April 21, 1907

On April 21, 1907, the Irish nationalist groups Cumman na nGaedheal and the Dungannon Clubs combined to form the Sinn Féin League, an early manifestation of the Sinn Féin political party of today. Prior to the Sinn Féin League, there had been a variety of nationalist groups, which Arthur Griffith, editor of the United Irishman newspaper (and later leader of Sinn Féin and President of Dail Eireann) called upon to unite in an article published in March, 1900. The 1907 unification between Cumman na nGaedheal and Dungannon Clubs, the nationalist force in the North, marked a major step, and Sinn Féin gained further power and popularity when it merged with the National Council in August of the same year.