Eoin MacNeill

Eoin MacNeill ( Eoin Mac Néill Irish, * 1867 in Glenarm, County Antrim as John MacNeill, † 1945 in Dublin) was an Irish nationalist, politician and professor of Irish History.

MacNeill attended St Malachy 's College, Belfast, and the Royal University of Ireland. His interest in Irish history, the study of which he immersed himself, began during his work as a clerk at the Four Courts. 1893 MacNeill was next to Douglas Hyde one of the founding members of the Gaelic League, the Vice President he was. In addition, he also published the Gaelic Journal, the newspaper of the Association. The following year he founded Feis Cheoil. 1908 MacNeill was appointed the first Professor of Irish early and medieval history at University College Dublin; a post he would retain until 1941.

Through the Gaelic League MacNeill came with members of Sinn Féin in contact. In 1913 he was among the group of people who founded the Irish Volunteers. MacNeill, the Chief of Staff of the Irish Volunteers was, was because he was against any risk rebellion, not informed about the planned uprising. The Irish Republican Brotherhood, which provided much of the volunteer leadership, hoped, therefore, it either on their side or just to get around. With both plans, the IRB had little success. So MacNeill tried after he learned of the arrest of Roger Casement, to make the mobilization reversed. After the Easter Rising, he was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he was released after a general amnesty in 1917.

In the elections in 1918, MacNeill was chosen not only as a Sinn Féin candidate in the House of Commons, he managed to win a mandate for the Dáil Éireann. Following the policy of his party, he did not come to his seat in the House of Commons. In the first Dáil, he held the posts of Minister of Finance and Minister of Industry. MacNeill supported the Anglo - Irish Treaty and held the office of Ceann Comhairle during the contract debates. Later he was in the provisional government minister without portfolio and then from 1922 to 1925 Minister of Education in the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. As in 1924, a commission was created to establish the border between the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, he was appointed to this Commission. Following the publication of the Commission report in a newspaper, he resigned from the Commission and refused to accept the Commission's report. Despite this, MacNeill was facing due to the result of the Commission's strong pressure from Irish nationalists. He resigned from his ministerial post and lost in the elections in 1927 his seat in parliament. MacNeill now retired from politics and devoted himself to his teaching. Among other things, he has published several books on Irish history.