#OnThisDay in 1919 Captain William Benn, MP for #Leith, asked in #Westminster "how many members of the House have been imprisoned [or arrested]...under the Defence of the Realm Act". The #PrimeMinister gave the following names:
#OTD #History #houseofcommons

Laurence Ginnell, Sinn Féin MP for #Westmeath North, arrested on the 1st of November 1916 and again on the 5th of April 1918 for unlawful assembly.

Éamon de Valera, Count Plunkett, W.T. Cosgrave and Joseph McGuinness, all Sinn Féin, arrested as part of the German Plot in May 1918. They were deported to #England and "Interned until further orders".

#IrishHistory #parliament #History #Dail100

In February 1919, with the help of Harry Boland and Michael Collins, de Valera escaped from Lincoln Prison. On his return to #Ireland he assumed the presidency of #DáilÉireann.

William Sears, Sinn Féin MP for #Mayo South, arrested for unlawful assembly in February 1919. Was committed to prison for six months.

Piaras Béaslaí, Sinn Féin MP for #Kerry East, arrested in March and tried by court-martial. DS Patrick Smyth was warned by Michael Collins not to provide evidence but he did, securing a 2 year sentence for Béaslaí. For that Collins had him shot.

Along with Austin Stack Béaslaí escaped from Strangeways prison in October.

https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/six-sinn-feiners-escape-from-prison-in-manchester

JJ Walsh and Robert Childers Barton, both Sinn Féin MPs, tried by court martial in March. Barton was arrested in February and escaped from Mountjoy in March, leaving a note for the Governer stating that he felt compelled to leave due the discomfort of his cell!

J.J. Clancy, Sinn Féin MP for #Sligo North, sentenced to three months hard labour for unlawful assembly on the 24th of June 1919.

Countess Markievicz, Sinn Féin MP for #Dublin St. Patrick's, sentence to four months imprisonment for unlawful assembly in June.

In July 1919 Laurence Ginnell was brought before the courts again, for unlawful assembly, and sentenced to four months in prison.

Ernest Blyth, Sinn Féin MP for #Monaghan North, arrested in October and tried by court-martial on the 3rd of November, sentenced to one year in prison.

Paudeen O'Keeffe, MP for #Cork North, was arrested in September on a raid on Sinn Féin headquarters following the suppression of Dáil Éireann. Tried by court martial and sentenced to eighteen months in October.

Alexander McCabe, Sinn Féin MP for #Sligo South, given two sentences of three months hard labour to run concurrently in October

Paul Galligan, Sinn Féin MP for #Cavan West, sentenced to one years hard labour. It's unclear if this was in August 1919 or 1920

Following the reading of the list of MPs charged under DORA or the Crimes Act the Prime Minister was asked by the MP for #Canterbury how many of the men had taken the oath of allegiance. The PM responded "A good many." but that seems rather unlikely!

The Prime Minister's list accounts for only a handful of the elected Sinn Féin MPs who were arrested and imprisoned during the #IrishRevolution.
#Irish #History #Westminster

IMPRISONMENT OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT.

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1919/nov/13/imprisonment-of-members-of-parliament

#houseofcommons #Westminster #housesofparliament #houseoflords #GeneralElection