Editing 1st Dáil (section)

==Irish War of Independence==
{{more|Timeline of the Irish War of Independence}}
[[File:First dail restoration3.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.8|Members of the First Dáil, outside the Mansion House, 10 April 1919.<br />1st row (left to right): [[Laurence Ginnell|L. Ginnell]], [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|M. Collins]], [[Cathal Brugha|C. Brugha]], [[Arthur Griffith|A. Griffith]], [[Éamon de Valera|É. de Valera]], [[George Noble Plunkett|G. Plunkett]], [[Eoin MacNeill|E. MacNeill]], [[W. T. Cosgrave]] and [[Ernest Blythe|E. Blythe]]. 
<br />2nd row (l to r): [[P. J. Moloney]], [[Terence MacSwiney|T. MacSwiney]], [[Richard Mulcahy|R. Mulcahy]], [[Joseph O'Doherty|J. O'Doherty]], [[Seán O'Mahony|S. O'Mahony]], [[James Dolan (Irish politician)|J. Dolan]], [[Joseph McGuinness|J. McGuinness]], [[Patrick O'Keeffe (politician)|P. O'Keefe]], [[Michael Staines|M. Staines]], [[Joseph McGrath (Irish politician)|J. McGrath]], [[Bryan Cusack|B. Cusack]], [[Liam de Róiste|L. de Róiste]], [[Michael Colivet|M. Colivet]] and [[Michael O'Flanagan|M. O'Flanagan]]{{efn|VP of Sinn Féin, not a TD.}}
<br />3rd row (l to r): [[Peter J. Ward|P. Ward]], [[Alexander McCabe|A. McCabe]], [[Desmond FitzGerald (politician)|D. FitzGerald]], [[Joseph Sweeney (Irish politician)|J. Sweeny]], [[Richard Hayes (Irish politician)|R. Hayes]], [[Con Collins|C. Collins]], [[Pádraic Ó Máille|P. Ó Máille]], [[James O'Mara|J. O'Mara]], [[Brian O'Higgins|B. O'Higgins]], [[Séamus Burke|S. Burke]] and [[Kevin O'Higgins|K. O'Higgins]].
<br />4th row (l to r): [[Joseph MacDonagh|J. McDonagh]] and [[Seán MacEntee|S. MacEntee]].
<br />5th row (l to r): [[Piaras Béaslaí|P. Béaslaí]], [[Robert Barton|R. Barton]] and [[Paul Galligan|P. Galligan]].
<br />6th row (l to r): [[Philip Shanahan|P. Shanahan]] and [[Seán Etchingham|S. Etchingham]].]]

Members of the [[Irish Volunteers]], a republican paramilitary organization, "believed that the election of the Dáil and its declaration of independence had given them the right to pursue the republic in the manner they saw fit".<ref name="Smith56">Smith, ''Fighting for Ireland?'', pp.56–57</ref> It began to refer to itself as the [[Irish Republican Army (1919–1922)|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA).<ref name="Townshend332">Townshend, ''Political Violence in Ireland'', p.332</ref> The First Dáil was "a visible symbol of popular resistance and a source of legitimacy for fighting men in the guerrilla war that developed".<ref name="Farrell">Farrell, Brian. ''The Founding of Dáil Éireann: Parliament and Nation Building''. Gill and Macmillan, 1971. p.81</ref>

On the same day as the Dáil's first meeting, two officers of the [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] (RIC) were [[Soloheadbeg ambush|killed in an ambush]] in [[County Tipperary]] by members of the Irish Volunteers. The Volunteers seized the explosives the officers had been guarding. This action had not been authorised by the Irish Volunteer leadership nor by the Dáil. Although the Dáil and the Irish Volunteers had some overlapping membership, they were separate and neither controlled the other.<ref name="Smith56"/>

After the founding of the Dáil, steps were taken to make the Volunteers the army of the new self-declared republic. On 31 January 1919 the Volunteers' official journal, ''An tÓglách'' ("The Volunteer"), stated that Ireland and England were at war, and that the founding of Dáil Éireann and its declaration of independence justified the Irish Volunteers in treating "the armed forces of the enemy – whether soldiers or policemen – exactly as a ''national army'' would treat the members of an invading army".<ref name="Townshend332"/> In August 1920, the Dáil adopted a motion that the Irish Volunteers, "as a standing army", would swear allegiance to it and to the Republic.<ref>Lawlor, Sheila. ''Britain and Ireland, 1914–23''. Gill and Macmillan, 1983. p.38</ref>

The Soloheadbeg ambush "and others like it that occurred during 1919 were not […] intended to be the first shots in a general war of independence, though that is what they turned out to be".<ref>Lyons, p.244</ref> It is thus seen as one of the first actions of the [[Irish War of Independence]]. The Dáil did not debate whether it would "accept a state of war" with, or declare war on, the United Kingdom until 11 March 1921.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1921-03-11/32/|title=Dáil Éireann – Volume 1–11 March 1921 – PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT|publisher=[[Oireachtas]]|date=11 March 1921|access-date=20 January 2019|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607122000/http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/D/DT/D.F.C.192103110031.html|archive-date=7 June 2011}}</ref> It was agreed unanimously to give President de Valera the power to accept or declare war at the most opportune time, but he never did so.

In September 1919 the Dáil was declared illegal by the British authorities in Ireland and thereafter met only intermittently and at various locations.<ref>Mitchell, ''Revolutionary Government in Ireland'', p.245</ref> The Dáil also set about attempting to secure ''de facto'' authority for the Irish Republic throughout the country. This included the establishment of a parallel judicial system known as the [[Dáil Courts]]. The First Dáil held its last meeting on 10 May 1921. After elections on 24 May the Dáil was succeeded by the [[Second Dáil]] which sat for the first time on 16 August 1921.<ref>Curran, Joseph. ''The Birth of the Irish Free State''. University of Alabama Press, 1980. p.68</ref>