The members of the First Dáil, known as Teachtaí Dála (TDs), were the Members of Parliament (MPs) returned from the 105 Irish seats at the 1918 United Kingdom general election. In its first general election, Sinn Féin won 73 seats and viewed the result as a mandate for independence; in accordance with its manifesto policy of abstentionism, its 69 MPs refused to attend the British House of Commons in Westminster, and established a revolutionary parliament known as Dáil Éireann. The other Irish MPs — 26 unionists and six from the Irish Parliamentary Party (IPP) — sat at Westminster and for the most part ignored the invitation to attend the Dáil. Thomas Harbison, IPP MP for North East Tyrone, did acknowledge the invitation, but "stated he should decline for obvious reasons". The Dáil met for the first time on 21 January 1919 in Mansion House in Dublin. Only 27 members attended; most of the other Sinn Féin TDs were imprisoned by the British authorities, or in hiding under threat of arrest. All 101 MPs were considered TDs, and their names were called out on the roll of membership, though there was some laughter when Irish Unionist Alliance leader Edward Carson was described as ("absent").; The database of members of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) includes for the First Dáil only those elected for Sinn Féin.

Composition of the First Dáil PartyDec. 1918May 1921 Sinn Féin 73 69 22 6 2 3 1 1 23 4Unionist Anti-Partition League 2 4Total 105 Government party denoted with bullet ().

Members by constituency Constituency Name Portrait Party affiliation Assumed office Start of Dáil term End of Dáil term Antrim EastRobert McCalmont Irish Unionist Resigned in 1919 Sat as MPGeorge Hanna Elected in 1919 by-electionas Independent Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Antrim MidHugh O'Neill Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Antrim NorthPeter Kerr-Smiley Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Antrim SouthCharles Craig Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Armagh MidJames Lonsdale Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Armagh NorthWilliam Allen Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Armagh SouthPatrick Donnelly Irish Parliamentary Nationalist Sat as MP Belfast CromacWilliam Arthur Lindsay Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Belfast DuncairnEdward Carson Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Belfast FallsJoseph Devlin Irish Parliamentary Nationalist Sat as MP Belfast OrmeauThomas Moles Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Belfast PottingerHerbert Dixon Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Belfast St Anne'sThomas Henry Burn Labour Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Belfast ShankillSamuel McGuffin Labour Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Belfast VictoriaThompson Donald Labour Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Belfast WoodvaleRobert Lynn Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP County CarlowJames Lennon Sinn Féin 6 August 1920 Cavan EastArthur GriffithSinn Féin1 April 1919 Tyrone North West Cavan WestPaul Galligan Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Clare EastÉamon de ValeraSinn Féin1 April 1919 Mayo East Clare WestBrian O'Higgins Sinn Féin 1 April 1919Cork CityLiam de Róiste Sinn Féin 1 April 1919J. J. Walsh Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Cork EastDavid Kent Sinn Féin 9 May 1919 Cork MidTerence MacSwiney Sinn Féin Died in 1920 1 April 1919 Cork NorthPatrick O'Keeffe Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Cork North EastThomas Hunter Sinn Féin 9 May 1919 Cork SouthMichael Collins Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Cork South EastDiarmuid Lynch Sinn Féin Resigned in 1920 Never sat in Dáil Cork WestSeán Hayes Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Donegal EastEdward Kelly Irish Parliamentary Sat as MP Donegal NorthJoseph O'Doherty Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Donegal SouthPeter Ward Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Donegal WestJoseph Sweeney Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Down EastDavid Reid Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Down MidJames Craig Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Down NorthThomas Watters Brown Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Down SouthJeremiah McVeagh Irish Parliamentary Nationalist Sat as MP Down WestDaniel Martin Wilson Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Dublin ClontarfRichard Mulcahy Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Dublin College GreenSeán T. O'Kelly Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Dublin HarbourPhilip Shanahan Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Dublin NorthFrank Lawless Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Dublin PembrokeDesmond FitzGerald Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Dublin RathminesMaurice Dockrell Irish Unionist Unionist Anti-Partition League Sat as MP Dublin SouthGeorge Gavan Duffy Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Dublin St James'sJoseph McGrath Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Dublin St Michan'sMichael Staines Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Dublin St Patrick'sConstance Markievicz Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Dublin St Stephen's GreenThomas Kelly Sinn Féin 21 January 1919Dublin UniversityArthur Samuels Irish Unionist Resigned in 1919 Sat as MPRobert Woods Independent Unionist Sat as MPWilliam Jellett Elected in 1919 by-electionas Irish Unionist Unionist Anti-Partition League Sat as MP Fermanagh NorthEdward Archdale Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Fermanagh SouthSeán O'Mahony Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Galway ConnemaraPádraic Ó Máille Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Galway EastLiam MellowsSinn Féin21 January 1921 Meath North Galway NorthBryan Cusack Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Galway SouthFrank Fahy Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Kerry EastPiaras Béaslaí Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Kerry NorthJames Crowley Sinn Féin 17 June 1919 Kerry SouthFionán Lynch Sinn Féin 29 June 1920 Kerry WestAustin Stack Sinn Féin Never sat in First Dáil Kildare NorthDomhnall Ua Buachalla Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Kildare SouthArt O'Connor Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Kilkenny NorthW. T. Cosgrave Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Kilkenny SouthJames O'Mara Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 King's CountyPatrick McCartan Sinn Féin Never sat in First Dáil LeitrimJames Dolan Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Limerick CityMichael Colivet Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Limerick EastRichard Hayes Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Limerick WestCon Collins Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Londonderry CityEoin MacNeillSinn Féin21 January 1919 National UniversityLondonderry NorthHugh Anderson Irish Unionist Resigned in 1919 Sat as MPHugh T. Barrie Elected in 1919 by-electionas Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Londonderry SouthDenis Henry Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP LongfordJoseph McGuinness Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 LouthJohn J. O'Kelly Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Mayo NorthJohn Crowley Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Mayo SouthWilliam Sears Sinn Féin 19 August 1919 Mayo WestJoseph MacBride Sinn Féin 17 June 1919 Meath SouthEamonn Duggan Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Monaghan NorthErnest Blythe Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Monaghan SouthSeán MacEntee Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Queen's CountyKevin O'Higgins Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Roscommon NorthGeorge Noble Plunkett Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Roscommon SouthHarry Boland Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Queen's University of BelfastWilliam Whitla Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Sligo NorthJ. J. Clancy Sinn Féin 29 June 1920 Sligo SouthAlexander McCabe Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Tipperary EastPierce McCan Sinn Féin Died in 1919 Never sat in Dáil Tipperary MidSéamus Burke Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Tipperary NorthJoseph MacDonagh Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Tipperary SouthP. J. Moloney Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Tyrone North EastThomas Harbison Irish Parliamentary Nationalist Sat as MP Tyrone SouthWilliam Coote Irish Unionist Ulster Unionist Sat as MP Waterford CityWilliam Redmond Irish Parliamentary Sat as MP Waterford CountyCathal Brugha Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 WestmeathLaurence Ginnell Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Wexford NorthRoger Sweetman Sinn Féin Resigned in 1921 21 January 1919 Wexford SouthJames Ryan Sinn Féin 21 January 1919 Wicklow EastSeán Etchingham Sinn Féin 1 April 1919 Wicklow WestRobert Barton Sinn Féin 21 January 1919

