1.
W. T. Cosgrave
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William Thomas W. T. Cosgrave was an Irish politician who succeeded Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government of the Irish Free State from August to December 1922. He served as the first President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932. Cosgrave never technically held the office of Taoiseach, however, as the first elected head of government in an independent Ireland, William Thomas Cosgrave, W. T. or Liam as he was generally known, was born at 174 Jamess Street, Dublin in 1880. He was educated at the Christian Brothers School at Malahide Road, Marino, Cosgrave first became politically active when he attended the first Sinn Féin convention in 1905. Cosgrave played a role in the Easter Rising of 1916 serving under Eamonn Ceannt as a Captain at the South Dublin Union. Following the rebellion Cosgrave was sentenced to death, however this was commuted to penal servitude for life and he was interned in Frongoch. While in prison Cosgrave won a seat for Sinn Féin in the Kilkenny City by-election of August 1917, in September 1917 he and Michael Collins addressed a crowd in Dunboyne, County Meath urging people to join the Irish Volunteers. He again won an Irish seat in the 1918 general election, on 24 June 1919 Cosgrave married Louisa Flanagan in Dublin. During his later years he was cared for by his son Liam, though one of the most politically experienced of Sinn Féins TDs, Cosgrave was not among the major leadership of the party. Another reason was his experience on Dublin Corporation, most recently as Chairman of its Finance Committee. His chief task as minister was the job of organising the non-cooperation of the people with the British authorities, Cosgrave was very successful in his role at the Department of Local Government. In 1920 he oversaw elections to local councils in which the new system of representation was used. Sinn Féin gained control of 28 of the 33 local councils and these councils then cut their links to the British, and pledged loyalty to the Sinn Féin Department of Local Government, under Cosgrave. Cosgrave broke with Éamon de Valera over the issue of the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921, to a majority, however, republican status remained for the moment an unattainable goal, with the republic unrecognised internationally. Dominion status offered, in the words of Michael Collins, the freedom to achieve freedom, after the Dáil voted by 64 to 57 to approve the Treaty, in January 1922, De Valera resigned the presidency. De Valera was replaced as president by Griffith, Collins, in accordance with the Treaty, formed a Provisional Government, this included Cosgrave amongst its membership. The months following the acceptance of the Treaty saw a progression to civil war. The split in Sinn Féin gradually deepened and the majority of the IRA hardened against accepting anything less than a full republic
2.
Ceann Comhairle
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The Ceann Comhairle is the chairperson of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas of Ireland. The person who holds the position is elected by members of the Dáil from among their number in the first session after each general election, the Ceann Comhairle of the 32nd Dáil is Fianna Fáil TD Seán Ó Fearghaíl,8 June 2016. The Ceann Comhairle is expected to observe strict impartiality, despite this, a government usually tries to select a member of its own political party for the position, if it has enough deputies to allow that choice. As a consequence, the constituency that an incumbent Ceann Comhairle represents elects one fewer TD in an election than its usual entitlement. The Ceann Comhairle does not take part in debates nor vote except in the event of a tie, in this event they generally vote in accordance with the parliamentary conventions relating to the Speaker of the British House of Commons, which tend to amount to voting against motions. The Ceann Comhairle formally opens each days sitting by reading the official prayer, the Ceann Comhairle is the sole judge of order in the house and has a number of special functions. Specifically, the Ceann Comhairle, Calls on members to speak, all speeches must be addressed to the Ceann Comhairle. Puts such questions to the house and supervises and declares the results of divisions, to ensure obedience to his rulings the Ceann Comhairle may order members to withdraw from the Dáil or suspend an individual from the House for a period. In the case of disorder the Ceann Comhairle can suspend or adjourn the house. Rings a bell when deputies are out of order, the bell is a half-sized reproduction of the ancient bell of Lough Lene Castle found at Castle Island, Lough Lene, Castlepollard, County Westmeath in 1881 and now in the National Museum. The reproduction was presented in 1931 by the widow of Bryan Cooper, the Ceann Comhairle is an ex officio member of the Presidential Commission, Council of State, Commission for Public Service Appointments. The position of Ceann Comhairle is as old as the Dáil, the first Ceann Comhairle was Cathal Brugha, who served for only one day, presiding over the houses symbolic first meeting, before leaving the post to become Príomh Aire. The office was continued under the 1922–1937 Irish Free State, the constitution of which referred to the office-holder as the Chairman of Dáil Éireann, the practice of automatically re-electing the Ceann Comhairle in a general election was introduced by a constitutional amendment in 1927. The position of Ceann Comhairle was retained when the Constitution of Ireland was adopted in 1937, the use of secret ballot commenced in 2016. This list includes the constituencies and political affiliation of each Ceann Comhairle as well as the number of their Dáil Éireann, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle holds office as the Deputy Chairman of Dáil Éireann under Article 15.9.1 of the Constitution. In the absence of the Ceann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle deputises, the current Leas-Cheann Comhairle is Fianna Fáil TD Pat the Cope Gallagher, since 6 July 2016. By tradition, the position is reserved for the Opposition, the role carries the same pay and the same status as that of a Minister of State. Cathaoirleach Politics of the Republic of Ireland History of the Republic of Ireland Dáil Éireann Dáil Éireann Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly OConnor, Tom, OHalloran, Politics in a Changing Ireland 1960–2007, A Tribute to Seamus Pattison
3.
