The Irish Rising

Lord Mayor of Dublin

2011-11-13T15:42:00.002-06:00

The Lord Mayor of Dublin (Irish: Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorific title of the Chairman (Irish: Cathaoirleach) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent is Labour Party Councillor Andrew Montague. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the Council.

The office of Mayor of Dublin was created in June 1229 by Henry III. The office of Mayor was elevated to Lord Mayor in 1665 by Charles II, and as part of this process received the honorific The Right Honourable (The Rt. Hon.). Lords Mayor were ex-officio members of the Privy Council of Ireland, which also entitled them to be addressed The Right Honourable. Though the Privy Council was de facto abolished in 1922, the Lord Mayor continued to be entitled to be addressed as The Right Honourable as a result of the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840, which granted the title in law. The Local Government Act 2001 finally removed the title as a consequence of the repeal of the 1840 act.

The office is largely symbolic and its responsibilities consist of chairing meetings of the City Council and representing the city at public events. Apart from a few reserved functions, which are exercised by the City Council as a whole, executive power is exercised by the City Manager, a Council official appointed by the Public Appointments Service (formerly by the Local Appointments Commission). Except on a handful of occasions where the city government has been suspended for not striking a rate (a level of local tax), Dublin has had a mayor for nearly eight hundred years.

The Lord Mayor resides in the eighteenth century Mansion House on Dawson Street.
A privilege enjoyed by the Lord Mayor is to receive the first car registered in Dublin at the beginning of each new year, in 2011 the car registration was "11–D–11".

The Chain is the outward sign of the office of the Lord Mayor and is worn within the city when performing official civic functions, important ceremonial occasions and also as appropriate at other times, such as opening conferences, new businesses, etc. It is also worn, at the Lord Mayor's discretion, when paying visits to such places as schools, churches and the emergency services.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin's gold chain of office was presented by King William III (William of Orange) to the City of Dublin in 1698. The chain is composed of decorative links including the Tudor rose, a harp, a trefoil shaped knot and the letter S (thought to stand for Seneschal or Steward).

13th Century
1229–30 Richard Muton
1230–31 Henry De Exeter
1231–32 Thomas De La Corner
1232–33 Robert Pollard
1233–34 Gilbert de Lyvet
1234–35 Robert Owain
1235–37 Gilbert de Lyvet
1237–38 Elias Burel
1238–40 Robert Pollard
1240–41 Henry De Exeter
1241–42 William Flamstede
1242–43 John Le Warre
1243–44 Philip De Dureham
1244–45 John Le Warre
1245–46 Roger Owen
1246–49 John Le Warre
1249–50 Roger Oeyn
1250–52 Elias Burel
1252–56 John Le Warre
1256–57 Richard Olaf
1257–58 Sir John Le Warre
1258–59 Peter Abraham
1259–60 Elias Burel
1260–61 Thomas De Winchester
1261–63 Roger De Asshebourne
1263–64 Thomas De Winchester
1264–65 Vincent Taverner
1265–67 Thomas De Winchester
1267–68 Vincent Taverner
1268–69 Roger Asshebourne
1269–70 Vincent Taverner
1270–71 Thomas De Winchester
1271–72 William De Bristol
1272–75 John Garget
1275–76 City in King's Hands
1276–77 Walter Unred
1277–79 David De Callan
1279–80 Henry Le Mareschall
1280–83 David De Callan
1283–86 Walter Unred
1286–88 Thomas De Coventry
1288–92 William De Bristol
1292–94 Robert De Bray
1294–95 John Le Seriaunt
1295–96 Robert De Wyleby
1296–99 Thomas Coyls
1299–1301 John Le Seriaunt

14th Century
1301–02 City in King's Hands
1302–02 John De Decer
1303–03 Geoffrey De Morton
1304–04 John Le Seriaunt
1305–05 John Le Decer
1306–06 John Le Seriaunt
1307–09 John Le Decer
1309–10 Robert De Nottingham
1310–11 John Seriaunt
1311–14 Richard Lawles
1314–15 Robert De Nottingham
1315–16 Richard Lawles
1316–19 Robert De Nottingham
1319–20 Robert De Moenes
1320–22 Robert De Nottingham
1322–24 William Douce
1324–26 John Le Decer
1326–27 Robert Le Tanner
1327–28 William Le Mareschal
1328–29 Robert Tanner
1329–30 Philip Cradok
1330–31 William Douce
1331–32 John De Moenes
1332–33 William Beydyn
1333–34 Geoffrey Cromp
1334–35 William Beyden
1335–36 John De Moenes
1336–37 Philip Cradok
1337–38 John De Moenes
1338–39 Robert Le Tanner
1339–41 Kenewrek Scherman
1341–47 John Le Seriaunt
1347–48 Geoffrey Crompe
1348–49 Kenewrek Scherman
1349–50 Geoffrey Crompe
1349–50 John Seriaunt
1350–51 John Bathe
1351–52 Robert De Moenes
1352–53 Adam Louestoc
1353–56 John Seriaunt
1356–57 Robert Burnell
1357–58 Peter Barfot
1358–59 John Taylor
1359–61 Peter Berfot
1361–62 Richard Heygrewe
1362–64 John Beke
1364–65 David Tyrrell
1365–66 Richard Heygrewe
1366–67 David Tyrrell
1367–68 Peter Woder
1368–69 John Wydon
1369–71 John Passavaunt
1371–74 John Wydon
1374–75 Nicholas Seriaunt
1375–76 Edmund Berle
1376–78 Nicholas Serivaunt
1378–79 Robert Stakebold
1379–80 John Wydon
1380–82 John Hull
1382–83 Edmund Berle
1383–84 Robert Burnel
1384–85 Roger Bekeford
1385–86 Edmund Berle
1386–87 Robert Stackebold
1387–88 John Bermingham
1388–89 John Passavaunt
1389–90 Thomas Mareward
1390–91 Thomas Cusacke
1391–92 Richaed Chamberlain
1392–93 John Mareward
1393–96 Thomas Cusacke
1396–97 Geoffrey Gallane
1397–98 Thomas Cusake
1398–99 Nicholas Fynglas
1399–1400 Ralph Ebbe
1400–01 Thomas Cusacke

15th Century
1401–03 John Drake
1403–04 Thomas Cusacke
1404–06 John Drake
1406–07 Thomas Cusacke
1407–08 William Wade
1408–10 Thomas Cusacke
1410–11 Robert Gallane
1411–12 John Drake
1412–13 Thomas Cusake
1413–14 Luke Dowdall
1414–16 Thomas Cusacke
1416–17 Walter Tyrrell
1417–19 Thomas Cusacke
1419–20 Walter Tyrrell
1420–22 John Burnell
1422–23 Thomas Cusacke
1423–24 John White
1424–25 Thomas Cusacke
1425–26 Sir Walter Tyrrell
1426–27 John Walshe
1427–29 Thomas Shortall
1429–30 Thomas Cusacke
1430–32 John White
1432–33 John Hadsor
1433–34 Nicholas Woder
1434–35 Ralph Pembroke
1435–36 John Kylbery
1436–37 Robert Chambre
1437–38 Thomas Newberry
1438–39 Nicholas Woder
1439–40 John FitzRobert
1440–41 Nicholas Woder
1441–42 Ralph Pembroke
1442–47 Nicholas Woder
1447–48 Thomas Newbery
1448–49 No entry
1449–51 Sir Robert Burnell
1451–53 Thomas Newbery
1453–54 Sir Nicholas Woder
1454–55 Sir Robert Burnell
1455–56 Philip Bellewe
1456–57 John Bennett
1457–58 Thomas Newbery
1458–59 Sir Robert Burnell
1459–60 Thomas Walshe
1460–61 Thomas Newbery
1461–62 Sir Robert Burnell
1462–63 No entry
1463–65 Sir Thomas Newbery
1465–66 Simon FitzRery
1466–67 William Crampe
1467–69 Thomas Newbery
1469–70 Arland Ussher
1470–71 Thomas Walton
1471–72 Simon FitzRery
1472–73 John Fyan
1473–74 John Bellewe
1474–75 Nicholas Burke
1475–77 Thomas FitzSimon
1477–78 Patrick FitzLeones
1478–79 John Weste
1479–80 John Fyan
1480–81 Willian Donewyth
1481–82 Thomas Mulghan
1482–83 Patrick FitzLeones
1483–85 John West
1485–86 John Serjaunt
1486–87 Janico Markis
1487–88 Thomas Meiler
1488–89 William Tyve
1489–90 Richard Stanyhurst
1490–91 John Serjaunt
1491–92 Thomas Bennet
1492–93 John Serjaunt
1493 Richard Arlon
1493–94 John Savage
1494–95 Patrick FitzLeones
1495–96 Thomas Birmingham
1496–97 John Geydon
1497–98 Thomas Collier
1498–99 Reginald Talbot
1499–1500 James Barby
1500–01 Robert Forster

16th Century
1501–02 Hugh Talbot
1502–03 Richard Tyrrell
1503–04 John Blake
1504–05 Thomas Newman
1505–06 Nicholas Hertbard
1506–07 William English
1507–08 William Canterell
1508–09 Thomas Philip
1509–10 William Blank
1510–11 Nicholas Roch
1511–12 Thomas Bermingham
1512–16 No entry
1516–17 Christopher Ussher
1517–23 No entry
1523–24 Nicholas Queytrot
1524–25 No entry
1525–26 Richard Talbot
1526–27 Walter Ewstas
1527–30 No entry
1530–31 Thomas Barbe
1531–32 John Sarsewell
1532–33 Nicholas Gaydon
1533–34 Walter FitzSimon
1534–35 Robert Shilyngford
1535–36 Thomas Stephens
1536–37 John Shilton
1537–38 John Scuyr
1538–39 James FitzSymond
1539–40 Nicholas Bennet
1540–41 Walter Tyrrell
1541–42 Nicholas Umfre
1542–43 Nicholas Stanihurst
1543–46 No entry
1546–47 Henry Plunket
1547–48 Thady Duff
1548–49 James Hancoke
1549–50 Richard Fyane
1550–51 John Money
1551–52 Michael Penteny
1552–53 Robert Cusake
1553–54 Bartholomew Ball
1554–55 Patrick Sarsfield
1555–56 Thomas Rogers
1556–57 John Challyner
1557–58 John Spenefelde
1558–59 Robert Golding
1559–60 Christopher Sedgrave
1560–61 Thomas FitzSimon
1561–62 Robert Ussher
1562–63 Thomas Fininge
1563–64 Robert Cusake
1564–65 Richard Fiand
1565–66 Nicholas FitzSimon
1566–67 Sir William Sarsfield
1567–68 John FitzSimon
1568–69 Michael Bea
1569–70 Walter Cusake
1570–71 Henry Brown
1571–72 Patrick Dowdall
1572–73 James Bellewe
1573–74 Christopher Fagan
1574–75 John Ussher
1575–76 Patrick Goghe
1576–77 John Goghe
1577–78 Giles Allen
1578–79 Richard Rownswell
1579–80 Nicholas Duffe
1580–81 Walter Ball
1581–82 John Gaydon
1582–83 Nicholas Ball
1583–84 John Lennan
1584–85 Thomas Cosgrave
1585–86 William Piccott
1586–87 Richard Rownswell
1587–88 Richard Fagan
1588–89 Walter Sedgrave
1589–90 John Forster
1590–91 Edmond Devnish
1591–92 Thomas Smith
1592–93 Philip Conran
1593–94 James Janes
1594–95 Thomas Gerrald
1595–96 Francis Taylor
1596–97 Michael Chamberlain
1597–98 Nicholas Weston
1598–99 James Bellewe
1599–1600 Gerald Yonge
1600–01 Nicholas Barran

