First Dáil Centenary Tour

January 19th and 20th at 11:00am 2019 brings with it the centenary of the First Dáil and to mark this monumentous occasion in Ireland’s history, we are running special tours in January. Glasnevin Cemetery is synonymous with influential figures from Irish history. Twenty-five members of the First Dáil which was founded in 1919 are buried here. We want to share their fascinating stories with you, some of the figures we will be taking a look at are: Harry Boland Born in Dublin in 1887, Boland joined the IRB and was active during the Easter Rising. In the 1918 general election, he was elected to represent South Roscommon. In line with all Sinn Féin MPs elected at that time, he did not represent his constituents at Westminster but withdrew to sit in the declared independent Dáil Éireann. On January 21st, while the first Dáil was assembling, Harry Boland and Michael Collins were on a boat to England to perform a special undercover job – namely, breaking Eamon de Valera from prison. He opposed the treaty along with de Valera during the Civil War. He was shot at the Grand Hotel in Skerries in 1922. Cathal Brugha Born Charles Burgess, Cathal Brugha became lieutenant in the Irish Volunteers in 1913. During the Easter Rising Brugha was second in command at the South Dublin Union and was severely wounded. Following this, Brugha organised the amalgamation of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army into the Irish Republican Army (IRA). On January 21st 1919 when the Sinn Féin Members of Parliament met in Dublin, Brugha presided at the meeting as Ceann Comhairle (chairman). The next meeting of Dáil Éireann elected Brugha ‘President of the Ministry’ but on April 1st 1919, he resigned to make way for Éamon de Valera who succeeded him as Head of State. Brugha died in July 1922 when he was fatally wounded during a week of fighting between supporters and opponents of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. Michael Collins Michael Collins was born in Cork in 1890. He is one of the most well-known figures in Irish history and there is a Hollywood film about his life. His grave is the most visited one in Glasnevin. In terms of the first Dáil, Collins was elected for Cork South and Tyrone in the general election of 1918. He was appointed Minister of Home Affairs and in April 1919 he became Minister for Finance. In 1921, Collins was chosen as one of the Irish delegates to negotiate the Anglo-Irish Treaty, he saw it as the only means of achieving a 32 county Republic although starkly stated that by signing it, he had signed his death warrant. Sadly he was correct as following the Treaty negotiations, vicious Civil War broke out and Collins was assassinated in his native county in August 1922. Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera was born in New York in 1882.