Patrick Pearse
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Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916. Following his execution along with fifteen others, Pearse came to be seen by many as the embodiment of the rebellion, Pearse and his brother Willie and sisters Margaret and Mary Brigid were born at 27 Great Brunswick Street, Dublin, the street that is named after them today. It was here that their father, James Pearse, established a business in the 1850s. Pearses father was a mason and monumental sculptor, and originally a Unitarian from Birmingham in England, Pearses maternal grandfather Patrick was a supporter of the 1848 Young Ireland movement and was sworn in to the IRB. Pearses maternal grand uncle, James Savage fought in the American Civil War Pearse grew up surrounded by books and his father had had very little formal education, but was self-educated, he had two children Emily and James, from his first marriage. His second wife, Margaret Brady, was from Dublin, the Irish-speaking influence of Pearses great-aunt Margaret, together with his schooling at the CBS Westland Row, instilled in him an early love for the Irish language. Pearse was radicalised from an early age and he recalls that at the age of ten he prayed to God, promising him he would dedicate his life to Irish freedom. Pearse soon became involved in the Gaelic revival, in 1896, at the age of 16, he joined the Gaelic League, and in 1903, at the age of 23, he became editor of its newspaper An Claidheamh Soluis. Both had been Protestant, but it was from such men as these that the fervently Catholic Pearse drew inspiration for the rebellion of 1916. In 1900, Pearse was awarded a B. A. in Modern Languages by the Royal University of Ireland, in the same year, he was enrolled as a Barrister-at-Law at the Kings Inns. Pearse was called to the bar in 1901, in 1905, Pearse represented Neil McBride, a poet and songwriter from Feymore, Creeslough, Donegal, who had been fined for having his name displayed in illegible writing on his donkey cart. The appeal was heard before the Court of Kings Bench in Dublin and it was Pearses first and only court appearance as a barrister. The case was lost but it became a symbol of the struggle for Irish independence, in his June 27,1905 An Claidheamh Soluis column, Pearse wrote of the decision. it was in effect decided that Irish is a foreign language on the same level with Yiddish. As a cultural nationalist educated by the Irish Christian Brothers, like his younger brother Willie, the Irish school system, he believed, raised Irelands youth to be good Englishmen or obedient Irishmen, and an alternative was needed. Thus for him and other language revivalists saving the Irish language from extinction was a priority of the utmost importance. The key to saving the language, he felt, would be an education system. To show the way he started his own school for boys, St. Endas School in Cullenswood House in Ranelagh. The pupils were taught in both Irish and English, Cullenswood House is now the home of a Gaelscoil, Lios na nÓg
4.
