Éamon de Valera Irish independence. He was arrested, sentenced to death but released for a variety of reasons, including the public response to the British execution of Rising leaders. He returned to Ireland after being jailed in England and became one of the leading political figures of the War of Independence. After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, de Valera served as the political leader of Anti-Treaty Sinn Fein until 1926, when he, along with many supporters, left the party to set up Fianna Fáil, a new political party which abandoned the policy of abstentionism from Dáil Éireann. From there, de Valera would
Fianna Éireann until his return in 1933 to Ireland. Fianna Éireann survived the Civil war period intact, they had sided with the Republic. The organisation was decimated then, and further disintegration occurred in 1926 when Fianna Fáil was founded. Markievicz was a founder member of that party but she died in 1927. In 1930 Fianna got the use of the Hardwicke Hall in Dublin as a headquarters as George Plunkett was nominated by the IRA as Chief Scout. This was a nominal position and the organisation was run by the HQ staff. At this time, Fianna expanded in proportion to the rest