The Third Dáil was elected at the general election held on 16 June 1922. This election was required to be held under the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

signed on 6 December 1921. It first met on 9 September and until 6 December 1922, it was the Provisional Parliament or the Constituent Assembly of Southern Ireland. From 6 December 1922, it was the lower house ( Dáil Éireann) of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State, until its dissolution on 9 August 1923.

Article 17 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty

Article 17 of the Anglo-Irish Treaty provided: Article 17 therefore envisaged by way of "provisional arrangement" the creation of a provisional government. For the purposes of giving effect to Article 17, Section 1(2) of the

Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 The Irish Free State (Agreement) Act 1922 (12 & 13 Geo. 5 c. 4) was an Act of the British Parliament passed on 31 March 1922. It gave the force of law to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was scheduled to the Act. Main provisions Section 1(1) of th ...

, an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, provided: * the British Government could by

Orders in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''King ...

transfer powers to the

Provisional Government of Ireland The Provisional Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas Sealadach na hÉireann) was the provisional government for the administration of Southern Ireland from 16 January 1922 to 5 December 1922. It was a transitional administration for the period be ...

; * the Parliament of Southern Ireland would be dissolved within four months from the passing of the Act; and * elections would be held for "the House of the Parliament" to which the Provisional Government would be responsible. The Act did not give a name to that Parliament, but said that in matters within the jurisdiction of the Provisional Government (i.e. only certain matters concerning Southern Ireland), it would have power to make laws in like manner as the Parliament of the Irish Free State when constituted. This last-mentioned "House of the Parliament" is what is more commonly referred to as the Third Dáil.

Election of the Third Dáil/Provisional Parliament

The election to the Third Dáil took place on 16 June 1922. It occurred under the system of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

by means of the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate ...

. Unlike the Second Dáil, which included members from the whole island of Ireland, the Third Dáil did not include members elected from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Since the largely uncontested election of the Second Dáil in 1921, the

had been negotiated, and

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

—the only political party represented in the Dáil—had split into pro- and anti-Treaty factions; these two factions became the major contestants of the 1922 election, and other parties stood for the first time. On 20 May Arthur Griffith read out to the Second Dáil the agreed pre-election Sinn Féin "Pact", and also declared new elections for the constituencies of the former Southern Ireland, and this was agreed to unanimously. Griffith could not call elections in

because of the Treaty provision that: ''… no election shall be held for the return of members to serve in the Parliament of the Irish Free State for constituencies in Northern Ireland''. Despite the pact between the two Sinn Féin factions, the elections were seen by many as an endorsement of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, and a draft of the proposed

Rival political theories

The assembly was: * the Third Dáil, the successor of the

First Dáil The First Dáil ( ga, An Chéad Dáil) was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 1919 to 1921. It was the first meeting of the unicameral parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. In the December 1918 election to the Parliament of the United ...

(1919–1921) and the Second Dáil (1921–1922) according to Irish political theory; and * the Provisional Parliament, the successor of the House of Commons of Southern Ireland (1921–1922) according to British political theory. From both perspectives, it was a constituent assembly which created the

constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and republicans, an assembly of Irish members of parliament (who adopted the equivalent

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

term

Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, TDs in English), is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (the Irish Parliament). It is the equivalent of terms such as ''Member of Parli ...

or TD) had formed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in 1919 and was seen as the valid parliament of the Irish people, from which the

Irish Republic The Irish Republic ( ga, Poblacht na hÉireann or ) was an unrecognised revolutionary state that declared its independence from the United Kingdom in January 1919. The Republic claimed jurisdiction over the whole island of Ireland, but by ...

received its sovereignty. Each Dáil in turn was the successor of the earlier one and the legitimate parliament of the Irish Republic. The Second Dáil had been chosen through an election in 1921 called by the British administration in Ireland, the elected republican members forming themselves into the Second Dáil rather than the Parliament of Southern Ireland they had been elected to. The Second Dáil agreed to the elections leading to the Third Dáil. However, according to British political theory, the assembly of Irish MPs in Dublin did not constitute a valid parliament, and was subsequently declared illegal. In this view, legal government remained vested in