17th Century
1601–02 Matthew Hancocke
1602–03 John Terrell
1603–04 William Goughe
1604–05 John Elliott
1605–06 John Brice
1606–07 John Arthore
1607–08 Nicholas Barran
1608–09 John Cusacke
1609–10 Robert Ball
1610–11 Richard Barrye
1611–12 Thomas Bushopp
1612–13 Sir James Carroll
1613–14 Richard Forster
1614–16 Richard Brown
1616–17 John Bennes
1617–18 Sir James Carroll
1618–19 John Lany
1619–20 Richard Forster
1620–21 Richard Browne
1621–22 Edward Ball
1622–23 Richard Wiggett
1623–24 Thadee Duff
1624–25 William Bushopp
1625–26 Sir James Carroll
1626–27 Thomas Evans
1627–28 Edward Jans
1628–29 Ronert Bennett
1629–30 Christopher Forster
1630–31 Thomas Evans
1631–32 George Jones
1632–33 Robert Bennett
1633–34 Robert Dixon
1634–35 Sir James Carroll
1635–37 Sir Christopher Forster
1637–38 James Watson
1638–39 Sir Christopher Forster
1639–40 Charles Forster
1640–42 Thomas Wakefield
1642–47 William Smith
1647–48 William Bladen
1648–49 John Pue
1649–50 Thomas Pemberton
1650 Sankey Sullyard
1650–51 Raphael Hunt
1651–52 Richard Tighe
1652–53 Daniel Hutchinson
1653–54 John Preston
1654–55 Thomas Hooke
1655–56 Richard Tighe
1656–57 Ridgley Hatfield
1657–58 Thomas Waterhousw
1658–59 Peter Wybrants
1659–60 Robert Deey
1660–61 Hubert Adryan Verneer
1661–62 George Gilbert
1662–63 John Cranwell
1663–65 William Smyth
1665–66 Sir Daniel Bellingham (First Lord Mayor)
1666–67 John Desmynieres
1667–68 Mark Quinn
1668–69 John Forrest
1669–70 Lewis Desmynieres
1670–71 Enoch Reader
1671–72 Sir John Totty
1672–73 Robert Deey
1673–74 Sir Joshua Allen
1674–75 Sir Francis Brewster
1675–76 William Smith
1676–77 Christopher Lovet
1677–78 John Smith
1678–79 Peter Ward
1679–80 John Eastwood
1680–81 Luke Lowther
1681–83 Sir Humphrey Jervis
1683–84 Sir Elias Best
1684–85 Sir Abel Ram
1685–86 Sir John Knox
1686–87 Sir John Castleton
1687–88 Sir Thomas Hackett
1688–89 Sir Michael Creagh
1689–90 Terence McDermott
1690–91 John Otrington
1691–93 Sir Michael Mitchell
1693–94 Sir John Rogerson
1694–95 George Blackhall
1695–96 William Watts
1696–97 Sir William Billington
1697–98 Bartholemew Vanhomrigh
1698–99 Thomas Quinn
1699–1700 Sir Anthony Percy
1700–01 Sir Mark Rainsford

18th Century
1701–02 Samuel Walton
1702–03 Thomas Bell
1703–04 John Page
1704–05 Sir Francis Stoyte
1705–06 William Gibbons
1706–07 Benjamin Burton
1707–08 John Pearson
1708–09 Sir William Fownes
1709–10 Charles Forrest
1710–11 Sir John Eccles
1711–12 Ralph Gore
1712–14 Sir Samuel Cooke
1714–15 Sir James Barlow
1715–16 John Stoye
1716–17 Thomas Bolton
1717–18 Anthony Barkey
1718–19 William Quaill
1719–20 Thomas Wilkinson
1720–21 George Forbes
1721–22 Thomas Curtis
1722–23 William Dickson
1723–24 John Porter
1724–25 John Reyson
1725–26 Joseph Kane
1726–27 William Empson
1727–28 Sir Nathaniel Whitwell
1728–29 Henry Burrowes
1729 John Page
1729–30 Sir Peter Verdoen
1730–31 Nathaniel Pearson
1731–32 Joseph Nuttall
1732–33 Humphrey French
1733–34 Thomas How
1734–35 Nathaniel Kane
1735–36 Sir Richard Grattan
1736 George Forbes
1736–37 James Somerville
1737–38 William Walker
1738–39 John Macarroll
1739–40 Daniel Falkiner
1740–41 Sir Samuel Cooke
1741–42 William Aldrich
1742–43 Gilbert King
1743–44 David Tew
1744–45 John Walker
1745–46 Daniel Cooke
1746–47 Richard White
1747 William Walker
1747–48 Sir George Ribton
1748–49 Robert Ross
1749–50 John Adamson
1750–51 Thomas Taylor
1751–52 John Cooke
1752–53 Sir Charles Barton
1753–54 Andrew Murray
1754–55 Hans Bailie
1755–56 Percival Hunt
1756–57 John Forbes
1757–58 Thomas Meade
1758–59 Philip Crampton
1759–60 John Tew
1760–61 Sir Patrick Hamilton
1761–62 Sir Timothy Allen
1762–63 Charles Rossell
1763–64 William Forbes
1764–65 Benjamin Geale
1765–66 Sir James Taylor
1766–67 Edward Sankey
1767–68 Francis Fetherston
1768–69 Benjamin Barton
1769–70 Sir Thomas Blackhall
1770–71 George Reynolds
1771–72 Francis Booker
1772 William Forbes
1772–73 Richard French
1773–74 Willoughby Lightburne
1774–75 Henry Hart
1775–76 Thomas Emerson
1776–77 Henry Bevan
1777–78 William Dunne
1778–79 Sir Anthony King
1779–80 James Hamilton
1780–81 Kilner Swettenham
1781–82 John Darragh
1782–83 Nathaniel Warren
1783–84 Thomas Green
1784–85 James Horan
1785–86 James Sheil
1786–87 George Alcock
1787–88 William Alexander
1788–89 John Rose
1789–90 John Exshaw
1790–91 Henry Hewison
1791–92 Henry Gore Sankey
1792–93 John Carleton
1793–94 William James
1794–95 Richard Moncrieff
1795–96 Sir William Worthington
1796–97 Samuel Reed
1797–98 Thomas Fleming
1798–99 Thomas Andrews
1799–1800 John Sutton
1800 John Exshaw
1800–01 Charles Thorp

19th Century
1801–02 Richard Manders
1802–03 Jacob Poole
1803–04 Henry Hutton
1804–05 Meredith Jenkins
1805–06 James Vance
1806–07 Joseph Pemberton
1807–08 Hugh Trevor
1808–09 Frederick Darley
1809–10 Sir William Stamer, Bt.
1810–11 Nathaniel Hone
1811–12 William Henry Archer
1812–13 Abraham Bradley King
1813–14 John Cash
1814–15 John Claudius Beresford
1815–16 Robert Shaw
1816–17 Mark Bloxham
1817–18 John Alley
1818–19 Sir Thomas McKenny
1819–20 Sir William Stamer, Bt.
1820–21 Sir Abraham Bradley King, Bt.
1821–22 Sir John Kingston James, Bt.
1822–23 John Smith Fleming
1823–24 Richard Smyth
1824–25 Drury Jones
1825–26 Thomas Abbott
1826–27 Samuel Wilkinson Tyndall
1827–28 Sir Edmond Nugent
1828–29 Alexander Montgomery
1829–30 Jacob West
1830–31 Sir Robert Harty, 1st Bt.
1831 Richard Smyth
1831–32 Sir Thomas Whelan
1832–33 Charles Palmer Archer
1833–34 Sir George Whiteford
1834–35 Arthur Perrin
1835–36 Arthur Morrison
1836–37 William Hodges
1837–38 Samuel Warren
1838–39 George Hoyte
1839–40 Sir Nicholas William Brady
1840–41 Sir John Kingston James, Bt.

The Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 comes into force. Under this Act, all ratepayers with a yearly valuation of £10 could vote in civic elections and sit on the council. Dublin Corporation (now Dublin City Council) becomes the new municipal authority for the city of Dublin. Daniel O'Connell was elected to the new Dublin Corporation and took office as Lord Mayor of Dublin, the first Roman Catholic to be Lord Mayor since 1690.

1841–42 Daniel O'Connell
1842–43 George Roe
1844 Timothy O'Brien
1845 John L. Arabin
1846 John Keshan
1847 Michael Staunton
1848 Jeremiah Dunne
1849 Sir Timothy O'Brien, 1st Bt.
1850 John Reynolds
1851 Benjamin Guinness
1852 John D'Arcy
1853 Robert Henry Kinahan
1854 Sir Edward McDonnell
1855 Joseph Boyce
1856 Fergus Farrell
1857 Richard Atkinson
1858 John Campbell
1859 James Lambert
1860 Redmond Carroll
1861 Richard Atkinson
1862 Denis Moylan
1863 John Prendergast Vereker
1864 Peter Paul McSwiney
1865 Sir John Barrington
1866 James William Mackey
1867 William Lane Joynt
1868–69 Sir William Carroll
1870 Edward Purton
1871 Patrick Bulfin
1871 John Campbell
1872 Robert Garde Durdin
1873 Sir James William Mackey
1874 Maurice Brooks
1875 Peter Paul McSwiney
1876 Sir George Bolster Owens, Bt.
1877 Lewis Wormser Harris
1877–78 Hugh Tarpey
1879 Sir John Barrington
1880 Edmund Dwyer Gray
1881 George Moyers
1882–83 Charles Dawson
1884 William Meagher
1885 John O'Connor
1886–88 Timothy Daniel Sullivan
1888–89 Thomas Sexton Irish Parliamentary Party
1890 Edward Joseph Kennedy
1891–92 Joseph Michael Meade
1893 James Shanks
1894–95 Valentine Blake Dillon
1896–97 Richard F. McCoy
1898–1900 Daniel Tallon
1900–01 Sir Thomas Devereux Pile, Bt.

20th Century
1901–04 Timothy Harrington United Irish League
1904–06 Joseph Hutchinson
1906–08 Joseph Patrick Nannetti United Irish League
1908–09 Gerald O'Reilly
1909–10 William Coffey
1910–11 Michael Doyle
1911–12 John J. Farrell
1912–15 Lorcan Sherlock
1915–18 James Michael Gallagher
1917–24 Laurence O'Neill Independent
1924–30 Position suspended
1930–39 Alfred Byrne Independent
1939–41 Kathleen Clarke Fianna Fáil
1941–43 Peadar Doyle Fine Gael
1943–45 Martin O'Sullivan Labour Party
1945–46 Peadar Doyle Fine Gael
1946–47 John McCann Fianna Fáil
1947–48 Patrick Cahill Fine Gael
1948–49 John Breen Labour Party
1949–50 Cormac Breathnach Fianna Fáil
1950–51 Jack Belton Fine Gael
1951–53 Andrew Clarkin Fianna Fáil
1953–54 Bernard Butler Fianna Fáil
1954–55 Alfred Byrne Independent
1955–56 Denis Larkin Labour Party
1956–57 Robert Briscoe Fianna Fáil
1957–58 James Carroll Independent
1958–59 Catherine Byrne Fine Gael
1959–60 Philip Brady Fianna Fáil
1960–61 Maurice E. Dockrell Fine Gael
1961–62 Robert Briscoe Fianna Fáil
1962–63 James O'Keeffe Fine Gael
1963–64 Seán Moore Fianna Fáil
1964–65 John McCann Fianna Fáil
1965–67 Eugene Timmons Fianna Fáil
1967–68 Thomas Stafford Fianna Fáil
1968–69 Frank Cluskey Labour Party
1969–74 Position suspended
1974–75 James O'Keeffe Fine Gael
1975–76 Paddy Dunne Labour Party
1976–77 Jim Mitchell Fine Gael
1977–78 Michael Collins Labour Party
1978–79 Paddy Belton Fine Gael
1979–80 William Cumiskey Labour Party
1980–81 Fergus O'Brien Fine Gael
1981–82 Alexis FitzGerald, Jnr Fine Gael
1982–83 Daniel Browne Labour Party
1983–84 Michael Keating Fine Gael
1984–85 Michael O'Halloran Labour Party
1985–86 Jim Tunney Fianna Fáil
1986–87 Bertie Ahern Fianna Fáil
1987–88 Carmencita Hederman Independent
1988–89 Ben Briscoe Fianna Fáil
1989–90 Seán Haughey Fianna Fáil
1990–91 Michael Donnelly Fianna Fáil
1991–92 Seán Kenny Labour Party
1992–93 Gay Mitchell Fine Gael
1993–94 Tomás Mac Giolla Workers' Party
1994–95 John Gormley Green Party
1995–96 Seán Dublin Bay Rockall Loftus Independent
1996–97 Brendan Lynch Labour Party
1997–98 John Stafford Fiana Fáil
1998–99 Joe Doyle Fine Gael
1999–2000 Mary Freehill Labour Party
2000–01 Maurice Ahern Fianna Fáil

21st Century
2001–02 Michael Mulcahy Fianna Fáil
2002–03 Dermot Lace Labour Party
2003–04 Royston Brady Finna Fáil
2004–05 Michael Conagan Labour Party
2005–06 Catherine ByrneFine Gael
2006–07 Vincent Jackson Independent
2007–08 Paddy Bourke Labour Party
2008–09 Eibhlin Byrne Fianna Fáil
2009–10 Emer Costello Labour Party
2010–11 Gerry Breen Fine Gael
2011– Andrew Montague Labour Party

Members of the Eighth Dáil - John Flynn

2011-11-13T15:11:00.001-06:00

John Flynn (died 22 August 1968) was an Irish politician. A farmer by profession, he was first elected as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) at the 1932 general election for the Kerry constituency. He was re-elected at the 1933 general election for the same constituency and was elected for the Kerry South constituency at the 1937 and 1938 general elections.

He did not contest the 1943 and 1944 general elections. At the 1948 general election, he was elected as an independent TD, and was re-elected at the 1951 general election, also as an independent. He re-joined the Fianna Fáil party.

During a 1952 Dáil debate, after John A. Costello had said "I made no reference to an Adoption of Children Bill", Oliver J. Flanagan quipped "Deputy Flynn would be more qualified to do that". Flynn, who was not in the chamber at the time, interpreted this as an insulting innuendo, and later punched Flanagan in the Dáil restaurant. The Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privilege condemned the conduct of both TDs.

