1921 in Ireland - Events

Events

• February 5 - In Brighton, England, the widow of Charles Stewart Parnell, Katherine Parnell, dies aged 76.
• March 5 - Irish War of Independence: Clonbanin Ambush: Irish Republican Army kills Brigadier General Cumming.
• March 21 - Irish War of Independence: Headford Ambush: Irish Republican Army kills at least nine British troops.
• April 27
  • In the Dáil, Éamon de Valera accuses the delegation to London of having ignored its instructions. Arthur Griffith accuses de Valera of knowing at the time that a Republic could not be achieved.
  • Viscount FitzAlan of Derwent is appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, the first Roman Catholic granted the office since 1685.
• May 3 - The province of Northern Ireland is created within the United Kingdom under terms of the Government of Ireland Act 1920.
• May 13 - As nominations close in the elections for both Northern and Southern parliaments, Sinn Féin takes 124 of the 128 seats available in the Southern parliament. All are returned unopposed and deemed elected.
• May 25 - Irish War of Independence: The Irish Republican Army occupies and burns The Custom House in Dublin, the centre of local government in Ireland. Five IRA men are killed and over eighty captured by the British Army which surrounds the building.
• May 29 - With just three seats remaining to be filled, the final outcome of the Northern Ireland elections show that Unionists have a large majority in the Northern Parliament.
• June 7 - The forty elected Unionist Members of Parliaments gather in Belfast City Hall. James Craig is elected as the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
• June 22 - New Parliament of Northern Ireland at Stormont, Belfast is opened by King George V, making a speech (drafted by Jan Smuts) calling for reconciliation in Ireland.
• July 4 - James Craig refuses to attend a peace conference in Dublin because the invitation by President Éamon de Valera was addressed to him personally instead of to the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
• July 8 - At the Peace Conference in the Mansion House, Dublin, President de Valera accepts an invitation to meet the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Lloyd George, in London.
• July 10 - Bloody Sunday: Clashes between Catholics and Protestants in Belfast result in 16 deaths (23 over the surrounding four-day period) and the destruction of over 200 (mostly Catholic) homes.
• July 11 - Under the terms of the truce (signed on July 9) which becomes effective at noon, the British Army agrees that there will be no provocative display of forces or incoming troops. The Irish Republican Army agrees that attacks on Crown forces will cease.
• August 16 - Following the election for the Southern Ireland Parliament, Sinn Féin Members of Parliaments assemble at the Mansion House, Dublin, as the Second Dáil.
• August 23 - The Northern Cabinet agrees that Stormont Castle will be the permanent site of the Northern Houses of Parliament.
• September 8 - David Lloyd George's final offer is delivered to Éamon de Valera. Sinn Féin is invited to discuss the proposals which would grant limited sovereignty within the British Empire.
• September 14 - Dáil Éireann selects five delegates to negotiate agreement with Lloyd George in London, including Michael Collins and Arthur Griffith.
• October 8 - The Irish delegation leaves for London to discuss the Treaty.
• October 9 - Large crowds greet the Irish delegation at Euston Station in London. Griffith tells the crowd that de Valera will not travel to London.
• December 6 - Agreement is reached in the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations in London. The main points include the creation of an Irish Free State within the Commonwealth, an Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, and retention by the British naval services of the use of certain ports.
• December 16 - The British House of Commons accepts the Articles of Agreement. The House of Lords also votes to accept the Treaty by a large majority.