Irish general election, 1918
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The Irish general election of 1918 was that part of the 1918 United Kingdom general election which took place in Ireland. In Ulster, however, the Unionist Party was the most successful party, the Irish War of Independence was conducted under this revolutionary government which sought international recognition, and set about the process of state-building. In 1918 the whole of Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the IPP strove for Home Rule, that is, limited self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom, and had been supported by most Irish people, especially the Catholic majority. The Unionists were supported by the Conservative Party, whereas from 1885 the Liberal Party was committed to enacting some form of Home Rule, Unionists eventually formed their own representation, first the Irish Unionist Party then the Ulster Unionist Party. Home Rule appeared to have finally achieved with the passing of the Home Rule Act 1914. However the implementation of the Act was however temporarily postponed with the outbreak of World War I, as the war prolonged and with the failure to make any progress on the issue, the more radical Sinn Féin began to grow in strength. Sinn Féin was founded by Arthur Griffith in 1905, prior to 1916, Sinn Féin had been a fringe movement having a limited cooperative alliance with William OBriens All-for-Ireland League and enjoyed little electoral success. However, between the Easter Rising of that year and the 1918 general election, the popularity increased dramatically. In one case there were allegations of electoral fraud. Overall, however, the party would benefit from a number of factors in the 1918 elections, the Irish electorate in 1918, as with the entire electorate throughout the United Kingdom, had changed in two major ways since the preceding general election. Firstly, there was a generational change because of World War I. As a result, no election took place between 1910 and 1918, the longest such spell in modern British and Irish constitutional history, thus the 1918 election saw, in particular, All voters between the age of 21 and 29 were first time general election voters. A generation of voters, most of them IPP supporters, had died in that eight-year period. Emigration had been almost impossible during the war because of the sea lanes. As Ireland had not had conscription, Unionists and moderate Nationalists had predominantly made up the volunteers for the duration of the war. Consequently, there was a loss in the age range of young Unionists and moderate Nationalists. Secondly, the franchise had been extended by the Representation of the People Act 1918. This granted voting rights to women for the first time, and gave all men over 21, the Irish electorate increased from around 700,000 to about two million
5.
Dublin
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Dublin is the capital and largest city of Ireland. Dublin is in the province of Leinster on Irelands east coast, the city has an urban area population of 1,345,402. The population of the Greater Dublin Area, as of 2016, was 1,904,806 people, founded as a Viking settlement, the Kingdom of Dublin became Irelands principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century and was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire before the Acts of Union in 1800, following the partition of Ireland in 1922, Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State, later renamed Ireland. Dublin is administered by a City Council, the city is listed by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-, which places it amongst the top thirty cities in the world. It is a historical and contemporary centre for education, the arts, administration, economy, the name Dublin comes from the Irish word Dubhlinn, early Classical Irish Dubhlind/Duibhlind, dubh /d̪uβ/, alt. /d̪uw/, alt /d̪u, / meaning black, dark, and lind /lʲiɲ pool and this tidal pool was located where the River Poddle entered the Liffey, on the site of the castle gardens at the rear of Dublin Castle. In Modern Irish the name is Duibhlinn, and Irish rhymes from Dublin County show that in Dublin Leinster Irish it was pronounced Duílinn /d̪ˠi, other localities in Ireland also bear the name Duibhlinn, variously anglicized as Devlin, Divlin and Difflin. Historically, scribes using the Gaelic script wrote bh with a dot over the b and those without knowledge of Irish omitted the dot, spelling the name as Dublin. Variations on the name are found in traditionally Irish-speaking areas of Scotland, such as An Linne Dhubh. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. Baile Átha Cliath, meaning town of the ford, is the common name for the city in modern Irish. Áth Cliath is a name referring to a fording point of the River Liffey near Father Mathew Bridge. Baile Átha Cliath was an early Christian monastery, believed to have been in the area of Aungier Street, there are other towns of the same name, such as Àth Cliath in East Ayrshire, Scotland, which is Anglicised as Hurlford. Although the area of Dublin Bay has been inhabited by humans since prehistoric times and he called the settlement Eblana polis. It is now thought that the Viking settlement was preceded by a Christian ecclesiastical settlement known as Duibhlinn, beginning in the 9th and 10th century, there were two settlements where the modern city stands. The subsequent Scandinavian settlement centred on the River Poddle, a tributary of the Liffey in an area now known as Wood Quay, the Dubhlinn was a small lake used to moor ships, the Poddle connected the lake with the Liffey. This lake was covered during the early 18th century as the city grew, the Dubhlinn lay where the Castle Garden is now located, opposite the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin Castle
6.
