Second Dáil in the context of "Sinn Féin"

The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty (Irish: An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the government of the Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of Independence. It provided for the establishment of the Irish Free State within a year as a self-governing dominion within the "community of nations known as the British Empire", a status "the same as that of the Dominion of Canada". It also provided Northern Ireland, which had been created by the Government of Ireland Act 1920, an option to opt out of the Irish Free State (Article 12), which was exercised by the Parliament of Northern Ireland.

The agreement was signed in London on 6 December 1921, by representatives of the British government (which included Prime Minister David Lloyd George, who was head of the British delegates, and Winston Churchill, who was Secretary of State for the Colonies) and by representatives of the government of the Irish Republic (which included Michael Collins, who was Secretary of State for Finance, and Arthur Griffith, who was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs). The Irish representatives had plenipotentiary status (negotiators empowered to sign a treaty without reference back to their superiors) acting on behalf of the Irish Republic, though the British government declined to recognise that status. As required by its terms, the agreement was approved by "a meeting" of the members elected to sit in the House of Commons of Southern Ireland and [separately] by the British Parliament. In reality, Dáil Éireann (the legislative assembly for the de facto Irish Republic) first debated then approved the treaty; members then went ahead with the "meeting". Though the treaty was narrowly approved, the split led to the Irish Civil War, which was won by the pro-treaty side.

Southern Ireland (Irish: Deisceart Éireann, pronounced [dʲɛʃcəɾˠt̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ]) was the larger of the two parts of Ireland that were created when Ireland was partitioned by the Government of Ireland Act 1920. It comprised 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland or about five-sixths of the area of the island, whilst the remaining six counties, which occupied most of Ulster in the north of the island, formed Northern Ireland.

The Act of 1920, which became effective on 3 May 1921, was intended to create two self-governing territories within Ireland, each with its own parliament and governmental institutions, and both remaining within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It also contained provisions for co-operation between the two territories and for the eventual reunification of Ireland. However, in the 1921 elections for Southern Ireland's House of Commons, Sinn Féin candidates won 124 of the 128 seats (all candidates were unopposed and no actual polling occurred), and ignored the parliament, assembling instead as the Second Dáil. The House of Commons of Southern Ireland—consisting of the four unionist members—met only once, while the Senate only met twice. Continuing unrest resulted in the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the Provisional Government, which administered Southern Ireland from 16 January 1922 to 5 December 1922: effectively a transitional administration for the period between the ratifying of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the establishment of the Irish Free State. Its legitimacy was disputed by the Anti-Treaty delegates to Dáil Éireann.

There were two governments of the 2nd Dáil, which were ministries of Dáil Éireann, the assembly of Dáil Éireann that was the legislature of the Irish Republic, a unilaterally declared state which lasted from 1919 to 1922. The Second Dáil was elected at the 1921 Irish elections on 24 May 1921. The 3rd ministry (26 August 1921 – 9 January 1922) was led by Éamon de Valera as president and lasted 136 days. De Valera resigned as president after the Dáil voted to accept the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The 4th ministry (10 January – 9 September 1922) was led by Arthur Griffith as president. Griffith died in office on 12 August 1922, but a new Dáil ministry was not formed until 9 September 1922. Griffith served 214 days as president, with a further 28 days between his death and the appointment of W. T. Cosgrave as his successor by the Dáil.

The provisional government of Ireland, established under the terms of the Treaty, overlapped with the later period of ministries of Dáil Éireann. The 1st provisional government was led by Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government from 16 January 1922 until his death on 22 August 1922. On 25 August 1922, W. T. Cosgrave was appointed as his successor, with the other members of the new provisional government appointed on 30 September. The 1st provisional government lasted 218 days from the appointment of Collins until his death, with three days elapsing until the appointment of Cosgrave as his successor.

The Provisional Government of Ireland (Irish: Rialtas Sealadach na hÉireann) was the provisional government for the administration of Southern Ireland from 16 January 1922 to 5 December 1922. It was a transitional administration for the period between the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the establishment of the Irish Free State. Its legitimacy was disputed by the Anti-Treaty members of Dáil Éireann.

Dáil Éireann (English: Assembly of Ireland), also called the Revolutionary Dáil, was the revolutionary, unicameral parliament of the Irish Republic from 1919 to 1922. The Dáil was first formed on 21 January 1919 in Dublin by 69 Sinn Féin MPs elected in the 1918 United Kingdom general election, who had won 73 seats of the 105 seats in Ireland, with four party candidates (Arthur Griffith, Éamon de Valera, Eoin MacNeill and Liam Mellows) elected for two constituencies. Their manifesto refused to recognise the British parliament at Westminster and instead established an independent legislature in Dublin. The convention of the First Dáil coincided with the beginning of the War of Independence.

The First Dáil was replaced by the Second Dáil in 1921. Both of these Dála existed under the proclaimed Irish Republic; it was the Second Dáil which narrowly ratified the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The status of the Third Dáil of 1922–1923 was different as it was also recognised by the British. It was elected under the terms of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty as a provisional parliament to pave the way for the creation of an independent Irish state. With the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, a new parliament called the Oireachtas was established, of which Dáil Éireann became the lower house.