Flynn was re-elected a Fianna Fáil TD at the 1954 general election. He stood as a Fianna Fáil candidate at the 1957 general election but was not re-elected.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Séamus Keely

2011-11-13T14:52:00.000-06:00

Séamus P. Keely (28 December 1889 – 20 March 1974) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Galway constituency at the 1933 general election. He did not contest the 1937 general election.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - James McGuire

2011-11-13T14:35:00.001-06:00

James Ivan McGuire (24 July 1903–1989) was an Irish politician and barrister-at-law. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency at the 1933 general election. He lost his seat at the 1937 general election.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - James Lynch

2011-11-13T14:01:00.001-06:00

James B. Lynch (died 12 March 1954) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician, who served for 16 years as a Teachta Dála (TD) before being elected as a Senator for three years.

A physician and surgeon before entering politics, Lynch was elected to Dáil Éireann on his first attempt, at the 1932 general election, when he stood as a Fianna Fáil candidate in the 7-seat Dublin South constituency. He was the last candidadte to be elected, and took his seat in the 7th Dáil.

He was returned to the 8th Dáil at the 1933 election, but did not contest the 1937 general election. He stood again at the 1938 general election, was returned to the 8th Dáil. He retained his seat at the next two general elections, but when constituency boundaries were revised at the 1948 general election, he stood in the neighbouring Dublin South Central and was not elected. He stood again in Dublin South Central at the 1951 general election, but lost again.

He then stood in the 1951 election to Seanad Éireann, winning won a seat on the Cultural and Educational Panel in the 7th Seanad, where he served until 1954. His wife, Celia Lynch, was a TD for Dublin South Central from 1954 to 1977.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Cormac Breathnach

2011-11-13T13:44:00.001-06:00

Cormac Breathnach (died 29 May 1956) was an Irish national school teacher and politician.

Breathnach served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 1949–1950 and had been involved in the National Labour Party before being convinced to switch his political allegiances by Éamon de Valera, the founder of Fianna Fáil.

He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1932 general election. From 1932 to 1937 he served as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála for the Dublin North constituency. In 1937, he moved to the Dublin North West constituency and served there until 1954. He did not contest the 1954 general election.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Henry Morgan Dockrell

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Henry Morgan Dockrell (1880 – 26 October 1955) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal and Fine Gael party politician who was elected to both Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.

He was first elected in the 1932 general election as a TD for Dublin County in the 7th Dáil, and was re-elected five times for the same constituency until he was defeated in the 1948 general election.

After the loss of his Dáil seat, Dockrell was elected to the 6th Seanad by the Industrial and Commercial Panel in 1948, but was defeated in the 1951 election for the 7th Seanad.

Dockrell was married (to Alice Evelyn Hayes), and had four sons and one daughter. Two of his sons, H Percy Dockrell and Maurice E. Dockrell were also Fine Gael TDs and councillors. His father, Sir Maurice Dockrell, was a Unionist Member of Parliament.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - John A. Costello

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John Aloysius Costello

John Aloysius Costello (Irish: Seán Alabhaois Mac Coisdealbha; 20 June 1891 – 5 January 1976), a successful barrister, was one of the main legal advisors to the government of the Irish Free State after independence, Attorney General of Ireland from 1926–1932 and Taoiseach from 1948–1951 and 1954–1957.

John A. Costello was born on 20 June 1891, in Dublin. Educated from 1903 at St Josephs Christian Brothers School in Fairview, North Dublin, where future taoiseach Charles Haughey later attended, he moved to the O'Connell School in north Dublin for senior classes, and then attended University College Dublin, he graduated with a degree in modern languages and law. He studied at King's Inns to become a barrister, winning the Victoria Prize there in 1913 and 1914.

Costello was called to the bar in 1914 and practised as a barrister until 1922.

In 1922, Costello joined the staff of the Attorney General in the newly established Irish Free State. Three years later he was called to the inner bar and the following year, 1926, he became Attorney-General to the Cumann na nGaedheal government, led by W. T. Cosgrave. While serving in this position he represented Ireland at Imperial Conferences and League of Nations meetings.

He was also elected a Bencher of the Honourable Society of King's Inns. Costello lost his position as Attorney-General when Fianna Fáil came to power in 1932. The following year, however, he was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal (later Fine Gael) TD.

On 28 February 1934, during a Dáil debate on a bill to outlaw the wearing of uniforms (a bill specifically designed to curtail the Blueshirts, a far-right paramiliatry movement then associated with Fine Gael), Costello made a speech opposing the bill that has generated controversy ever since. In response to an assertion by Minister for Justice P. J. Ruttledge that the Blueshirts had fascist leanings like the Italian Blackshirts and German Brownshirts, and that other European nations had taken similar actions against similar organizations, Costello stated:

“The Minister gave extracts from various laws on the Contient, but he carefully refrained from drawing attention to the fact that the Blackshirts were victorious in Italy and that the Hitler Shirts were victorious in Germany, as, assuredly, in spite of this Bill...the Blueshirts will be victorious in the Irish Free State.”

The remark was a small part of a much longer speech whose main point was that the bill was an unconstitutional overreaction by the Fianna Fáil government and an unfair scapegoating of the Blueshirts movement. However, the quote has since been the subject of much historical debate regarding the extent to which the Blueshirts, and by extension Fine Gael — and Costello himself — had ties to European fascism movements.

During the Dáil debate on the Emergency Powers Act 1939, Costello was highly critical of the delegation of powers, stating that "… we are asked not merely to give a blank cheque, but, to give an uncrossed cheque to the Government."He lost his seat at the general election of 1943, but regained it when de Valera called a snap election in 1944. From 1944 to 1948 he was Fine Gael's front-bench spokesman on External Affairs.

In 1948, Fianna Fáil had been in power for sixteen consecutive years and had been blamed for a downturn in the economy following World War II. The general election results showed Fianna Fáil still the largest party, with twice as many seats as the nearest party, Fine Gael. While it looked as if Fianna Fáil were heading for a seventh consecutive victory all the other parties in the Dáil joined to form the first inter-party government in the history of the Irish state. The coalition consisted of Fine Gael, the Labour Party, the National Labour Party, Clann na Poblachta, Clann na Talmhan and several Independent TDs. While it looked as if co-operation between these parties would not be feasible a shared opposition to Fianna Fáil and Éamon de Valera overcame all other difficulties and the coalition government was formed.

Since Fine Gael was the largest party in the government, it had the task of providing a suitable candidate for Taoiseach. Naturally it was assumed that its leader, Richard Mulcahy, would be offered the post. However, he was an unacceptable choice to Clann na Poblachta and its deeply republican leader, Seán MacBride. This was due to Mulcahy's record during the Civil War. Instead, Fine Gael and Clann na Poblachta agreed on Costello as a compromise candidate. Costello had never held a ministerial position and had not sought the leadership; when told he had been nominated, Costello assumed it was a joke, but was then appalled, suggesting a succession of other names and trying desperately to rid himself of the obligation. Believing himself unprepared for the job and content with his life as a barrister, Costello was nonetheless ultimately convinced to accept the nomination as Taoiseach.

During the campaign Clann na Poblachta had promised to repeal the External Relations Act of 1936, but did not make an issue of this when the government was being formed. However, Costello and his Tánaiste, William Norton of the Labour Party, also disliked the Act. During the summer of 1948 the Cabinet discussed repealing the Act; however, no firm decision was made.

In September 1948, Costello was on an official visit to Canada when a reporter asked him about the possibility of leaving the British Commonwealth. Costello, for the first time, declared publicly that the Irish government was indeed going to repeal the Act and declare a republic. It has been suggested that this was a reaction to offence caused by the Governor-General of Canada, Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis who was of Northern Irish descent and who allegedly arranged to have placed symbols of Northern Ireland, notably a replica of the famous Roaring Meg cannon used in the Siege of Derry, in front of Costello at a state dinner. What is certain is that an agreement about toasts to both the King (symbolising Canada) and the President (representing Ireland) was broken and only a loyal toast to the King was offered, to the fury of the Irish delegation.

The news took the British Government, and even some of Costello's ministers, by surprise. The former had not been consulted, and following the declaration of the republic in 1948, the UK passed the Ireland Act in 1949. This guaranteed the position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom while at the same time granting certain rights to citizens of the Republic living in the United Kingdom.

Ireland left the Commonwealth on 18 April 1949 when the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 came into force. Many nationalists now saw partition as the last obstacle on the road to total national independence.

In 1950, the independent-minded Minister for Health, Dr. Noel Browne, introduced the Mother and Child Scheme. The scheme would provide mothers with free maternity treatment and their children with free medical care up to the age of sixteen. However, the bill was opposed by doctors, who feared a loss of income, and Roman Catholic bishops, who feared the scheme could lead to birth control and abortion. The Cabinet was divided over the issue, many feeling that the state could not afford such a scheme. Costello and others in the Cabinet made it clear that in the face of such opposition they would not support the minister. Browne resigned from the government on 11 April 1951, and the scheme was dropped. He immediately published his correspondence with Costello and the bishops, something which had hitherto not been done. Ironically, derivatives of the Mother and Child Scheme would be introduced in acts of 1954, 1957 and 1970.

Costello reconfirmed his beliefs in Catholicism later in 1951: "I am an Irishman second, I am a Catholic first, and I accept without qualification in all respects the teaching of the hierarchy and the church to which I belong."

The Costello Government had a number of noteworthy achievements. A new record was set in house-building, the Industrial Development Authority and Córas Tráchtála were established, and the Minister for Health, Noel Browne, with the then new Streptomycin, brought about an advance in the treatment of tuberculosis.

Ireland also joined a number of organisations such as the Organisation for European Economic Co-Operation and the Council of Europe. However, the government refused to join NATO while the British remained in Northern Ireland. The scheme to supply electricity to even the remotest parts of Ireland was also accelerated.

While the "Mother and Child" incident did destabilise the government to some extent, it did not lead to its collapse as is generally thought. The government continued; however, prices were rising, a balance of payments crisis was looming, and two TDs withdrew their support for the government. These incidents added to the pressure on Costello and so he decided to call a general election for June 1951. The result was inconclusive but Fianna Fáil returned to power. Costello resigned as Taoiseach. It was at this election that Costello's son, Declan, was elected to the Dáil.

Over the next three years while Fianna Fáil was in power a dual-leadership role of Fine Gael was taking place. While Richard Mulcahy was the leader of the party, Costello, who had proved his skill as Taoiseach, remained as parliamentary leader of the party.

In the general election in June 1954, Fianna Fáil lost power. A campaign dominated by economic issues resulted in a Fine Gael-Labour Party-Clann na Talmhan government coming to power. Costello was once again elected Taoiseach.

The government could do little to change the ailing nature of Ireland's economy, with emigration and unemployment remaining high. Costello's government did have some success with Ireland becoming a member of the United Nations in 1955.

Although the government had a comfortable majority and seemed set for a full term in office, a resumption of IRA activity in Northern Ireland and Britain caused internal strains. The government took strong action against the republicans.

In spite of supporting the government from the backbenches, Seán MacBride, the leader of Clann na Poblachta, tabled a motion of no confidence, based on the weakening state of the economy and in opposition to the government's stance on the IRA. Fianna Fáil also tabled its own motion of no confidence, and, rather than face almost certain defeat, Costello again asked President Seán T. O'Kelly to dissolve the Oireachtas. The general election which followed in 1957 gave Fianna Fáil an overall majority and started another sixteen years of unbroken rule for the party.

Following the defeat Costello returned to the bar. In 1959, when Richard Mulcahy resigned the leadership of Fine Gael to James Dillon, Costello retired to the backbenches. He remained on as a TD until 1969 when he retired from politics, being succeeded by Garret FitzGerald as Fine Gael TD for Dublin South East.

During his career, he was presented with a number of awards from many universities in the United States. He was also a member of the Royal Irish Academy from 1948. In March 1975 he was made a freeman of the city of Dublin, along with his old political opponent Éamon de Valera. He practised at the bar up to a short time before his death in Dublin on 5 January 1976, at the age of 84.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Hugh Doherty

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Hugh Doherty (1903 – 13 October 1972) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Donegal constituency at the 1933 general election. He did not contest the 1937 general election.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - James Matthew Dillon

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James Matthew Dillon

James Matthew Dillon (16 September 1902 – 10 February 1986) was an Irish politician and leader of Fine Gael from 1959 to 1965.

Dillon was born in Dublin. He was the son of John Dillon, the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party (1918), which had been swept away by Sinn Féin in the 1918 general election.

He was educated at Mount St Benedict's, in Gorey, County Wexford, University College Galway and King's Inns. He qualified as a barrister and was called to the Bar in 1931. Dillon studied business methods at Selfridge's in London. After some time at Marshall Fields in Chicago, he returned to Ireland where he became manager of the family business known as Monica Duff's in Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon.