Glasnevin Cemetery
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Glasnevin Cemetery is a large cemetery in Glasnevin, Dublin, Ireland which opened in 1832. OConnell pushed for the opening of a ground in which both Irish Catholics and Protestants could give their dead dignified burial. Glasnevin Cemetery was consecrated and opened to the public for the first time on 21 February 1832, the first burial, that of eleven-year-old Michael Carey from Francis Street in Dublin, took place on the following day in a section of the cemetery known as Currans Square. The cemetery was known as Prospect Cemetery, a name chosen from the townland of Prospect. Originally covering nine acres of ground, the area of the cemetery has now grown to approximately 124 acres and this includes its expansion on the southern side of the Finglas Road with the section called St. Pauls. The option of cremation has been provided since March 1982, Glasnevin Cemetery remains under the care of the Dublin Cemeteries Committee. The development of the cemetery is a task with major expansion. The Catholic Mass is celebrated by members of the parish clergy every Sunday at 9.45 a. m, the annual blessing of the graves takes place each summer as it has done since the foundation of the cemetery in 1832. The cemetery is located in Glasnevin, Dublin, in two parts, the Glasnevin Trust Museum was designed by A&D Wejchert & Partners Architects. The cemetery contains historically notable monuments and the graves of many of Irelands most prominent national figures. The Sisters from the Convent arranged to have the remains cremated and reburied in a grave at Glasnevin Cemetery. The high wall with watch-towers surrounding the part of the cemetery was built to deter bodysnatchers. The watchmen also had a pack of blood-hounds who roamed the cemetery at night and these names are inscribed on two memorials, rededicated and relocated in 2011 to near the main entrance. A Cross of Sacrifice was erected in the cemetery, in a joint Irish-British commemoration ceremony, as of March 2017, there are 214 service personnel of the Commonwealth of both wars identified as buried here. Glasnevin is one of the few cemeteries that allowed babies to be buried in consecrated ground. In 1982, a crematorium was constructed within the grounds by Glasnevin Trust. Since then, the service has used for people of various religious denominations who wished to be cremated. Boyzone singer Stephen Gately was cremated at Glasnevin Crematorium within the grounds in October 2009
7.
Irish people
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The Irish people are a nation and ethnic group native to the island of Ireland, who share a common Irish ancestry, identity and culture. Ireland has been inhabited for about 9,000 years according to archaeological studies, for most of Irelands recorded history, the Irish have been primarily a Gaelic people. Today, Ireland is made up of the Republic of Ireland, the people of Northern Ireland hold various national identities, including Irish, Northern Irish, British, or some combination thereof. The Irish have their own customs, language, music, dance, sports, cuisine, although Irish was their main language in the past, today the huge majority of Irish people speak English as their first language. Historically, the Irish nation was made up of kin groups or clans, there have been many notable Irish people throughout history. After Irelands conversion to Christianity, Irish missionaries and scholars exerted great influence on Western Europe, the 6th-century Irish monk and missionary Columbanus is regarded as one of the fathers of Europe, followed by saints Cillian and Fergal. The scientist Robert Boyle is considered the father of chemistry, famous Irish writers include Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker and James Joyce, notable Irish explorers include Brendan the Navigator, Robert McClure, Ernest Shackleton and Tom Crean. By some accounts, the first European child born in North America had Irish descent on both sides, many presidents of the United States have had some Irish ancestry. The population of Ireland is about 6.3 million, but it is estimated that 50 to 80 million people around the world have Irish forebears, historically, emigration from Ireland has been the result of conflict, famine and economic issues. People of Irish descent are mainly in English-speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom. There are also significant numbers in Argentina, Mexico and New Zealand, the United States has the most people of Irish descent, while in Australia those of Irish descent are a higher percentage of the population than in any other country. Many Icelanders have Irish and Scottish Gaelic forebears, in its summary of their article Who were the Celts. The National Museum Wales notes It is possible that genetic studies of ancient. However, early studies have, so far, tended to produce implausible conclusions from very small numbers of people and using outdated assumptions about linguistics, nineteenth century anthropology studied the physical characteristics of Irish people in minute detail. During the past 10,000 years of inhabitation, Ireland has witnessed some different peoples arrive on its shores, the ancient peoples of Ireland—such as the creators of the Céide Fields and Newgrange—are almost unknown. Neither their languages nor terms they used to describe themselves have survived, as late as the middle centuries of the 1st millennium the inhabitants of Ireland did not appear to have a collective name for themselves. Ireland itself was known by a number of different names, including Banba, Fódla, Ériu by the islanders, Iouerne and Hiverne to the Greeks, other Latin names for people from Ireland in Classic and Mediaeval sources include Attacotti and Gael
8.