His Majesty's Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

in Westminster, and its Irish executive, under the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland based in Dublin Castle. The

Government of Ireland Act 1920 The Government of Ireland Act 1920 (10 & 11 Geo. 5 c. 67) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act's long title was "An Act to provide for the better government of Ireland"; it is also known as the Fourth Home Rule Bill ...

created two Irish parliaments with effect from May 1921: one for Northern Ireland in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

and one for Southern Ireland, which was called to assemble in

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

in Dublin. The uncontested elections in Southern Ireland produced the House of Commons of Southern Ireland, though when the new house was called to assemble, only four MPs turned up. The remaining members assembled as TDs of the Second Dáil. Following the

, the Westminster parliament passed the

which provided for dissolution of the Parliament of Southern Ireland and the election of a replacement parliament to which the Provisional Government would be responsible. The Act named this parliament as "the House of the Parliament", perhaps to distinguish it from the Houses of parliament at Westminster.

Two governments, two parliaments

Under the Treaty, procedures were set in place to merge the republican and British systems. Initially both remained separate to validate the Treaty from their own perspectives. The Second Dáil and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland both voted separately to ratify the Treaty. Each house chose distinct and separate governments but which substantially overlapped in membership. Arthur Griffith was elected as

President of Dáil Éireann President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

on 10 January 1922 and formed a new Ministry of Dáil Éireann, while Michael Collins was appointed as Chairman of the Provisional Government on 16 January 1922 and formed the

. The Proclamation by the Provisional Government which called the body stated that it was made "pursuant to the provisions of … an Act entitled the Irish Free State (Agreement) Act, 1922". On 12 August, Arthur Griffith died of natural causes and on 22 August Michael Collins was assassinated. On 25 August,

W. T. Cosgrave William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as the president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, leader of the Opposition in both the Free State and Ir ...

was appointed to succeed Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government. He formed the 2nd Provisional Government on 30 August.

First meeting of the Third Dáil

The Third Dáil was first due to meet on 1 July. It was prorogued on five occasions, with its first meeting successively postponed to 15 July, to 29 July, to 12 August, to 16 August, and finally to 9 September. On this date, W. T. Cosgrave was appointed as President of Dáil Éireann. He formed the 5th Ministry of Dáil Éireann, with the same membership as the 2nd Provisional Government. Whether the new house, the Third Dáil/Provisional Parliament, was a republican parliament or crown assembly was queried by some anti-Treaty Irish republicans.

Laurence Ginnell Laurence Ginnell (baptised 9 April 1852 – 17 April 1923) was an Irish nationalist politician, lawyer and Member of Parliament (MP) of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland as member of the Irish Parliamentary ...

turned up in the assembly to demand an answer as to which category, crown or republic, it belonged. The Ceann Comhairle read a message from Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord FitzAlan "conveying to this Parliament his very best wishes", which suggests that both the Lord Lieutenant and the Ceann Comhairle considered this body one convened under the terms of the Treaty rather than Dáil of the Irish Republic.

Enactment of the Constitution – two systems become one

The

Constitution of the Irish Free State The Constitution of the Irish Free State ( ga, Bunreacht Shaorstát Eireann) was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution,British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

and the Third Dáil, which it referred to as the "constituent assembly". The Third Dáil adopted the Constitution of the Irish Free State on 25 October 1922. The document was then enacted by the British Parliament by the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 and came into force on 6 December. The new constitution used the name ''Dáil Éireann'' for the house of representatives of a new parliament called the Oireachtas. However it provided that until the first elections to this new lower house the "constituent assembly" would exercise "all the powers and authorities" conferred on the "new" Dáil Éireann. The Third Dáil therefore functioned as a legislative lower house from December 1922 until it was dissolved on 9 August 1923 before the 1923 general election. The Fourth Dáil was convened on 19 September 1923. The numbering system of Dála begins with the

convened in January 1919.

References

{{reflist

External links

Debates of the Third Dáil
Constituent assemblies History of Ireland (1801–1923)