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'''Arthur Griffith''' (1871-1922) was the founding father of the Sinn Fein Party. Originally the party was not [[Republicanism#Ireland|Republican]], but an advocate of a [[dual-monarchy]] system similar to that of [[Austria-Hungary]]. Arthur was also a proponent of [[protectionism]] and as a result his party followed through with his convictions. Although Arthur himself was opposed to violence as a legitimate form of political activism, he could not stop the [[Sinn Fein]] party developing into a political wing of organisations such as the [[Irish Volunteer Force]] (later the [[Irish Volunteers]] and the [[National Volunteers]]) and the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]]. Nonetheless he was a signatory of the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] and a firm Collins-ite.
'''Arthur Griffith''' (1871-1922) was an Irish political journalist and former president of [[Dáil Éireann]]. Born on 31 March 1871 at Upper Dominick Street Dublin, Griffith was the second son of Arthur Griffith, a printer, and his wife, Mary Phelan. He was educated in Christian Brothers’ schools in Dublin before becoming apprenticed as a compositor. Like many Christian Brothers’ pupils he became committed to Irish nationalism in his youth: he was a follower of [[Charles Stewart Parnell]] during his ill-fated 1891 campaign and read the fiery writings of the [[Young Irelander]] [[John Mitchel]]. He joined several nationalist societies, including the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]], as well as co-founding the [[Celtic Literary Society]]. In the 1890s he emigrated to [[South Africa]] where he originally worked at a diamond mine. He then co-established a small newspaper in [[Transvaal]], where he began to hone his literary skills which would be later put to use in pre-revolutionary Ireland. After the outbreak of the [[Boer Wars]] he befriended Major [[John MacBride]], the leader of an Irish Brigade enlisted to fight the British.


Although Griffith took no overt part in the [[Easter Rising]] of 1916, the British imprisoned him as a nationalist leader. He was released the following year but again imprisoned in 1918. After the armistice of 1918, a general election put the Sinn Fein leaders into power, and the new members of Parliament, meeting as the [[Dáil Éireann]], elected Griffith vice-president of an Irish republic, under President [[Eamon De Valera]]. In 1921 he accepted the responsibility of leading a delegation to London to negotiate the treaty that established the [[Irish Free State]] and partitioned [[Northern Ireland]] from the rest of the country. Griffith was elected first president of the duly constituted Dáil Éireann in January 1922, but died the following August 12, shortly after the outbreak of the [[Irish civil war]] between those who accepted partition and those who opposed it. Griffith died from heart failure, but is commonly said to have died from a broken heart during the outbreak of the [[Irish Civil War]], as the conflict hurt him deeply.
Griffith returned to Ireland in 1898, joining the pro-Boer opposition in Ireland which was having an energising effect on the nationalist movement there. He demonstrated alongside Mac Bride’s future wife, [[Maud Gonne]]<ref>Gonne was a celebrity figure in pre and post revolutionary Ireland, attracting much attention from poet [[W.B. Yeats]] in his writings.</ref> and organised protests against [[Queen Victoria]]s last visit to Ireland, in 1900. In 1899 he created the radical separatist journal, the ''[[United Irishman]]''. This journal declared the old Irish revolutions of 1798, 1848 and 1867 as momentous representations of Irelands ‘true nationalism’. Somewhat contradictorily, it also romanticised the parliamentarian [[Henry Grattan]]. The journal strongly criticised Parnell’s successors in the [[Irish parliamentary Party]] as well as participation in [[Westminster]]. Griffiths sustained polemic and satire played its role in that parties decline in the next two decades.


==See Also==
==See Also==
*[[First Sinn Fein party]]
*[[First Sinn Fein party]]
*[[The Anglo Irish Treaty]]
*[[The Anglo Irish Treaty]]

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Arthur Griffith (1871-1922) was an Irish political journalist and former president of Dáil Éireann. Born on 31 March 1871 at Upper Dominick Street Dublin, Griffith was the second son of Arthur Griffith, a printer, and his wife, Mary Phelan. He was educated in Christian Brothers’ schools in Dublin before becoming apprenticed as a compositor. Like many Christian Brothers’ pupils he became committed to Irish nationalism in his youth: he was a follower of Charles Stewart Parnell during his ill-fated 1891 campaign and read the fiery writings of the Young Irelander John Mitchel. He joined several nationalist societies, including the Irish Republican Brotherhood, as well as co-founding the Celtic Literary Society. In the 1890s he emigrated to South Africa where he originally worked at a diamond mine. He then co-established a small newspaper in Transvaal, where he began to hone his literary skills which would be later put to use in pre-revolutionary Ireland. After the outbreak of the Boer Wars he befriended Major John MacBride, the leader of an Irish Brigade enlisted to fight the British.

Griffith returned to Ireland in 1898, joining the pro-Boer opposition in Ireland which was having an energising effect on the nationalist movement there. He demonstrated alongside Mac Bride’s future wife, Maud Gonne[1] and organised protests against Queen Victorias last visit to Ireland, in 1900. In 1899 he created the radical separatist journal, the United Irishman. This journal declared the old Irish revolutions of 1798, 1848 and 1867 as momentous representations of Irelands ‘true nationalism’. Somewhat contradictorily, it also romanticised the parliamentarian Henry Grattan. The journal strongly criticised Parnell’s successors in the Irish parliamentary Party as well as participation in Westminster. Griffiths sustained polemic and satire played its role in that parties decline in the next two decades.

See Also

  1. Gonne was a celebrity figure in pre and post revolutionary Ireland, attracting much attention from poet W.B. Yeats in his writings.