Between 1932 and 1937, Dillon served as TD for Donegal West for the Centre Party and after its merger with Cumann na nGaedheal, the new party Fine Gael. Dillon played a key role in instigating the creation of Fine Gael and would become a key member of the party in later years. He remained as TD for Monaghan from 1937 to 1969. Dillon became deputy leader of Fine Gael under W.T. Cosgrave.

He resigned from Fine Gael in 1942 over their stance on Irish neutrality during World War II, when he urged the government to abandon neutrality and side with the Allies. He was the only TD to do so. In the first inter-party government (1948–1951), Dillon was appointed Minister for Agriculture as an Independent TD. As Minister, Dillon was responsible for huge improvements in Irish agriculture. Money was spent on land reclamation projects in the areas of less fertile land while the overall quality of Irish agricultural produce increased.

Dillon rejoined Fine Gael in 1953.

He became Minister for Agriculture again in the second inter-party government (1954–1957). In 1959 James Dillon became the leader of Fine Gael, the party he was expelled from in 1942. He became president of the party in 1960. In 1965 Fine Gael only narrowly lost the election to Seán Lemass and Fianna Fáil.

Dillon was a colourful contributor to Dáil proceedings and was noted for his high standard of oratory. He retired as party leader having narrowly failed to become Taoiseach in 1965. He remained on as a TD until 1969. He then retired from politics completely and died in the Republic of Ireland at the age of 83.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Brian Brady

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Brian Brady (died 10 September 1949) was an Irish politician, born to a prominent republican family in Killybegs, County Donegal. He represented Donegal in Dáil Éireann as a member of Fianna Fáil from 1932 until his death in 1949. He is buried in Killybegs.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Eamonn O'Neill

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Eamonn O'Neill

Eamonn O'Neill (died 3 November 1954) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal and later Fine Gael party politician, and TD for the Cork West constituency.

O'Neill was an unsuccessful Cumann na nGaedheal candidate at the September 1927 general election in the 5-seat Cork West constituency. He stood again at the next opportunity, at the 1932 general election, and was elected to the 7th Dáil Éireann. He was re-elected at the next three general elections, before losing his seat at the 1943 general election to the Clann na Talmhan candidate Patrick O'Driscoll.

He was re-elected a year later, at the 1944 general election, unseating his Fine Gael colleague Timothy O'Donovan.

The constituency was reduced to a 3-seater at the 1948 general election, and O'Neill was not re-elected. He did not contest any further elections.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Thomas Hales

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Thomas Hales

Thomas "Tom" Hales (5 March 1892 – 29 April 1966) was an IRA volunteer and politician from West Cork. He was a friend of Michael Collins.

Born at Knocknacurra, Ballinadee, near Bandon on a family farm owned by his father Robert who was an activist in the Land War and a reputed member of the Fenian Brotherhood.

Tom Hales and his brothers, Sean, Bob and William, fought with the IRA in west Cork during the Irish War of Independence. A fifth brother, Donal, settled in Genoa from 1913, was appointed Irish Consular and Commercial Agent for Italy in February 1919. In this capacity he played a leading propaganda role, and oversaw a failed attempt to import a substantial amount of weapons and ammunition (captured Austrian stock from the World War I) from Genoa in the spring of 1921.

During the War, Tom was captured by the British Army in Cork and was badly beaten and tortured in an effort to make him disclose the whereabouts of prominent IRA figures, including Michael Collins. He never broke, though his co-accused, Patrick Harte suffered brain damage and died in hospital insane. The torture of Hales and Harte is believed to have influenced a scene in the film The Wind That Shakes the Barley in which an IRA officer's fingernails are pulled out.

During the Irish Civil War the Hales brothers fought on opposite sides. Tom Hales commanded the Flying Column which attacked the Free State Army convoy at Béal na Blath which resulted in the death of his friend, Michael Collins. Sean Hales was killed by the IRA during the bitter Irish Civil War. As a reprisal, the Free State executed four senior Republicans, one from each province. The Munster man who was picked out to be shot was Dick Barrett, who had been a member of the same IRA brigade as Sean Hales during the Anglo-Irish War and were reportedly childhood friends.

Hales was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1933 as a member of Fianna Fáil but failed to retain his seat as an independent candidate in the 1937 general election. He also unsuccessfully contested the 1944 general election as an independent candidate and the 1948 general election as a candidate for Clann na Poblachta. Hales died in 1966.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - James Michael Burke

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James Michael Burke (died 10 September 1936) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal politician and barrister. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedhael Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork West constituency at the 1933 general election. He died in office in 1936, but no by-election was held for his seat.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Patrick Daly

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Patrick Daly was an Irish politician, vintner and farmer. He was elected to Dáil Éireann as a Cumann na nGaedheal Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cork East constituency at the 1933 general election. He was elected as a Fine Gael TD for the Cork North constituency at the 1937 and 1938 general elections. He lost his seat at the 1943 general election.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - William Desmond

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William Desmond (died 5 September 1941) was an Irish Cumann na nGaedheal and Fine Gael party politician.

A hotel proprietor, Desmond was first elected to the 7th Dáil in the 1932 general election for the Cork Borough constituency, where his party colleague W. T. Cosgrave (the President of the Executive Council) topped the poll.
He was re-elected at the 1933 election, but lost his seat at the 1937 general election, when the constituency was reduced from a 5-seater to a 4-seater. He then retired from politics.

William Desmond was Lord Mayor of Cork for the term from 1940 to 1941.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Seán O'Grady

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Seán O'Grady (1 December 1889 – 7 April 1966) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was unsuccessful when he first stood as a candidate for Dáil Éireann at the June 1927 general election, but was elected as a Teachta Dála for Clare at the 1932 general election. He was re-elected at every election until he lost his Dáil seat at the 1951 election. He failed to be re-elected again in his final attempt in 1957. O'Grady was only a few months in the Dáil when he became a Parliamentary Secretary. Over the next sixteen years until 1948 O'Grady served in a range of positions as Parliamentary Secretary, including Lands & Fisheries, Defence, Industry & Commerce and Finance.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Michael Sheridan

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Michael Sheridan (died 6 July 1970) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and farmer. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fianna Fáil Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan constituency at the 1933 general election. He was re-elected at each subsequent general election until 1961, when he retired from politics.

The Political Parties of Ireland - National Centre Party

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The National Centre Party, initially known as the National Farmers and Ratepayers League, was a short-lived political party in the Irish Free State. It was founded in December 1932 with the support of several sitting TDs, including the four Farmers' Party members and thirteen Independents, all of whom feared for their political future if they did not coordinate in a common organisation. Prominent among the latter were party leader Frank MacDermot, a TD for Roscommon since the general election of February 1932, and James Dillon, a TD for Donegal, who was the son of John Dillon, the last leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party.

The party's policies included the establishment of a central bank (at this time, the Free State was still part of the sterling area, and the Bank of Ireland served as lender to the government), deflation through pay cuts, protectionism, an end to the Anglo-Irish Trade War and the removal of rates on agricultural land. The party was strongly opposed to Fianna Fáil, despite apparent similarities of policy, perhaps because most National Centre Party deputies represented rural constituencies. Fianna Fáil, with its strength among small farmers and increasing popularity among the rural middle-class, was the most obvious threat to a rural-based party at this time.

In the general election of January 1933, the new party won eleven seats. During this election, the party's opponents in Fianna Fáil disrupted National Centre Party meetings, often with the assistance of the prohibited Irish Republican Army. These incidents contributed to the rise of the Army Comrades Association, which was formed to protect the establishment conservative parties from the perceived threat of political violence. Fianna Fáil formed a majority government after the election. During the first Fianna Fáil government, the National Centre Party aligned with the largest opposition party, Cumann na nGaedheal, on almost all issues of political or economic importance. However, Frank MacDermot rejected a suggestion that the two parties should merge.

The opposition parties united in mutual self-defence when the government banned the Army Comrades Association in August 1933. The two parties and the ACA merged to form Fine Gael in September, just eleven months after the formation of the National Centre Party. Although MacDermot became a Vice-President of Fine Gael at its foundation, he differed from most of his party colleagues on issues such as the degree of emphasis to be given to Ireland's membership of the British Commonwealth. He ultimately resigned from the party, to sit as an Independent.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - Patrick Gregory McGovern

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Patrick Gregory McGovern (1875 - February 7, 1949) was an Irish politician. He was born in Clarbally townland near Bawnboy, County Cavan, the son of a farmer. He attended Bawnboy National School. In 1909 he married a Miss McManus and had ten children, seven sons and three daughters. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1933 general election as a National Centre Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Cavan constituency. He was re-elected at the 1937 general election for the same constituency as a Fine Gael TD. He was defeated at the 1943 general election.

Members of the Eighth Dáil - James Pattison

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James P. Pattison

James P. Pattison (28 June 1886 – 31 December 1963) was an Irish Labour Party politician. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann on his second attempt at the 1933 general election for the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency.

In 1944, the Labour Party split and Pattison became a member of the new political movement, the National Labour Party. The split was healed when new party merged with the Labour Party in 1950.

When the Carlow–Kilkenny constituency was split at the 1937 general election, Pattison was re-elected in the new 3-seat Kilkenny constituency. He retained that seat through three more general elections, and was returned again for Carlow–Kilkenny when the constituency was recreated for the 1948 general election.

However, he lost his Dáil seat in the 1951 general election to the former Fianna Fáil TD Francis Humphreys, but regained it at the 1954 general election. He was defeated again at the 1957 general election, again by a Fianna Fáil candidate, and decided to retire from national politics.

His son, Séamus Pattison, was elected at the 1961 general election and is a former Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.

The President of Ireland

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The President of Ireland (Irish: Uachtarán na hÉireann [ˈuəxt̪ˠəɾˠɑːn̪ˠ n̪ˠə ˈheːɾʲən̪ˠ]) is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.

The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute discretion. The President's official residence is Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin. The office was established by the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, and became internationally recognised as head of state in 1949 following the coming into force of the Republic of Ireland Act.

The current president is Mary McAleese, who took office on 11 November 1997. The next president will be Michael D. Higgins, who was elected on 29 October 2011.

The Constitution of Ireland provides for a parliamentary system of government, under which the role of the head of state is largely a ceremonial one. The President is formally one of three tiers of the Oireachtas (national parliament), which also comprises Dáil Éireann (the lower house) and Seanad Éireann (the Senate or upper house).

Unlike many other republics, executive authority is expressly vested in the Government (cabinet). Thus, the President is not even the nominal chief executive. The Government is obliged, however, to keep the President generally informed on matters of domestic and foreign policy. Most of the functions of the President may only be carried out in accordance with the strict instructions of the Constitution, or the binding 'advice' of the Government. The President does, however, possess certain personal powers that may be exercised at his or her discretion.

The main functions are prescribed by the Constitution:

Appoints the Government
The President appoints the Taoiseach (head of government) and other ministers, and accepts their resignations. The Taoiseach is appointed upon the nomination of the Dáil, and the remainder of the cabinet upon the nomination of the Taoiseach and approval of the Dáil. Ministers are dismissed on the advice of the Taoiseach and the Taoiseach must, unless there is a dissolution of the Dáil, resign upon losing the confidence of the house.

Appoints the judiciary
The President appoints the judges to all Courts of the Republic of Ireland, on the advice of the Government.

Convenes and dissolves the Dáil
This power is exercised on the advice of the Taoiseach; government or Dáil approval is not needed. The President may only refuse a dissolution when a Taoiseach has lost the confidence of the Dáil.

Signs bills into law
The President cannot veto a bill that the Dáil and the Seanad have adopted. However, he/she may refer it to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. If the Supreme Court upholds the bill, the President must sign it however if it is found to be repugnant to the constitution, the President will decline to give assent.

Represents the state in foreign affairs
This power is exercised only on the advice of the Government. The President accredits ambassadors and receives the letters of credence of foreign diplomats. Ministers sign international treaties in the President's name. This role was not exercised by the President prior to the Republic of Ireland Act 1948

Supreme commander of the Defence Forces
This role is somewhat similar in statute to that of a commander-in-chief. An officer's commission is signed and sealed by the President. This is a nominal position, the powers of which are exercised on the advice of the Government. (See Minister for Defence.)

Power of pardon
The President, on the advice of the Government, has "the right of pardon and the power to commute or remit punishment". Pardon, for miscarriages of justice, has applied rarely: Thomas Quinn in 1940, Brady in 1943, and Nicky Kelly in 1992. The current procedure is specified by Section 7 of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1993. There were plans in 2005 for paramilitary "on the runs" to receive pardons as part of the Northern Ireland peace process, to supplement the 1998 early release of serving prisoners after the Good Friday Agreement. This was controversial and was soon abandoned along with similar British proposals.Power of commutation and remittance are not restricted to the President, though this was the case for death sentences handed down prior to the abolition of capital punishment.

Other functions specified by statute or otherwise include:

The President is ex officio President of the Irish Red Cross Society.

