Long reads
Get long reads and picture essays about the First Dáil —
Members of the First Dáil
Meet the first TDs —
Teaching resources
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Lesson plan
At the end of this lesson students will
1. Understand the political background to the 1918 general election
2. Appreciate the significance of the election from the point of view of female suffrage and the decline of the Home Rule party
3. Be able to describe key terms such as abstention and conscription
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Slideshow
Use this slideshow with Lesson Plan 1. Dáil100
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Infographic
Facts, figures and quotations about the 1918 general election and the First Dáil
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Lesson plan
At the end of this lesson students will
1. Understand the organisation of a typical Dáil sitting day
2. Know these terms: Speaker/Ceann Comhairle, Clerks, Order paper, Standing Orders
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Slideshow
Use this slideshow with Lesson Plan 2. Imagining the First Dáil
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Poster
Key events from the closure of the Parliament of Ireland in 1800 to the first public sitting of Dáil Éireann in 1919
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Lesson plan
At the end of this lesson students will understand
1. The national and international view on the meeting
2. The different perspectives in Ireland with regard to this meeting
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Lesson plan
At the end of this lesson students will
1. Understand the procedures and roles of different people on the first meeting
2. Be able to describe the importance of the documents and people involved on the first day
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Lesson plan
At the end of this lesson students will
1. Be able to name some of the key personalities involved on the first day
2. Understand their roles and functions
3. Explain why some of those elected were not present on the day
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Lesson plan
At the end of this lesson students will
1. Be able to name the various documents that were read during the first sitting
2. Appreciate the significance of these documents
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Lesson plan
At the end of this lesson students will
1. Appreciate the legacy of the First Dáil
2. Begin to think critically and creatively about the importance of an effective parliamentary democracy
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Primary source
"On the 11th November, 1919, as I was leaving 76, Harcourt Street, to go to the Sinn Féin Bank, I observed that there was a raid on the Sinn Féin Headquarters at No. 6."
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Primary source
"No, the Irish do not hate England. The Irish desire peace with England and with the rest of the world. It is not the Irish who are disturbing the world peace. It is not they who are the aggressors."
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Primary source
"I think it is only right at this, the first Session of the new Dáil, that we should look back upon the work of the Dáil which has just ended. Two and a half years ago, as you know, the old Dáil was elected as an expression of the will of the Irish nation in a general Election which was, in effect, a plebiscite. "
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