History Glossary

d

Dáil Éireann
the ‘Assembly of Ireland’, first formed in 1919 by Sinn Féin MPs who refused to take their seats at Westminster. It became the lower house (like the House of Commons) of the Irish Free State and it is still the elected assembly of the Oireachtas (parliament) of the Republic of Ireland.

de Valera, Eamon
born in New York in 1882, he became a mathematics teacher and an Irish Volunteer. He was commandant at Boland’s Mill during the 1916 rebellion but avoided execution because he could claim American citizenship. He was elected a Sinn Féin MP and became President of Dáil Éireann until he resigned in 1922 because of his opposition to the 1921 Treaty. He was premier for some 20 years and was elected President of the Irish Republic in 1959. He died in 1975.

Dillon, John
born in 1851, he was elected a Nationalist MP in 1880 and was one of the ablest speakers in the House of Commons. When John Redmond died in 1918, Dillon became the last leader of the Irish Party which was almost completely replaced by Sinn Féin in the general election of 1918. He died in 1927.

Division
a subdivision of an army, usually with at least three brigades and other support units.

Dominion
A self-governing state of the British Empire. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 made the 26 counties (outside Northern Ireland) a Dominion called the Irish Free State with the same freedom as another Dominion, Canada.