The President appoints, on the advice of the Government, the Senior Professors and chairman of the council of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies; the governor of the Central Bank of Ireland; the members of the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal; the Ombudsman; and the members of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

The President appoints one trustee to the Chester Beatty Library. This was specified in Chester Beatty's will and given effect by a 1968 Act of the Oireachtas.

The President is the patron of Gaisce – The President's Award, established by trust deed in 1985.

The President may not leave the state without the consent of the Government.

Every formal address or message "to the nation" or to either or both Houses of the Oireachtas must have prior approval of the Government. Other than on these two (quite rare) occasions there is no limitation on the President's right to speak. While earlier presidents were exceptionally cautious in delivering speeches and on almost every occasion submitted them for vetting, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese have made much more use of their right to speak without government approval, with Mary McAleese doing many live radio and television interviews. Nonetheless, by convention Presidents refrain from direct criticism of the government.

The President may not leave the state without the consent of the Government.
Every formal address or message "to the nation" or to either or both Houses of the Oireachtas must have prior approval of the Government. Other than on these two (quite rare) occasions there is no limitation on the President's right to speak. While earlier presidents were exceptionally cautious in delivering speeches and on almost every occasion submitted them for vetting, Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese have made much more use of their right to speak without government approval, with Mary McAleese doing many live radio and television interviews. Nonetheless, by convention Presidents refrain from direct criticism of the government.

The Taoiseach is required to resign if he has "ceased to retain the support of a majority" of the Dáil, unless he asks the President to dissolve the Dáil. The President has the right to refuse such a request, in which case the Taoiseach must resign immediately. This power has never been invoked. However, the necessary circumstances existed in 1944, 1982 and 1994. The apparent discrepancy between the Irish and English versions of the Constitution has discouraged Presidents from contemplating the use of the power. On the three occasions when the necessary circumstances existed, presidents have adopted an ultra-strict application of a policy of non-contact with the opposition. The most notable instance of this was in January 1982, when Patrick Hillery instructed an aide, Captain Anthony Barber, to ensure that no telephone calls from the opposition were to be passed on to him. (Nevertheless three opposition figures, including Fianna Fáil leader Charles Haughey, demanded to be put through to Hillery, with Haughey threatening to end Barber's career if the calls weren't put through. Hillery, as Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces, recorded the threat in Barber's file and recorded that Barber had been acting on his instructions in refusing the call). Even without this consideration, refusing such a request would arguably create a constitutional crisis, as it is considered a fairly strong constitutional convention that the head of state always grants a parliamentary dissolution. Having said this, Mary Robinson, who had been a distinguished constitutional lawyer, has stated that she would have refused Albert Reynolds a dissolution if he had asked for one after his coalition government fell apart in 1994.

If requested to do so by a petition signed by a majority of the membership of the Seanad, and one-third of the membership of the Dáil, the President may, after consultation with the Council of State, decline to sign into law a bill (other than a bill to amend the constitution) he/she considers to be of great "national importance" until it has been approved by either the people in an ordinary referendum or the Dáil reassembling after a general election, held within eight months. This power has never been used, and no such petition has been invoked. Of the 60 Senators, 11 are nominated by the Taoiseach, so there is rarely a majority opposed to a government bill.

The President may appoint up to seven members of the Council of State, and remove or replace such appointed members. (See list of presidential appointees to the Council of State.) The following powers all require prior consultation with the Council of State, although the President need not take its advice:

Referral of bills to the Supreme Court
The President may refer a bill, in whole or part, to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality. If the Supreme Court finds any referred part unconstitutional, the entire bill falls. This power may not be applied to a money bill, a bill to amend the Constitution, or an urgent bill the time for the consideration of which has been abridged in the Seanad. This is the most widely used reserve power;[25] a full list is at Council of State (Ireland)#Referring of bills. In a 1982 judgment delivered under such a referral, Chief Justice Tom O'Higgins bemoaned the crude strictures of the prescribed process; especially the fact that, if the court finds that a bill does not violate the Constitution, this judgment can never subsequently be challenged.

Abridgement of the time for bills in the Seanad
The President may, at the request of the Dáil, impose a time-limit on the period during which the Seanad may consider a bill. The effect of this power is to restrict the power of the Seanad to delay a bill that the Government considers urgent.

Appointment of a Committee of Privileges
The President may, if requested to do so by the Seanad, establish a Committee of Privileges to solve a dispute between the two Houses of the Oireachtas as to whether or not a bill is a money bill.

Address to the Oireachtas
The President may address, or send a message to, either or both Houses of the Oireachtas. Four such addresses have been made: one by de Valera, twice by Robinson, and once by McAleese (details at Council of State (Ireland)#Addresses to the Oireachtas). The approval of the government is needed for the message; in practice, the entire text is submitted.

Address to the Nation
The President may "address a message to the Nation" subject to the same conditions as an address to the Oireachtas. This power has never been used. Commonplace messages, such as Christmas greetings, are not considered to qualify.

Convention of meetings of the Oireachtas
The President may convene a meeting of either or both Houses of the Oireachtas. This power would allow the President to step in if, in extraordinary circumstances, the ordinary procedures for convening the houses had broken down.

The President is directly elected by secret ballot using the Alternative Vote, the single-winner analogue of the Single Transferable Vote. Under the Presidential Elections Act, 1993 a candidate's election formally takes place in the form of a 'declaration' by the returning officer. Where more than one candidate is nominated, the election is 'adjourned' so that a ballot can take place, allowing the electors to choose between candidates. A Presidential election is held in time for the winner to take office the day after the end of the incumbent's seven-year term. In the event of premature vacancy, an election must be held within sixty days.

Only resident Irish citizens aged eighteen or more may vote; a 1983 bill to extend the right to resident British citizens was ruled unconstitutional.

Presidents can serve a maximum of two terms, consecutive or otherwise.

Candidates must be Irish citizens aged 35 or more They must be nominated by one of the following:

At least 20 members of the Oireachtas; (there are 226 members)

At least four county or city councils (there are 34 councils)

Themselves (in the case of incumbent or former presidents who have served one term).

Where only one candidate is nominated, he or she is deemed elected without the need for a ballot. For this reason, where there is a consensus among political parties not to have a contest, the President may be 'elected' without the occurrence of an actual ballot. Since the establishment of the office this has occurred on six occasions.

The most recent presidential election was held on 27 October 2011.

The President has no vice president. In the event of a premature vacancy a successor must be elected within sixty days. In a vacancy or where the President is unavailable, the duties and functions of the office are carried out by a Presidential Commission, consisting of the Chief Justice, the Ceann Comhairle (speaker) of the Dáil, and the Cathaoirleach (chairperson) of the Seanad. Routine functions, such as signing uncontentious bills into law, have often been fulfilled by the Presidential Commission when the President is abroad on a state visit. The government's power to prevent the President leaving the state is relevant in aligning the diplomatic and legislative calendars.

Technically each president's term of office expires at midnight on the day before the new president's inauguration. Therefore, between midnight and the inauguration the following day the presidential duties and functions are carried out by the Presidential Commission. The constitution also empowers the Council of State, acting by a majority of its members, to "make such provision as to them may seem meet" for the exercise of the duties of the president in any contingency the constitution does not foresee. The Council of State can therefore be considered the third in the line of succession. However, to date, it has never been necessary for the council to take up this role.

Vacancies in the presidency have occurred three times: on the death of Erskine Hamilton Childers in 1974, and on the resignations of Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh in 1976 and Mary Robinson in 1997.

The official residence of the President is Áras an Uachtaráin, located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin. The ninety-two room building formerly served as the 'out-of-season' residence of the Irish Lord Lieutenant and the residence of two of the three Irish Governors-General: Tim Healy and James McNeill. The President is normally referred to as 'President' or 'Uachtarán', rather than 'Mr/Madam President' or similar forms. (Note that A hUachtaráin (vocative case) would be the correct address in Irish.) The style used is normally His Excellency/Her Excellency (Irish: A Shoilse/A Soilse); sometimes people may orally address the President as 'Your Excellency' (Irish: A Shoilse [ə 'həʎʃ̪ʲə]), or simply 'President' (Irish: A Uachtaráin [ə 'uːəxt̪ˠəɾaːn̥]). The Presidential Salute is taken from the National Anthem, "Amhrán na bhFiann". It consists of the first four bars followed by the last five, without lyrics.

Under the Constitution, in assuming office the President must subscribe to a formal declaration, made publicly and in the presence of members of both Houses of the Oireachtas, judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court, and other "public personages". The inauguration of the President takes place in St Patrick's Hall in Dublin Castle. The declaration is specified in Article 12.8; in English it is:

In the presence of Almighty God I do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will maintain the Constitution of Ireland and uphold its laws, that I will fulfil my duties faithfully and conscientiously in accordance with the Constitution and the law, and that I will dedicate my abilities to the service and the welfare of the people of Ireland. May God direct and sustain me.

To date every President has subscribed to the declaration in Irish. In 1993, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed concern that, because of its religious language, the declaration amounts to a religious test for office. The Oireachtas Committee in 1998 recommended that the religious references be made optional.

The President can be removed from office in two ways, neither of which has ever been invoked. The Supreme Court, in a sitting of at least five judges, may find the President "permanently incapacitated", while the Oireachtas may remove the President for "stated misbehaviour". Either house of the Oireachtas may instigate the latter process by passing an impeachment resolution, provided at least thirty members move it and at least two thirds support it. The other house will then either investigate the stated charges or commission a body to do so; following which at least two thirds of members must agree both that the President is guilty and that the charges warrant removal.

As head of state of Ireland, the President receives the highest level of protection in the land. The Áras is protected by armed guards at all times and is encircled by security fencing. At all times the President travels with an armed security detail which is provided by the SDU (Special Detective Unit - an elite wing of the Irish police force). The Presidential limousine is a Mercedes-Benz S-Class LWB. The Presidential Limousine is always navy blue and carries the Presidential standard on the left front wing and the tricolour on the right front wing. When traveling the Presidential limousine is always accompanied by support cars (normally BMW 5 series driven by members of the SDU) and several Garda motorcycle outriders which form a protective convoy around the car. The Presidential State Car is a 1947 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith landaulette, which is used for ceremonial occasions. The President also has the full use of all Irish Air Corps aircraft at his/her disposal if so needed.

The office of President was established in 1937, in part as a replacement for the office of Governor-General that existed during the 1922–37 Irish Free State. The seven year term of office of the President was inspired by that of the presidents of Weimar Germany. At the time the office was established critics warned that the post might lead to the emergence of a dictatorship. However, these fears were not borne out as successive Presidents played a limited, largely apolitical role in national affairs.

During the period of 1937 to 1949, it was unclear whether the Irish head of state was actually the President of Ireland or George VI, the King of Ireland. This period of confusion ended in 1949 when the state was declared to be a republic. The 1937 constitution did not mention the king; but nor did it state that the President was head of state, saying rather that the President "shall take precedence over all other persons in the State". The President exercised some powers that could be exercised by heads of state but which could also be exercised by governors or governors-general, such as appointing the Government and promulgating the law. However, in 1936 George VI had been declared "King of Ireland" and, under the External Relations Act of the same year, it was this king who represented the state in its foreign affairs. Treaties, therefore, were signed in the name of the 'King of Ireland', who also accredited ambassadors and received the letters of credence of foreign diplomats. Representing a state abroad is seen by many scholars as the key characteristic of a head of state. This role meant, in any case, that George VI was the Irish head of state in the eyes of foreign nations. The Republic of Ireland Act 1948, which came into force in April 1949, proclaimed a republic and transferred the role of representing the state abroad from George VI to the President. No change was made to the constitution.

After the inaugural presidency of Douglas Hyde, who was an interparty nominee for the office, the nominees of the Fianna Fáil political party won every presidential election until 1990. The party traditionally used the nomination as a reward for its most senior and prominent members, such as party founder and longtime Taoiseach Éamon de Valera and European Commissioner Patrick Hillery. Most of its occupants to that time followed Hyde's precedent-setting conception of the presidency as a conservative, low-key institution that used its ceremonial prestige and few discretionary powers sparingly. In fact, the presidency was such a quiet position that Irish politicians sought to avoid contested presidential elections as often as possible, feeling that the attention such elections would bring to the office was an unnecessary distraction, and office-seekers facing economic austerity would often suggest the elimination of the office as a money-saving measure.

Despite the historical meekness of the presidency, however, it has been at the center of some high-profile controversies. In particular, the fifth President, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, faced a contentious dispute with the government in 1976 over the signing of a bill declaring a state of emergency, which ended in Ó Dálaigh's resignation. His successor, Patrick Hillery, was also involved in a controversy in 1982, when then Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald requested a dissolution of the Dáil Éireann. Hillery was bombarded with phone calls from opposition members urging him to refuse the request, an action that Hillery saw as highly inappropriate interference with the President's constitutional role and resisted the political pressure.

