosgrave as chairman on 25 August. Five days later the entire cabinet was reconstituted as the 2nd provisional government. The

met on 9 September and appointed the 5th ministry, with its membership identical to that of the newly constituted provisional government. This cabinet, with its dual identities, continued as the sole government, and was superseded on 6 December 1922 by the formation of the 1st Executive Council of the Irish Free State.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Government Of The 2nd Dail Ministries of George V 2nd Dáil Government 02 1921 establishments in Ireland 1922 disestablishments in Ireland Cabinets established in 1921 Cabinets disestablished in 1922

3rd ministry

4th ministry

1st provisional government

Footnotes

See also

References