2nd Dáil

Éamon de Valera
President of Dáil Éireann
In office 1 April 1919 – 26 August 1921
Preceded by	Cathal Brugha
Succeeded by	himself as President of the Republic
President of the Irish Republic
In office 26 August 1921 – 9 January 1922
Preceded by	himself as President of Dáil Éireann
Succeeded by	Arthur Griffith

The Second Dáil was Dáil Éireann as it convened from 16 August 1921 until 8 June 1922. From 1919–1922 Dáil Éireann was the revolutionary parliament of the self-proclaimed Irish Republic. The Second Dáil consisted of members elected in 1921. One of its most important acts was to bring an end to the War of Independence by ratifying the controversial Anglo-Irish Treaty.

In December 1920, in the middle of the Irish War of Independence, the British Government passed the Government of Ireland Act. This was intended to find a solution to the "Irish problem" by partitioning Ireland into two parts, each of which would have a separate home rule parliament. In 1921 the first elections were held to these new bodies. The general election created the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. In both jurisdictions the electoral system used was the Single transferable vote.

Sinn Féin nationalists participated in these elections but refused to recognise the new home rule parliaments. Instead the party treated the elections in both parts of Ireland as elections to the Second Dáil of one country. Thus the Second Dáil theoretically consisted of members elected in both parts of Ireland.

The general election to the Northern Ireland House of Commons occurred on 24 May. Of 52 seats, forty were won by Unionists, six by moderate nationalists and six by Sinn Féin. No actual polling took place in the Southern Ireland constituencies, as all 128 candidates were returned unopposed. Given the backdrop of the increasingly violent War of Independence, any candidates opposed to Sinn Féin and their supporters could expect to be shot or harassed by the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Supporters of the Irish Labour Party stood aside to allow the constitutional situation to run its course. Of these 128, 124 were won by Sinn Féin, and four by independent Unionists representing the University of Dublin (Trinity College). Only the Sinn Féin candidates recognised the Second Dáil and five of these had been elected in two constituencies, one in each part of Ireland, so the total number of members who assembled in the Second Dáil was 125.

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