Changes Vacancies When the Sinn Féin executive met on 1 January 1919 to plan for the Dáil's inaugural meeting, it considered appointing substitutes for the imprisoned Sinn Féin TDs who would be unable to attend, but decided against this. When Pierce McCan died on 6 March 1919, his East Tipperary seat was left vacant at Westminster. In April 1919 a Dáil committee considering how to fill the vacancy considered allowing nomination by the Labour Party (which had stood aside in the 1918 election to avoid splitting the nationalist vote) before recommending that the Sinn Féin constituency organisation should nominate. However, in June 1919 the Dáil decided that "it was due to the memory of the late Pierce McCann that his place should not be filled at present". Later vacancies were also left unfilled; when Diarmuid Lynch resigned his seat in 1920, Arthur Griffith said "as the letter of resignation was addressed to the people of South-East Cork, the next step in the matter lay with the South-East Cork Executive of Sinn Fein".

Four TDs represented two separate constituencies: Éamon de Valera, Arthur Griffith, Eoin MacNeill and Liam Mellowes. Ordinarily, this would prompt them to choose one constituency to represent, and to move a writ for a by-election in the other constituency. Constituency Outgoing TD Party Reason for vacancy Date of vacancy RefTipperary EastPierce McCan Death in prison6 March 1919 Cork South EastDiarmuid Lynch Resignation6 August 1920 Cork MidTerence MacSwiney Death from hunger strike25 October 1920 North WexfordRoger Sweetman Resignation27 January 1921

By-elections The following Westminster by-elections to Irish seats were filled by Unionists who sat at Westminster. Winner Party Constituency Date OutgoingParty Reason for vacancy NotesHugh T. Barrie North Londonderry4 March 1919Hugh Anderson ResignationThe only by-election contested by Sinn Féin, Patrick McGilligan losing. George Hanna East Antrim27 May 1919 Appointed commander of the Irish GuardsWilliam Jellett Dublin University28 July 1919Arthur Samuels Appointed to the High Court of Justice in Ireland

See also Historic Dáil constituencies

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