Irish Republican Brotherhood
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The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an independent democratic republic in Ireland between 1858 and 1924. Its counterpart in the United States of America was organised by John OMahony, the members of both wings of the movement are often referred to as Fenians. As part of the New Departure of the 1870s–80s, IRB members attempted to democratise the Home Rule League, and its successor, the Irish Parliamentary Party, as well as taking part in the Land War. The IRB staged the Easter Rising in 1916, which led to the establishment of the first Dáil Éireann in 1919, the rebellion was suppressed, but the principles of the United Irishmen were to have a powerful influence on the course of Irish history. Following the collapse of the rebellion, the British prime minister William Pitt introduced a bill to abolish the Irish parliament and manufactured a Union between Ireland and Britain. Opposition from the Protestant oligarchy that controlled the parliament was countered by the widespread and open use of bribery. The Act of Union was passed, the Catholics, who had been excluded from the Irish parliament, were promised emancipation under the Union. This promise was never kept, and caused a protracted and bitter struggle for civil liberties and it was not until 1829 that the British government reluctantly conceded Catholic emancipation. Though leading to general emancipation, this process simultaneously disenfranchised the small tenants, known as ‘forty shilling freeholders’ and this resulted in the Irish Catholic electorate going from 216,000 voters to 37,000. A massive reduction in the number of Catholics being able to vote, Daniel O’Connell, who had led the emancipation campaign, then attempted the same methods in his campaign, to have the Act of Union with Britain repealed. Despite the use of petitions and public meetings which attracted vast popular support, during the early 1840s, the younger members of the repeal movement became impatient with O’Connells over-cautious policies, and began to question his intentions. Later they were what came to be known as the Young Ireland movement, in 1842 three of the Young Ireland leaders, Thomas Davis, Charles Gavan Duffy and John Blake Dillon, launched the Nation newspaper. In the paper they set out to create a spirit of pride, following the collapse of the Repeal Association and with the arrival of famine, the Young Irelanders broke away completely from O’Connell in 1846. The blight that destroyed the potato harvest between 1845 and 1849 was a human tragedy. An entire social class of farmers and labourers were to be virtually wiped out by hunger, disease. The laissez –faire economic thinking of the government ensured that help was slow, between 1845 and 1851 the population fell by almost two million. That the people starved while livestock and grain continued to be exported, quite often under military escort, left a legacy of bitterness and resentment among the survivors. Shocked by the scenes of starvation and greatly influenced by the revolutions then sweeping Europe, the attempted rebellion failed after a small skirmish in Ballingary, Co Tipperary, coupled with a few minor incidents else where. The government quickly rounded up many of the instigators, those who could, fled across the seas, a last flicker of revolt in 1849, led by among others James Fintan Lalor, was equally unsuccessful
9.
Irish War of Independence
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The Irish War of Independence or Anglo-Irish War or the Tan War was a guerrilla war fought from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army and the British security forces in Ireland. It was an escalation of the Irish revolutionary period into armed conflict, in the December 1918 election, the Irish republican party Sinn Féin won a landslide victory in Ireland. On 21 January 1919 they formed a government and declared independence from Britain. Later that day, two members of the British-organized armed police force, the Royal Irish Constabulary, were dead in County Tipperary by IRA members acting on their own initiative. This is often seen as the beginning of the conflict, for much of 1919, IRA activity primarily involved capturing weapons and freeing republican prisoners. In September that year the British government outlawed the Dáil and Sinn Féin, the IRA began ambushing RIC and British Army patrols, attacking their barracks and forcing isolated barracks to be abandoned. The British government bolstered the RIC with recruits from Britain—the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries—who became notorious for ill-discipline, the conflict as a result is often referred to as the Black and Tan War or simply the Tan War. While around 300 people had killed in the conflict up to late 1920. A week later, seventeen Auxiliaries were killed by the IRA in an ambush at Kilmichael in County Cork, the British government declared martial law in much of southern Ireland. The centre of Cork City was burnt out by British forces in December 1920, violence continued to escalate over the next seven months, when 1,000 people were killed and 4,500 republicans were interned. The fighting was concentrated in Munster, Dublin and Belfast. These three locations saw over 75% of the conflicts fatalities, violence in Ulster, especially Belfast, was notable for its sectarian character and its high number of Catholic civilian victims. Both sides agreed to a truce on 11 July 1921, the post-ceasefire talks led to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921. However, six counties remained within the United Kingdom. After the ceasefire, political and sectarian violence between republicans and loyalists continued in Northern Ireland for many months, in June 1922, disagreement among republicans over the Anglo-Irish Treaty led to an eleven-month civil war. The Irish Free State awarded 62,868 medals for service during the War of Independence, since the 1880s, Irish nationalists in the Irish Parliamentary Party had been demanding Home Rule, or self-government, from Britain. Fringe organisations, such as Arthur Griffiths Sinn Féin instead argued for some form of Irish independence, in turn, nationalists formed their own paramilitary organisation, the Irish Volunteers. But a significant minority of the Irish Volunteers opposed Irelands involvement in the war, the Volunteer movement split, a majority leaving to form the National Volunteers under Redmond
