Editing Sinn Féin (section)

===1905–1922===
{{Main|Easter Rising|1918 Irish general election|Irish War of Independence|Irish Civil War}}
[[File:Arthur Griffith (1871-1922).jpg|thumb|Arthur Griffith is credited as the main founder of the party]]
Sinn Féin was founded on 28 November 1905, when, at the first annual Convention of the National Council, [[Arthur Griffith]] outlined the Sinn Féin policy, "to establish in Ireland's capital a national legislature endowed with the moral authority of the Irish nation".<ref name="MacDonncha12"/>{{sfn|Griffith|1904|page=161}} Its initial political platform was both [[Conservatism|conservative]] and [[Monarchism|monarchist]], advocating for an Anglo-Irish [[dual monarchy]] unified with the British [[The Crown|Crown]] (inspired by the [[Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867]]).{{sfn|Feeney|2002|pages=32–3}}{{sfn|Griffith|1904}} The party contested the [[1908 North Leitrim by-election]], where it secured 27% of the vote.{{sfn|Feeney|2002|pages=49–50}} Thereafter, both support and membership fell. At its 1910 ''ard fheis'' (party conference) attendance was poor, and there was difficulty finding members willing to take seats on the executive.{{sfn|Feeney|2002|pages=52–54}}

[[File:McGuinness- 1917 election.jpg|thumb|The campaign car of [[Joseph McGuinness]], who won the 1917 [[South Longford (UK Parliament constituency)|South Longford]] by-election whilst imprisoned. He was one of the first Sinn Féin MPs to be elected.]]

In 1914, Sinn Féin members, including Griffith, joined the anti-Redmond [[Irish Volunteers]], which was referred to by [[John Redmond|Redmondites]] and others as the "Sinn Féin Volunteers". Although Griffith himself did not take part in the [[Easter Rising]] of 1916, many Sinn Féin members who were members of the Volunteers and the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]] did. Government and newspapers dubbed the Rising "the Sinn Féin Rising".{{sfn|Feeney|2002|pages=56–57}} After the Rising, [[Irish republicanism|republicans]] came together under the banner of Sinn Féin, and at the 1917 ''ard fheis'' the party committed itself for the first time to the establishment of an [[Irish Republic]]. In the [[1918 Irish general election|1918 general election]], Sinn Féin won 73 of Ireland's 105 seats, and in January 1919, its MPs assembled in Dublin and proclaimed themselves [[First Dáil|Dáil Éireann]], the parliament of Ireland. Sinn Féin candidate [[Constance Markievicz]] became the first woman elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom House of Commons]]. However, in line with Sinn Féin [[abstentionism|abstentionist]] policy, she did not take her seat in the House of Commons.<ref>{{cite web |title=Archives – The First Women MPs |website=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] |url=https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/parliamentary-archives/explore-guides-to-documentary-archive-/archives-highlights/archives-the-suffragettes/archives-the-first-women-in-parliament-1919-1945 |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-date=7 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007183548/https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/parliamentary-archives/explore-guides-to-documentary-archive-/archives-highlights/archives-the-suffragettes/archives-the-first-women-in-parliament-1919-1945/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The party supported the [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]] during the [[Irish War of Independence|War of Independence]], and members of the Dáil government negotiated the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] with the British government in 1921. In the Dáil debates that followed, the party divided on the Treaty. The pro-Treaty and anti-Treaty components (led by [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] and [[Éamon de Valera]] respectively) managed to agree on a "Coalition Panel" of Sinn Féin candidates to stand in the [[1922 Irish general election|1922 general election]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-05-20/2 |title=NATIONAL COALITION PANEL JOINT STATEMENT. – Dáil Éireann (2nd Dáil) – Saturday, 20 May 1922 |website=Houses of the Oireachtas |date=20 May 1922 |access-date=4 November 2020 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108080043/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1922-05-20/2/ |url-status=live}}</ref> After the election, anti-Treaty members walked out of the Dáil, and pro- and anti-Treaty members took opposite sides in the ensuing [[Irish Civil War|Civil War]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/easterrising/profiles/po18.shtml |title=1916 Easter Rising – Profiles: Sinn Féin |date=24 September 2014 |website=BBC History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925060550/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/easterrising/profiles/po18.shtml |archive-date=25 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>