The presidency began to be transformed in the 1990s. Hillery's conduct regarding the dissolution affair in 1982 came to light in 1990, imbuing the office with a new sense of dignity and stability. However, it was Hillery's successor, seventh President Mary Robinson, who ultimately revolutionized the presidency. The winner of an upset victory in the highly controversial election of 1990, Robinson was the Labour nominee, the first President to defeat Fianna Fáil in an election and the first female President. Upon election, however, Robinson took steps to de-politicize the office. She also sought to widen the scope of the presidency, developing new economic, political and cultural links between the state and other countries and cultures, especially those of the Irish diaspora. Robinson used the prestige of the office to activist ends, placing emphasis during her presidency on the needs of developing countries, linking the history of the Great Irish Famine to today's nutrition, poverty and policy issues, attempting to create a bridge of partnership between developed and developing countries.

The text of the Constitution of Ireland, as originally enacted in 1937, made reference in its controversial Articles 2 and 3 to two geopolitical entities: a thirty-two county 'national territory' (i.e., the island of Ireland), and a twenty-six county 'state' formerly known as the Irish Free State. The implication behind the title 'President of Ireland' was that the President would function as the head of all Ireland. However, this implication was challenged by the Ulster Unionists and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland which was the state internationally acknowledged as having jurisdiction over Northern Ireland. Articles 2 and 3 were substantially amended in consequence of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.

Ireland in turn challenged the proclamation in the United Kingdom of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 as '[Queen] of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'. The Irish government refused to attend royal functions as a result; for example, Patrick Hillery declined on Government advice to attend the wedding of the Prince of Wales to Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, to which he had been invited by Queen Elizabeth, just as Seán T. O'Kelly had declined on government advice to attend the 1953 Coronation Garden Party at the British Embassy in Dublin. Britain in turn insisted on referring to the President as 'President of the Republic of Ireland' or 'President of the Irish Republic'. Letters of Credence from Queen Elizabeth, on the British government's advice, appointing United Kingdom ambassadors to Ireland were not addressed to the 'President of Ireland' but to the President personally (for example: 'President Hillery').

The naming dispute and consequent avoidance of contact at head of state level has gradually thawed since 1990. President Robinson (1990–97) chose unilaterally to break the taboo by regularly visiting the United Kingdom for public functions, frequently in connection with Anglo-Irish Relations or to visit the Irish emigrant community in Great Britain. In another breaking of precedent, she accepted an invitation to Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II. Palace accreditation supplied to journalists referred to the "visit of the President of Ireland".

Between 1990 and 2010, both Robinson and her successor President McAleese (1997– ) visited the Palace on numerous occasions, while senior royals - the Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh all visited both Presidents of Ireland at he Áras an Uachtaráin. The Presidents attended functions with the Princess Royal. President Robinson jointly hosted a reception with the Queen at St. James's Palace, London, in 1995, to commemorate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the Queen's Colleges in 1845 (the Quen's Colleges are now known as Queen's University of Belfast, University College Cork and National University of Ireland, Galway). These contacts eventually led to a state visit of Queen Elizabeth to Ireland in 2011.

Though the President's title implicitly asserted authority in Northern Ireland, in reality the Irish President needed government permission to visit there. (The Constitution of Ireland in Article 3 explicitly stated that "[p]ending the re-integration of the national territory" the authority of the Irish state did not extend to Northern Ireland. Presidents prior to the presidency of Mary Robinson were regularly refused permission by the Irish government to visit Northern Ireland.)

However, since the 1990s and in particular since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, the president has regularly visited Northern Ireland. President McAleese, who is herself the first President of Ireland to have been born in Northern Ireland, continued on from President Robinson in this regard. In a sign of the warmth of modern British-Irish relations, she has even been warmly welcomed by most leading unionists. At the funeral for a child murdered by the Real IRA in Omagh she symbolically walked up the main aisle of the church hand-in-hand with the Ulster Unionist Party leader and then First Minister of Northern Ireland, David Trimble, MP. But in other instances, Mary McAleese has been criticised for certain comments, such as a reference to the way in which Protestant children in Northern Ireland had been brought up to hate Catholics just as German children had been encouraged to hate Jews under the Nazi regime, on 27 January 2005, following her attendance at the ceremony commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp. These remarks caused outrage among Northern Ireland's unionist politicians, and McAleese later apologised and conceded that her statement had been unbalanced. Despite the changes to Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution as part of the Good Friday Agreement the title of the office remains the "President of Ireland", as the Irish Constitution stipulates that the state's official name is simply "Ireland", and that the "Republic of" is merely its description, though there is now little dispute that the Presidency only has jurisdiction over the "Republic of" Ireland. However, she is regarded by many northern nationalists as their President, and calls have been made for voting rights in Presidential elections to be extended to the whole island.

There have been many suggestions for reforming the office of President over the years. In 1996, the Constitutional Review Group recommended that the office of President should remain largely unchanged. However, it suggested that the Constitution should be amended to explicitly declare the President to be head of state (at present that term does not appear in the text), and that consideration be given to the introduction of a constructive vote of no confidence system in the Dáil, along the lines of that in Germany. If this system were introduced then the power of the President to refuse a Dáil dissolution would be largely redundant and could be taken away. The All-party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution's 1998 Report made similar recommendations.

In an October 2009 poll, concerning support for various potential candidates in the 2011 presidential election conducted by the Sunday Independent, a "significant number" of people were said to feel that the presidency is a waste of money and should be abolished.

The functions of the President were executed by the Presidential Commission from the coming into force of the Constitution on 29 December 1937 until the election of Douglas Hyde in 1938, and during the vacancies of 1974, 1976, and 1997.

Mary Robinson is unusual in having a prominent career after her term of office. She resigned several months before her term was to expire in 1997, in order to become UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a post she held until 2002. Since the death of Patrick Hillery in 2008, she has been the sole living former President. The 11 years between Robinson's resignation and Hillery's death is the only period in Irish history in which there has been more than one living former President.

Former Presidents who are willing and able to serve are members of the Council of State.

The Eighth Dáil

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This is a list of the members who were elected to the 8th Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State. These TDs (Members of Parliament) were elected at the 1933 general election on 24 January 1933 and met on 8 February 1933. The 8th Dáil was dissolved on 14 June 1937. The 8th Dáil lasted 1,619 days.

The list of the 153 TDs elected, is given in alphabetical order by constituency.

Members of the 8th Dáil:

Constituency Name Party

Carlow–Kilkenny
Desmond FitzGerald Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán Gibbons Fianna Fáil
Richard Holohan National Centre Party
Thomas Derrig Fianna Fáil
James Pattison Labour Party

Cavan
Patrick McGovern National Centre Party
John Joe O'Reilly Cumann na nGaedheal
Michael Sheridan Fianna Fáil
Paddy Smith Fianna Fáil

Clare
Patrick Burke Cumann na nGaedheal
Éamon de Valera Fianna Fáil
Patrick Hogan Labour Party
Patrick Houlihan Fianna Fáil
Seán O'Grady Fianna Fáil

Cork Borough
Richard Anthony Independent
W. T. Cosgrave Cumann na nGaedheal
William Desmond Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Dowdall Fianna Fáil
Hugo Flinn Fianna Fáil

Cork East
William Broderick Cumann na nGaedheal
Martin Corry Fianna Fáil
Patrick Daly Cumann na nGaedheal
William Kent National Centre Party
Patrick Murphy Fianna Fáil

Cork North
Daniel Corkery Fianna Fáil
Seán Moylan Fianna Fáil
Daniel O'Leary Cumann na nGaedheal

Cork West
James Burke Cumann na nGaedheal
Tom Hales Fianna Fáil
Timothy J. Murphy Labour Party
Timothy O'Donovan National Centre Party
Eamonn O'Neill Cumann na nGaedheal

Donegal
Neal Blaney Fianna Fáil
Brian Brady Fianna Fáil
James Dillon National Centre Party
Hugh Doherty Fianna Fáil
Michael Óg McFadden Cumann na nGaedheal
Daniel McMenamin Cumann na nGaedheal
James Myles Independent
Joseph O'Doherty Fianna Fáil

Dublin County
John A. Costello Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán Brady Fianna Fáil
Henry Dockrell Cumann na nGaedheal
John Good Independent
Seán MacEntee Fianna Fáil
Batt O'Connor Cumann na nGaedheal
Gearóid O'Sullivan Cumann na nGaedheal
Margaret Mary Pearse Fianna Fáil

Dublin North
Patrick Belton Cumann na nGaedheal
Cormac Breathnach Fianna Fáil
Alfred Byrne Independent
Eamonn Cooney Fianna Fáil
Richard Mulcahy Cumann na nGaedheal
Seán T. O'Kelly Fianna Fáil
Vincent Rice Cumann na nGaedheal
Oscar Traynor Fianna Fáil

Dublin South
James Beckett Cumann na nGaedheal
Robert Briscoe Fianna Fáil
Peadar Doyle Cumann na nGaedheal
Thomas Kelly Fianna Fáil
Seán Lemass Fianna Fáil
James Lynch Fianna Fáil
James McGuire Cumann na nGaedheal

Dublin University
Ernest Alton Independent
James Craig Independent
William Thrift Independent

Galway
Gerald Bartley Fianna Fáil
Patrick Beegan Fianna Fáil
Seán Broderick Cumann na nGaedheal
Frank Fahy Ceann Comhairle
Patrick Hogan Cumann na nGaedheal
Stephen Jordan Fianna Fáil
Séamus Keely Fianna Fáil
Mark Killilea, Snr Fianna Fáil
Martin McDonogh Cumann na nGaedheal

Kerry
Frederick Crowley Fianna Fáil
John Flynn Fianna Fáil
Eamonn Kissane Fianna Fáil
Fionán Lynch Cumann na nGaedheal
Tom McEllistrim Fianna Fáil
Denis Daly Fianna Fáil
John O'Sullivan Cumann na nGaedheal

Kildare
Thomas Harris Fianna Fáil
Sydney Minch Cumann na nGaedheal
William Norton Labour Party

Leitrim–Sligo
William Browne Fianna Fáil
Frank Carty Fianna Fáil
James Dolan Cumann na nGaedheal
Stephen Flynn Fianna Fáil
Bernard Maguire Fianna Fáil
Martin Roddy Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick Rogers National Centre Party

Leix–Offaly
Patrick Boland Fianna Fáil
William Davin Labour Party
Eamon Donnelly Fianna Fáil
Jack Finlay National Centre Party
Thomas F. O'Higgins Cumann na nGaedheal

Limerick
George C. Bennett Cumann na nGaedheal
Daniel Bourke Fianna Fáil
Tadhg Crowley Fianna Fáil
Michael Keyes Labour Party
Donnchadh Ó Briain Fianna Fáil
James Reidy Cumann na nGaedheal
Robert Ryan Fianna Fáil

Longford–Westmeath
Charles Fagan National Centre Party
James Geoghegan Fianna Fáil
Michael Kennedy Fianna Fáil
Seán Mac Eoin Cumann na nGaedheal
James Victory Fianna Fáil

Louth
Frank Aiken Fianna Fáil
James Coburn Independent
James Murphy Cumann na nGaedheal

Mayo North
Micheál Clery Fianna Fáil
Michael Davis Cumann na nGaedheal
James Morrisroe Cumann na nGaedheal
P. J. Ruttledge Fianna Fáil

Mayo South
James FitzGerald-Kenney Cumann na nGaedheal
Michael Kilroy Fianna Fáil
Edward Moane Fianna Fáil
Martin Nally Cumann na nGaedheal
Richard Walsh Fianna Fáil

Meath
Robert Davitt Cumann na nGaedheal
James Kelly Fianna Fáil
Matthew O'Reilly Fianna Fáil

Monaghan
Alexander Haslett Independent
Eamon Rice Fianna Fáil
Conn Ward Fianna Fáil

National University of Ireland
Helena Concannon Fianna Fáil
Conor Maguire Fianna Fáil
Patrick McGilligan Cumann na nGaedheal

Roscommon
Michael Brennan Cumann na nGaedheal
Gerald Boland Fianna Fáil
Frank MacDermot National Centre Party
Patrick O'Dowd Fianna Fáil

Tipperary
Dan Breen Fianna Fáil
Séamus Burke Cumann na nGaedheal
Richard Curran Natioal Centre Party
Andrew Fogary Fianna Fáil
Seán Hayes Fiana Fáil
Daniel Morrissey Independent
Martin Ryan Fianna Fáil

Waterford
Seán Goulding Fianna Fáil
Patrick Little Fianna Fáil
Bridget Redmond Cumann na nGaedheal
Nicholas Wall National Centre Party

Wexford
Richard Corish Labour Party
Osmond Esmonde Cumann na nGaedheal
John Keating Cumann na nGaedheal
Patrick Kehoe Fianna Fáil
James Ryan Fianna Fáil

Wicklow
James Everett Labour Part
Séamus Moore Fianna Fáil
Dermot O'Mahony Cumann na nGaedheal

Changes
Date Constituency Gain Loss Note
1933-10-13 13 October 1933 - Dublin University - Independent - Independent
Robert Rowlette (Ind) wins the seat vacated by the death of James Craig (Ind)

1935-06-17 17 June 1935 - Dublin County - Fine Gael - Fine Gael
Cecil Lavery (FG) holds the seat vacated by the death of Batt O'Connor (FG)

1935-06-19 19 June 1935 - Galway - Fianna Fáil - Fine Gael
Eamon Corbett (FF) wins the seat vacated by the death of Martin McDonogh (FG)

1936-08-13 13 August 1936 - Galway - Fianna Fáil - Fine Gael
Martin Neilan (FF) wins the seat vacated by the death of Patrick Hogan (FG)

1936-08-17 17 August 1936 - Wexford - Fianna Fáil - Fine Gael
Denis Allen (FF) wins the seat vacated by the death of Osmond Esmonde (FG)

The Irish Free State Constitution

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The Constitution of the Irish Free State was the first constitution of the independent Irish state. It was enacted with the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922, of which it formed a part. In 1937 it was replaced by the modern Constitution of Ireland.

