- Born:
- March 31, 1871, Dublin, Ire.
- Died:
- Aug. 12, 1922, Dublin (aged 51)
- Title / Office:
- president (1922-1922), Ireland
- vice president (1919-1922), Ireland
- Founder:
- Sinn Féin
- Political Affiliation:
- Sinn Féin
Arthur Griffith
-
Who was Arthur Griffith?
Arthur Griffith (1871–1922) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, and the primary founder of Sinn Féin. He served as acting president of Dáil Éireann (Irish Assembly) from 1919 to 1920, and then as president from January 10, 1922, until his death.
Griffith advocated for Irish Home Rule through passive resistance, urging the Irish to refuse paying British taxes and for Irish members of Parliament to form a national assembly in Ireland.
In 1921, he led the Irish delegation at the self-government treaty conference in London and was the first to accept the British terms, which led to the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 6, 1921, that established the Irish Free State. When the Dáil approved the treaty in January 1922, Éamon de Valera resigned, and Griffith was elected president.
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What was the Dáil Éireann?
The Dáil Éireann, or Irish Assembly, is a central part of Ireland's government. After the Sinn Féin party's victory in the 1918 elections, its members of the British House of Commons formed the Dáil Éireann, with Éamon de Valera as president and Arthur Griffith as vice president.
Griffith later served as president of Dáil Éireann from January 10, 1922, until his death. Today, the Dáil Éireann holds primary legislative power within the Oireachtas (Parliament). Its members are elected by proportional representation and serve terms of no more than five years.
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How did Arthur Griffith become president of Dáil Éireann?
Arthur Griffith's ascent to president of Dáil Éireann occurred in January 1922, following the Dáil's narrow approval of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. This treaty, which he reluctantly accepted as the best path toward Irish freedom, led to Éamon de Valera's resignation from the presidency. Griffith, who had been vice president, then assumed the role of president. However, he did not head the provisional government formed to implement the treaty; Michael Collins held that position. The treaty's approval and Griffith's subsequent presidency deepened divisions, contributing to the outbreak of the Irish Civil War.
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What were some key ideas and beliefs of Arthur Griffith?
Arthur Griffith was an Irish nationalist, journalist, and the founder of Sinn Féin. He believed the Irish should use passive resistance to achieve Home Rule, including refusing to pay British taxes and having Irish members of Parliament sit in Ireland as a national assembly. Though he later reluctantly accepted the idea of partitioning Ireland, he opposed Irish participation in the British war effort during World War I.
Griffith felt the Anglo-Irish Treaty offered the best opportunity for Ireland to move toward complete freedom, even though he wasn't fully satisfied with it. After the Dáil approved the treaty, he became president.
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How did Arthur Griffith influence Irish independence?
Arthur Griffith significantly influenced Irish independence through journalism and nationalism. As the principal founder of Sinn Féin, he championed passive resistance, urging the Irish to boycott British taxes and establish their own national assembly. Although he did not participate in the Easter Rising, Griffith supported it and regained influence after imprisonment for anti-British journalism. As vice president and later president of Dáil Éireann, he advanced civil disobedience. Griffith reluctantly led the Irish delegation at the self-government treaty conference in London in 1921 and was the first to accept the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which led to the Irish Free State. He believed the treaty offered the best path to full Irish freedom, despite opposition that triggered civil war.
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What challenges did Arthur Griffith face as president, and what was his lasting impact on Ireland?
As president of Dáil Éireann in 1922, Arthur Griffith faced the challenge of implementing the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which he had reluctantly accepted as the best path toward Irish freedom. This treaty, which created the Irish Free State, was met with strong opposition, leading to a civil war. Griffith's commitment to the treaty, despite his own reservations, placed him at odds with those seeking full independence and contributed to the political turmoil of the time.
Griffith's lasting impact lies in his role as a founder of Sinn Féin and his advocacy for Irish self-governance through passive resistance. His leadership in the Dáil and his role in negotiating the Anglo-Irish Treaty shaped the course of Irish history, even though the treaty's compromises sparked conflict.
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Arthur Griffith (born March 31, 1871, Dublin, Ire.—died Aug. 12, 1922, Dublin) was a journalist and Irish nationalist, principal founder of the powerful Sinn Féin (“We Ourselves” or “Ourselves Alone”) movement, and acting president of Dáil Éireann (Irish Assembly) (1919–20) and its president from Jan. 10, 1922, until his death.
After working as a typesetter in Dublin and then as a miner and journalist in South Africa (1896–98), Griffith edited political newspapers such as The United Irishman, Sinn Féin, Eire, and Nationality and spent his life in near poverty. Griffith sought to divert the Irish from their attempt to win self-government through legislative action in the British House of Commons. Instead, he urged passive resistance as the way to achieve Irish Home Rule. The Irish were to refuse to pay British taxes, while Irish members of the Commons were to stay away from Westminster and to sit in Ireland as a national assembly. At a meeting in Dublin (October 1902), Cumann na nGaedheal (“Party of the Irish”) announced this policy, which was called Sinn Féin. By 1905 the name had been transferred from the policy to its adherents.
Angered by the suggestion that Ireland be partitioned (which he was later constrained to accept), Griffith attacked the unsuccessful third Irish Home Rule Bill (1912–14). When the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, who supported the Anglo-Irish union, threatened to lead to violence, he aided the counterorganization of the Irish Volunteers. From the beginning of World War I, he opposed Irish participation in the British war effort.
Taking no part in the Easter Rising in Dublin (1916), Griffith lost influence with the extreme nationalists. But he was supportive of the Rising and recovered his reputation when the British authorities incarcerated him in Reading Gaol (May–December 1916). Returning to newspaper work, Griffith was jailed twice more for his anti-British journalism.
After their electoral victory in December 1918, the Sinn Féin members of the House of Commons met as Dáil Éireann, with Eamon de Valera as president and Griffith as vice president. During de Valera’s long absence (in North America 1919–20), Griffith acted as head of the Dáil ministry and carried out his own program of civil disobedience.
In the fall of 1921 Griffith unwillingly went to London as the leader of the Irish delegation to the self-government treaty conference. He was the first Irish delegate to accept the British terms, later embodied in the Anglo-Irish Treaty (Dec. 6, 1921), under which the Irish Free State came into existence as a self-governing dominion in the British Commonwealth a year later. Though not satisfied, Griffith insisted that the treaty offered Ireland the best possible opportunity to advance toward full freedom.
When the Dáil narrowly approved the treaty (Jan. 8, 1922), de Valera resigned, and Griffith was elected its president. He was not, however, the head of the provisional government of 1922 established to implement the treaty; Michael Collins had been awarded its chairmanship. Although the two men greatly respected each other, their official actions and utterances were frequently irreconcilable. Opposition to the treaty led to the outbreak of civil war in Ireland (June 28, 1922). Exhausted from overwork, Griffith died soon afterward.
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