Archives for October 2022 | The life and times of Emily M Weddall

WHAT IS A CONSTITUTION? During the early days of the second French Republic a customer entered a bookseller’s and asked: “Have you a copy of the French Constitution?” “We do not,” the bookseller politely replied, “deal in periodical literature.”
THE IRISH CONSTITUTION EXPLAINED BY DARRELL FIGGIS

In March 1922, Michael Collins charged Darrell Figgis with writing the Constitution of the Free State. Although Collins never fully trusted him, he did recognize Figgis’ superior writing skills, appointing him vice-chairman of the committee assembled to draft the constitution. Figgis inadvertently ended up chairing many of the meetings as Michael Collins, occupied with other business, missed many of them. Figgis proved to be very effective at the helm, completing the constitution in a record quick time in September 1922. The sad irony was that Michael Collins did not live to see the work completed. He had died the previous month.

Darrell Figgis published, the Irish Constitution Explained, later in 1922 to Arthur Griffith, who died a week before Michael Collins.