As originally enacted, the Constitution was firmly shaped by the requirements of the Anglo-Irish Treaty that had been negotiated between the British government and Irish leaders in 1921. However, following a change of government in 1932 a series of amendments progressively removed many of the provisions that were required by the Treaty.

The Constitution established a parliamentary system of government under a form of constitutional monarchy, and contained guarantees of certain fundamental rights. It was originally intended that the Constitution would be a rigid document that, after an initial period, could be amended only by referendum. However, a loophole in the Constitution's amendment procedure meant that all amendments were in fact made by a simple Act of the Oireachtas (parliament).

Irish nationalists who fought the War of Independence believed themselves to be fighting on behalf of a newly formed state called the Irish Republic. The Irish Republic had its own president, an elected assembly called Dáil Éireann, and a judicial system in the form of the Dáil courts. However this self-proclaimed republic was recognised neither by the British government nor any other state. In the negotiations leading to the Anglo-Irish Treaty the British government insisted that the new Irish state must remain within the Commonwealth and not be a republic.

Furthermore, while the Irish Republic had a constitution, of sorts, in the form of the Dáil Constitution, this was a very brief document and had been intended to be only provisional. It was therefore clear, when, in 1921, the British government agreed to the creation of a largely independent Irish state, that a new constitution was needed. The Anglo-Irish Treaty made a number of requirements of the new constitution. Among these were that:

The new state would be called the Irish Free State and would be a dominion of the British Commonwealth.

The King would be the head of state and would be represented by a Governor-General.

Members of the Oireachtas (parliament) would swear an oath of allegiance to the Irish Free State and declare their fidelity to the King. This Free State Oath of Allegiance was controversial.

Northern Ireland would be included in the Irish Free State unless its Parliament decided to opt out (which it ultimately did).

The Constitution of the Irish Free State was drafted by a committee under the nominal chairmanship of Michael Collins. Collins attended only the first meeting of the Committee, and Darrell Figgis, the vice-Chairman became acting Chair. The committee produced three draft texts, designated A, B and C.

A was signed by Figgis, James McNeill and John O’Byrne.

B was signed by James G. Douglas, C.J. France and Hugh Kennedy and it differed substantially from A only in proposals regarding the Executive. This difference was intended by Douglas to permit the Anti-treaty faction a say in the final proposed constitution before its submission to the British Government. As such it was, according to Douglas, an attempt to ameliorate the pro- and anti-Treaty split.

Draft C was the most novel of the three. It was signed by Alfred O'Rahilly and James Murnaghan, and provided for the possibility of representation for the people of the northern counties in the Dáil in the event of that area opting out of the proposed Free State.

The official Irish text was then drafted as a translation of the English text. The Irish language version was drafted by a committee which included the Minister for Education, Eoin MacNeill; the Leas-Cheann Comhairle (deputy speaker), Pádraic Ó Máille; the Clerk of the Dáil, Colm Ó Murchadha; Piaras Béaslaí; Liam Ó Rinn and Professors Osborn Bergin and T. F. O'Rahilly.

The Constitution was adopted by means of a complex process involving both the Parliament of the United Kingdom and the Irish Dáil. The method used was complicated by the fact that the Free State was seceding from the United Kingdom, that the British wished to incorporate a mechanism whereby the new constitution would be subordinate to the Anglo-Irish Treaty and that the new constitution had to be legitimate both in British law and within the constitutional theory of Irish nationalists. A three stage process was followed, involving

The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 (enacted by the Irish Constituent Assembly)
The Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 (enacted by the UK Parliament)
A royal proclamation to bring the constitution into effect.

To begin with elections were held for the Third Dáil, which was to sit as an Irish constituent assembly for the enactment of the Constitution. This assembly enacted the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 on 25 October of that year; this Irish Act was to be the overall fundamental law of the new state, and incorporated the document known more specifically as the Constitution of the Irish Free State as its first schedule. The British Parliament at Westminster then the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 on 5 December, which provided that the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 would have the force of law. The entire text of the Irish Act was reproduced as a schedule to the British Act.

Both the British and Irish Acts provided that the Constitution would be brought into force by a royal proclamation, which was accordingly issued on 6 December. The Constitution thus came into force on 6 December, the latest possible date allowed for by the Constitution itself. On this date the members of the Dáil took the Oath of Allegiance, and nominated the members of the Executive Council (cabinet).
The means by which the Constitution was adopted resembled, in some respects, the way in which constitutions were granted to other Commonwealth nations. For example the current Constitution of Australia was adopted by the British Parliament–it is a schedule to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900. The law adopted in 1922 at Westminster had the structure of a Russian doll, containing within it the entire text of the Irish Act, which in turn contained within it the whole text of the new constitution.

The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 contained two schedules. One schedule contained the new constitution, and the other the text of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. As enacted in 1922, Section 2 of the Act provided for the supremacy of the Treaty's provisions, voiding any part of the Constitution or other Free State law that was "repugnant" to it. Similarly, both Section 2 of the Act and Article 50 of the Constitution provided that no constitutional amendment would stand so far as it violated the terms of the Treaty.

Under British constitutional legal theory, the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 held the force of law because of the enactment of the United Kingdom's Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922, thus entrenching the primacy of the Treaty. The British also viewed Irish compliance with the terms of the Treaty as a moral obligation.

The enactment by the British Parliament of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 changed the legal framework as understood by the British. The Statute was designed to increase the legislative autonomy of all the dominions. In contrast with certain of the other dominions, the Statute did not specifically place any reservation on this power as exerciseable by the Free State, and thus granted it the power to alter Irish law in any way it chose. The new government under Éamon de Valera soon used this new freedom to enact the Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act 1933. Besides abolishing the Oath of Allegiance, a requirement of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Act also expressly repealed the provisions both of the constitution proper and of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 that required compliance with the Treaty. Subsequent legislation soon began to dismantle other constitutional provisions that had been required or limited by the Treaty's terms.

As originally enacted, the constitution proper consisted of 83 separate Articles, totalling around 7,600 words. The Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 consisted of only a short preamble and three short sections, but was a far longer document because, as noted above, it included as schedules the full text of both the constitution proper and the Anglo-Irish Treaty.

The articles of the constitution proper were not formally grouped together under headings, save for the final ten articles (which came under the title of "Transitory Provisions"). However, divided by subject matter the articles of the Constitution broke down roughly as follows:

Introductory provisions (Arts. 1–4) Fundamental rights (Arts. 5–10)
Legislature (Arts. 13–46) Dáil Éireann (Arts. 26–29)
The Senate (Arts. 30–34) Initiative and referendum (Arts. 47–48)
Constitutional amendments (Art. 50) Cabinet (Arts. 51–59)
Governor-General (Art. 60) Regulation of state finances (Arts. 61–63)
Courts (Arts. 64–72) Transitory Provisions (Arts. 73–83)

The constitution itself had no preamble. However the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922 began with the following words:

Dáil Éireann sitting as a Constituent Assembly in this Provisional Parliament, acknowledging that all lawful authority comes from God to the people and in the confidence that the National life and unity of Ireland shall thus be restored, hereby proclaims the establishment of The Irish Free State (otherwise called Saorstát Éireann) and in the exercise of undoubted right, decrees and enacts as follows:—

Commonwealth membership: Article 1 stated that the state would be a "co-equal member" of the British Commonwealth.

Popular sovereignty: It was stated that the "all powers of government... are derived from the people of Ireland" (Article 2).

Citizenship: The constitution provided that those living in the state at the time of its coming into force who had been born in Ireland, had parents born in Ireland or had been resident in the state for seven years would become citizens. However anyone who was the citizen of another state could choose not to become an Irish citizen (Article 3).

National language: It was provided that Irish was the "National Language" but English was "equally recognised as an official language" (Article 4). The constitution included the terms Saorstát Éireann (as one name for the Irish Free State), Oireachtas (for the legislature), and Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann (for the houses of the legislature), all of which were intended for use even in English speech.

Unlike the then constitutions of Australia and Canada, the constitution included a bill of rights, in Articles 6-10. Rights were also protected by a number of provisions contained in other articles.

Prohibition of titles of nobility: It was provided that no title of honour could be conferred on an Irish citizen without the consent of the Executive Council (Article 5). In practice this amounted to a complete ban.

Liberty and habeas corpus: Article 6 provided that no-one could be deprived of liberty except in accordance with the law, and that habeas corpus would be upheld. The military forces were granted an exemption from this article during time of war or rebellion.

Inviolability of the home: The home could not be entered except in accordance with the law (Article 7).

Freedom of conscience and worship: Protected by Article 9 subject to "public order and morality" (Article 8).

Prohibition of establishment: The state could not "endow" any religion (Article 8).
Religious discrimination: The state could not discriminate on religious grounds (Article 8).

Freedom of speech, assembly and association: All guaranteed subject to "public morality". Laws regulating freedom of assembly and association could not be discriminatory (Article 9).

Right to education: Free elementary education guaranteed to all citizens (Article 10).

Trial by jury: Guaranteed by Article 72, which granted an exemption for minor offences and offences triable by court martial.

The constitution provided for a parliamentary system of government. The legislature was called the Oireachtas and had two houses: the Dáil Éireann was established as the lower house, and Seanad Éireann as the senate or upper house. However the Seanad had only limited powers of delay so it was the Dáil that was the dominant house.

The executive branch consisted, in practice, of a cabinet called the Executive Council headed by a prime minister, the President of the Executive Council. The cabinet was chosen by the Dáil, which could also dismiss it by a vote of no confidence.

The constitution provided that the judiciary would consist of the Supreme Court, the High Court, and any lower courts established by law.

The head of state was the King, represented by a Governor-General. Notionally the Governor-General was responsible for appointing and dismissing the cabinet, and could veto laws, but, in accordance with constitutional convention, he exercised merely a ceremonial role. Both the senate and the office of Governor-General were abolished by constitutional amendments during the Free State's final days.

As originally adopted the constitution contained (in Articles 47, 48 and 50) innovative provisions for direct democracy but, owing to constitutional amendments, these provisions were never permitted to come into effect. The provisions stated that the referendum and initiative would operate on the same franchise as the Dáil; this was universal suffrage beginning at the age of 21. The constitution provided for three forms of direct democracy:

Constitutional referendum: After an initial period all constitutional amendments would be subject to a mandatory, binding referendum. An amendment would not be deemed to have been passed unless at least a majority of registered voters participated in the referendum and the votes in favour were equal to either: (1) a majority of all eligible voters, or (2) a two-thirds majority of votes cast. This provision was stricter than the modern Constitution of Ireland, which merely requires a majority of votes cast.

Veto of legislation: Once a bill had been approved by both houses of the Oireachtas (or just by the Dáil, if it had overridden the Senate) its enactment into law could be suspended if, within seven days, either a majority of the Senate or 40% of all members of the Dáil so requested. There would then be a further period of ninety days within which either 5% of all registered voters, or a 60% majority in the Senate, could demand a referendum on the bill. The referendum would be decided by a majority of votes cast. If rejected the bill would not become law. These provisions did not apply to money bills or bills declared by both houses to be "necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety".

Initiative: Ordinary citizens would have the right, through an initiative process, to draft both constitutional amendments and ordinary laws, and insist that they be submitted to a referendum. The constitution provided a general frame-work for how the initiative would work, empowering the Oireachtas to fill in the details with legislation. It required that a proposal could be initiated by a petition of 50,000 registered voters. Once initiated a proposal would be referred to the Oireachtas, but if the Oireachtas did not adopt the law it would be obliged to submit it to a binding referendum. The constitution gave the Oireachtas two years to adopt a law allowing voters to introduce initiatives. However after this time voters had power to force the issue. This is because the initiative process itself could then by made the subject of an initiative. After two years the introduction of an initiative process would be put to a referendum if demanded by a petition of not less than 75,000 voters on the register (not more than fifteen thousand of whom could be voters in any one constituency).

The Achilles' heel of the direct democracy provisions was contained in Article 50 which provided that, for eight years after the constitution came into force, the Oireachtas could amend the constitution without a referendum. As interpreted by the courts, this even included the power to amend the article itself and extend this period.

