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 ...
was signed in London on 6 December 1921 and
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 ...
voted to approve the treaty on 7 January 1922, following a debate through late December 1921 and into January 1922. The vote was 64 in favour, 57 against, with the
Ceann Comhairle
The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session ...
and 3 others not voting. The
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 ...
party
split into opposing sides in the aftermath of the Treaty vote, which led to the
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...
from June 1922 to May 1923.
Background
Two elections took place in
Ireland in 1921, as a result of the
Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the
House of Commons of Northern Ireland and 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 ...
. The election was used by 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 ...
as the basis of membership of the
2nd Dáil. The general election to the
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 ...
House of Commons occurred on 24 May. Of 52 seats, forty were won by
unionists, six by moderate
Irish nationalist
Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...
s and six by
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 ...
. No actual polling took place in the
Southern Ireland constituencies, as all 128 candidates were returned unopposed. Given the backdrop of the increasingly violent
War of Independence
Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...
, any candidates opposed to Sinn Féin and their supporters could expect to be harassed by the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
(IRA). Supporters of the
Labour Party stood aside to allow the constitutional situation to run its course. Of these 128, 124 were won by Sinn Féin, and four by independent unionists representing
Dublin University.
Only the Sinn Féin candidates recognised the 2nd Dáil and five of these had been elected in two constituencies, one in each part of
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, so the total number of members who assembled in the 2nd Dáil was 125.
During the 2nd Dáil, the government of the Irish Republic and the British government of
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. A Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, he was known for leadi ...
agreed to hold peace negotiations. On 14 September 1921 the Dáil ratified the appointment of
Arthur Griffith,
Michael Collins,
Robert Barton,
Eamonn Duggan
Eamonn Seán Duggan (; 2 March 1878 – 6 June 1936) was an Irish lawyer and politician who served as Government Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence from 1927 to 1932, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for ...
and
George Gavan Duffy as envoys
plenipotentiary
A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of a sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word can als ...
for the peace conference in England. These envoys eventually signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December. After almost a month of acrimonious debate the treaty was formally ratified by Dáil Éireann on 7 January 1922.
Vote

The
Ceann Comhairle
The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session ...
Eoin MacNeill
Eoin MacNeill (; born John McNeill; 15 May 1867 – 15 October 1945) was an Irish scholar, Irish language enthusiast, Gaelic revivalist, nationalist, and politician who served as Minister for Education from 1922 to 1925, Ceann Comhairle of D ...
absented himself from the vote in accordance with
standing orders. It was ruled that the four other TDs, Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith,
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 ...
and
Seán Milroy, who had been elected for two constituencies (for both the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and the House of Commons of Northern Ireland) would only cast one vote each. Of the 124
Teachtaà Dála (TDs) who were entitled to vote as a result of these rulings, 121 cast their vote in the Dáil, and three abstained. The result of the vote was: 64 in favour of the Treaty and 57 against. Three TDs eligible to vote did not do so:
*
Frank Drohan resigned his seat on 5 January 1922, because he was personally anti-Treaty while his local Sinn Féin branch was pro-Treaty.
*
Laurence Ginnell
Laurence Ginnell (baptised 9 April 1852 – 17 April 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary ...
(anti-Treaty) was absent in Argentina
*
Thomas Kelly (pro-Treaty) was ill
Pro-Treaty
Anti-Treaty
Aftermath
To satisfy the requirements of the British constitution, the treaty also had to be ratified by the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. Thus Irish nationalists ended their boycott of the home rule parliament to attend the southern House of Commons as
MPs. This they did alongside the four Unionist MPs who had refused to recognise the Dáil. In this way the treaty was ratified a second time in Dublin, this time unanimously as the anti-Treaty TDs refused to attend.
Under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty a provisional parliament, considered by nationalists to be the
3rd Dáil, was elected in the
1922 general election on 16 June. Collins and de Valera agreed a pact between the pro- and anti-Treaty wings of Sinn Féin and this pact and the elections were endorsed by the 2nd Dáil. The new assembly was recognised both by nationalists and the British Government and so replaced both the
Parliament of Southern Ireland and the 2nd Dáil with a single body.
On 9 September 1922, Laurence Ginnell was the only
anti-Treaty TD to attend the inaugural meeting of the Provisional Parliament or
3rd Dáil. Before signing the roll, Ginnell said:
:"I want some explanation before I sign. I have been elected in pursuance of a decree by Dáil Éireann, which decree embodies the decree of 20 May 1922. I have heard nothing read in reference to that decree, nothing but an Act of a foreign Parliament. I have been elected as a member of Dáil Éireann. I have not been elected to attend any such Parliament. Will anyone tell me with authority whether it is...".
He was at that point interrupted but resumed by saying that he would sign the roll and take his seat in the Assembly if the Assembly were
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 ...
. He was informed he was not allowed raise any such question until a
Ceann Comhairle
The (; "Head of heCouncil"; plural usually ) is the chairperson (or speaker) of , the lower house of the (parliament) of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the from among their number in the first session ...
had been elected. He continued to ask questions regardless to which he got no answer including his question: "Will any member of the Six Counties be allowed to sit in this Dáil?"
Election of Ceann Comhairle
Dáil Éireann, volume 1, 9 September 1922 W. T. Cosgrave moved at this point that he be excluded from the House. Ginnell protested, and he was dragged out by force.
See also
*Easter Rising
The Easter Rising (), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an ind ...
*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 ...
* Members of the 2nd Dáil
References
External links
Contemporaneous record of the debate on the Treaty in Dáil Éireann
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120218222359/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.P.A.170001.html De Valera's preferred Treaty, 'Document No.2', published on 10 January 1922.br>Dáil may not vote before Christmas
– ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' archive, 19 December 1921.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anglo-Irish Treaty Dail vote
Politics of Ireland
History of Ireland (1801–1923)
1922 in Ireland
Assembly votes