The Oireachtas did not adopt legislation providing for the initiative within the two years stipulated by the constitution and, eventually, a petition of 96,000 signature was gathered by the opposition in order to trigger a referendum forcing the Oireachtas to introduce an initiative process. The Oireachtas responded by removing all provisions for direct democracy from the constitution, save for the requirement that, once the eight year transitional period had passed, it would be necessary to hold referendums on all constitutional amendments. Then in 1929 the Oireachtas extended this period to sixteen years. This meant that, by the time the constitution was replaced in 1937, the provisions for the constitutional referendum had still not come into force.

The procedure for adopting constitutional amendments was laid out in Article 50. This foresaw that amendments would first be approved by both houses of the Oireachtas, then submitted to a referendum, and finally receive the royal assent from the Governor-General. However, as already noted, the requirement for a referendum was postponed by the Oireachtas so that during the entire period of the Irish Free State the constitution could be amended by means of an ordinary law. As noted above it was originally provided that any amendments that violated the Anglo-Irish Treaty would be inadmissible, but this sole restriction was removed in 1933.

The Oireachtas readily used its powers of amendment so that, during the fifteen years of the constitution's operation, 25 formal constitutional amendments were made. This can be contrasted with the fact that, during its first sixty years, the current Constitution of Ireland was amended only sixteen times. In addition to the adoption of formal constitutional amendments, the courts ruled that the Oireachtas could also implicitly amend the constitution. When the Oireachtas adopted the Public Safety Act 1927, which affected civil rights, it included a section requiring that should the Act be found to be unconstitutional it would be treated as a constitutional amendment. Section 3 of the Act provided that:

Every provision of this Act which is in contravention of any provision of the Constitution shall to the extent of such contravention operate and have effect as an amendment [...] of the Constitution.

In the Attorney General v. McBride (1928), it was ruled that this kind of section was unnecessary because even if a law did not contain such a provision it could be interpreted as a tacit amendment of the constitution anyway, owing to the doctrine of implied repeal. This meant that, in addition to formal amendments, almost any Act of the Oireachtas could be considered an amendment of the constitution. The long process of ad hoc amendment that occurred until 1937 meant that, by the time it was replaced the constitution had become, according to President (of the Executive Council) Éamon de Valera, a "tattered and torn affair".

While Article 50 provided for the amendment of the constitution proper, there was no explicit provision in any law for the amendment of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922. Some jurists therefore maintained that the Oireachtas did not have power to amend the Act; rather, if it were possible to alter the law at all, it might be necessary to ask the British Parliament to do so, or to elect another constituent assembly. Chief Justice Kennedy was among those who took the view that the Act could not be altered by the Oireachtas. Nonetheless changes were eventually made to the Act, when the Oireachtas passed the Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act 1933, and when it was repealed in its entirety with the adoption of the 1937 constitution.

When the new constitution was drafted, lessons had been learned from the Free State constitution. It too granted the Oireachtas a temporary power to make constitutional amendments by ordinary law, but, unlike the Free State constitution, it expressly forbid the legislature from using this power to extend the transitional period. Article 46 of the new constitution required that constitutional amendments be approved by referendum while Article 51 of the Transitory Provisions suspended this requirement for an initial three years (beginning when the first President assumed office). However Article 46 forbid the legislature from amending either itself or Article 51. In the event the Oireachtas used its transitional power only twice, when it adopted the First Amendment and the Second Amendment. The new constitution then settled down and was not amended again for thirty years. Another difference from the Free State constitution is that the modern constitution requires constitutional amendments to be expressly identified as such. Every amendment must have the long title "An Act to amend the Constitution".

Some amendments made minor changes, such as removing the requirement that elections occur on a public holiday, but others were more radical. These included extending the term of the Dáil in 1927, the abolition of the initiative and of direct elections to the Senate in 1928, extending the period during which the Oireachtas could amend the constitution in 1928, and the introduction of draconian provisions for trial by military tribunals in 1931. From 1933 onwards a series of further amendments were made that gradually dismantled the Treaty settlement by, for example, abolishing the Oath of Allegiance and the office of Governor-General. Because a majority of its members disagreed with this process, the Senate was abolished in 1936.

The titles given to the amendments below are in an abbreviated form. The full title of Amendment No.1 was the Constitution (Amendment No. 1) Act 1925, Amendment No. 2 was the Constitution (Amendment No. 2) Act 1927, and so forth. The only amendment not to follow this pattern was the Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act 1933. It can be seen that the official numbering of constitutional amendments did not necessarily coincide with the order in which they were adopted. Equally confusing is the fact that there were formally no Amendments No. 18, 19 or 25.

Amendment No. 1 (11 July 1925): Made changes relating to the terms of office of senators, and the date on which senatorial elections were to be held.
Amendment No. 3 (4 March 1927): Removed the requirement that the day of any general election would be declared a public holiday.
Amendment No. 4 (4 March 1927): Extended the maximum term of the Dáil from four to six years. The Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1927, enacted in May of the same year, set a limit of five years in ordinary law. The overall outcome, therefore, was that the term of the Dáil was increased by only one year.
Amendment No. 2 (19 March 1927): Introduced a system of automatic re-election of the Ceann Comhairle (chairman) of the Dáil in a general election.
Amendment No. 5 (5 May 1927): Increased the maximum membership of the Executive Council from seven to twelve members.
Amendment No. 10 (12 July 1928): Removed all direct democracy provisions except the requirement that, after a transitional period, a referendum be held on all constitutional amendments. However this remaining provision would never be allowed to come into effect.
Amendment No. 6 (23 July 1928): Replaced the direct election of the Senate with a system of indirect election.
Amendment No. 13 (23 July 1928): Extended the Senate's power of delay over legislation from nine months to twenty months. This was intended to compensate the Senate for the loss of its right to force a referendum on certain bills that had been removed by Amendment No. 6.
Amendment No. 8 (25 October 1928): Reduced the age of eligibility for senators from 35 to 30.
Amendment No. 9 (25 October 1928): Altered provisions relating to the procedure for nominating candidates to stand in senatorial elections.
Amendment No. 7 (30 October 1928): Reduced the term of office of senators from twelve to nine years.
Amendment No. 14 (14 May 1929): Clarified a technical matter relating to the relationship between the two houses of the Oireachtas.
Amendment No. 15 (14 May 1929): Permitted one member of the Executive Council to be a senator, where previously it had been required that all be members of the Dáil. It was still required that the President, Vice-President and Minister for Finance hold seats in the Dáil.
Amendment No. 16 (14 May 1929): Extended the period during which amendments of the constitution could be made by ordinary legislation from eight to sixteen years.
Amendment No. 11 (17 December 1929): Altered the method for filling premature vacancies in the Senate.
Amendment No. 12 (24 March 1930): Altered provisions relating to the Committee of Privileges that had authority to resolves disputes over the definition of a money bill.
Amendment No. 17 (17 October 1931): Introduced Article 2A, which included draconian provisions for trial by military tribunals.
Constitution (Removal of Oath) Act (3 May 1933): Abolished the Oath of Allegiance and removed requirements that the constitution and laws of the Free State be compatible with the Anglo-Irish Treaty. This involved repealing Section 2 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Éireann) Act 1922, as well as altering provisions of the constitution.
Amendment No. 20 (2 November 1933): Removed the Governor-General's role in recommending appropriations of money to the Dáil. This function was vested expressly in the Executive Council. In practice this change was merely symbolic.
Amendment No. 21 (2 November 1933): Removed provisions granting the Governor-General the theoretical right to both veto bills and reserve them "for the King's pleasure".
Amendment No. 22 (16 November 1933): Abolished the right of appeal to the Privy Council.
Amendment No. 26 (5 April 1935): Made a technical change to Article 3, which dealt with citizenship.
Amendment No. 23 (24 April 1936): Abolished the two university constituencies in the Dáil.
Amendment No. 24 (29 May 1936): Abolished the Senate.
Amendment No. 27 (11 December 1936): Abolished the office of Governor-General and removed all reference to the King from the constitution. The functions of the Governor-General were transferred to various other branches of government.

The constitution empowered the courts to strike down laws they found to be unconstitutional. However judicial review of legislation was made largely meaningless by the ease with which the Oireachtas could alter the constitution.

Furthermore, as the state had only recently seceded from the UK, Irish judges were trained in British jurisprudence. To this tradition, founded on deference to the legislature and parliamentary sovereignty, constitutional review was an alien concept. This meant that despite the adoption of a new, more rigid constitution in 1937, constitutional review did not become a significant feature of Irish jurisprudence until the 1960s. During the entire period of the Free State, only two pieces of legislation were declared by the courts to be unconstitutional.

The Free State had significant problems with public order in early years. It was founded during the Irish Civil War which did not come to an end until May 1923, and thereafter there were continuing problems of public disorder and subversive activities by the IRA. This situation led to an erosion of civil rights in the new state.

During the Civil War a law provided the death penalty for the crime of unlawful possession of a firearm, and more than seventy people were executed for the offence. Draconian measures continued to be used after the war's conclusion; these included internment of former rebels and the punishment of flogging for arson and armed robbery, introduced in 1924. In 1931, acting in response to IRA violence, the Oireachtas adopted Amendment No. 17 of the constitution. This added a new draconian set of provisions called Article 2A to the constitution. Article 2A was very large, consisting of five parts and 34 sections. Among other provisions it granted powers of arrest, detention and trial of people before military tribunals not bound by normal rules of evidence, despite the fact that many crimes triable before the tribunals carried a mandatory death sentence. In order to protect itself from being undermined by the courts, Article 2A was drafted to state that it took precedence over all other provisions of the constitution (save Article 1).

The provisions for military tribunals were challenged in 1935 in the case of The State (Ryan) v. Lennon. In this case the majority of the Supreme Court reluctantly held that, because Amendment No. 17 had been duly adopted in accordance with the correct procedure, it was not open to the judges to strike it down. However Chief Justice Kennedy disagreed, arguing, in a dissenting opinion, that the Article 2A violated natural law.

Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922

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The Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 (Session 2) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed in 1922 to confirm the Constitution of the Irish Free State, and to ratify the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty.

As originally enacted, the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 consisted of a preamble, five sections (three of which were very brief), and a schedule. The bill for the Act was introduced by the Prime Minister David Lloyd George into the Parliament of the United Kingdom in November 1922. The bill's third reading in the House of Commons was on 30 November.

The Preamble, like the preamble to the Act passed by the Provisional Parliament of the Free State, bases the Constitution on the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 6 December 1921. It recites that the Constitution shall be construed in reference to the Treaty and:
"if any provision of the said Constitution or of any amendment thereof or of any law made there under is in any respect repugnant to any of the provisions of the Scheduled Treaty [the Anglo-Irish Treaty], it shall, to the extent only of such repugnancy be absolutely void and inoperative and the Parliament and the Executive Council of the Irish Free State shall respectively pass such further legislation and do such other things as may be necessary to implement the Scheduled Treaty."

The first section of the Act declares the Constitution adopted by the Provisional Parliament to be the Constitution of the Irish Free State. Its adoption is to be effective not later than 6 December 1922 by Royal Proclamation and the Constitution will come into operation on the issue of such Royal Proclamation. Section 2 makes provision for certain taxation related matters.

The Constitution of the Irish Free State in the form in which it was passed by the Provisional Parliament forms the First Schedule of the Act. The Articles of Agreement for a treaty between Great Britain and Ireland form the Second Schedule.

The New York Times reported on the passing of the Act on 5 December 1922 as follows:

At 6 o’clock this evening an event of great historic interest and of international importance took place in the House of Lords. A few minutes before that hour the Irish Free State Constitution bills had passed the final stage in the House of Commons by formal acceptance of the Lords’ amendments. It was brought back, beribboned and sealed, by the Clerk of the Commons himself, and handed to the Clerk of the Parliament to receive the Royal assent. This was conferred, as usual, by the Royal Commission, the members of which were Lord Cave, Lord Novar and Lord Somerleyton.....King George will make a special journey from Sandringham tomorrow to hold a privy council in Buckingham Palace, at which he will sign a proclamation declaring the adoption of the Irish Constitution by the British and Irish Parliaments. The Constitution will come into operation immediately on the issue of the proclamation.

The New York Times also reported that in Parliament a group of Communists singing "The Red Flag" caused a minor disturbance as the formalities relating to the Act's passage were underway.

Article 12 of the Treaty [in law, Section 5 of the Irish Free State Constitution Act, 1922] accorded to Northern Ireland the right to secede from the new Free State and rejoin the United Kingdom, giving its parliament a month in which to decide; the so-called "Ulster Month".

On 7 December 1922, the day after the establishment of the Irish Free State, the Parliament of Northern Ireland addressed the King unanimously requesting its secession from Irish Free State. The King replied shortly thereafter to say that he had caused his Ministers and the Government of the Irish Free State to be informed that Northern Ireland was to do so. The address and its overall effect was known locally as the "Constitution Act".