Cathaoirleach Explained

Post:	Cathaoirleach
Body:	Seanad Éireann
Insignia:	Seanad Eireann logo.png
Insigniasize:	200px
Incumbent:	Jerry Buttimer
Incumbentsince:	16 December 2022
Appointer:	Elected by the members of Seanad Éireann
Termlength:	No term limits
Formation:	6 December 1922
Salary:	€114,130 annually^[1]
Inaugural:	Lord Glenavy

Cathaoirleach (;^[2] Irish for chairperson; plural: Irish: Cathaoirligh) is the title of the chair (or presiding officer) of Seanad Éireann, the sixty-member upper house of the Oireachtas, the legislature of Ireland. The current Cathaoirleach is Fine Gael Senator Jerry Buttimer, who has held the office since 16 December 2022.

Powers and functions

The Cathaoirleach is the sole judge of order, and has a range of powers and functions, namely:^[3]

• Calls on members to speak and all speeches must be addressed to the Chair.
• Puts such questions to the House as are required, supervises Divisions and declares the results.
• Has authority to suppress disorder, to enforce prompt obedience to Rulings and may order members to withdraw from the House or name them for suspension by the House itself for a period.
• In the case of great disorder can suspend or adjourn the House.

The Cathaoirleach is also an Latin: [[ex officio]] member of the Council of State, which advises the president of Ireland in the exercise of their discretionary powers, and of the Presidential Commission, which performs the powers and functions of the office of president in their absence.

List of office-holders

Cathaoirleach

This list includes the panel (since 1938) and political affiliation of each Cathaoirleach, as well as the number of the Seanad and time they spent in the position.

Name^[4]	Portrait	Term of office		Party		Panel	Seanad
Lord Glenavy		6 December 1922	6 December 1928		N/A	1922
				1925
Thomas Westropp Bennett	<	-- DO NOT ADD A NON-FREE IMAGE FOR THIS PERSON – ONLY FREELY LICENCED IMAGES ARE ALLOWED FOR LISTS. SEE WP:NFLISTS -->	6 December 1928	19 May 1936^[5]		N/A	1928
		1931
		1934
Seán Gibbons	<	-- DO NOT ADD A NON-FREE IMAGE FOR THIS PERSON – ONLY FREELY LICENCED IMAGES ARE ALLOWED FOR LISTS. SEE WP:NFLISTS -->	27 April 1938	8 September 1943		Agricultural Panel	2nd
		3rd
Seán Goulding	<	-- DO NOT ADD A NON-FREE IMAGE FOR THIS PERSON – ONLY FREELY LICENCED IMAGES ARE ALLOWED FOR LISTS. SEE WP:NFLISTS -->	8 September 1943	21 April 1948		Industrial and Commercial Panel	4th
		Administrative Panel			5th
Timothy O'Donovan		21 April 1948	14 August 1951		Agricultural Panel	6th
Liam Ó Buachalla		14 August 1951	22 July 1954		Cultural and Educational Panel	7th
Patrick Baxter		22 July 1954	22 May 1957		Agricultural Panel	8th
Liam Ó Buachalla	<	-- DO NOT ADD A NON-FREE IMAGE FOR THIS PERSON – ONLY FREELY LICENCED IMAGES ARE ALLOWED FOR LISTS. SEE WP:NFLISTS -->	22 May 1957	5 November 1969		Cultural and Educational Panel	9th
		10th
		11th
Michael Yeats		5 November 1969	3 January 1973		Cultural and Educational Panel	12th
Micheál Cranitch		3 January 1973	1 June 1973		Nominated by the Taoiseach
James Dooge		1 June 1973	27 October 1977		Industrial and Commercial Panel	13th
Séamus Dolan		27 October 1977	8 October 1981		Labour Panel	14th
Charles McDonald		8 October 1981	13 May 1982		Agricultural Panel	15th
Tras Honan		13 May 1982	23 February 1983		Administrative Panel	16th
Patrick J. Reynolds		23 February 1983	25 April 1987		Industrial and Commercial Panel	17th
Tras Honan		25 April 1987	1 November 1989		Administrative Panel	18th
Seán Doherty		1 November 1989	23 January 1992		Administrative Panel	19th
Seán Fallon	<	-- DO NOT ADD A NON-FREE IMAGE FOR THIS PERSON – ONLY FREELY LICENCED IMAGES ARE ALLOWED FOR LISTS. SEE WP:NFLISTS -->	23 January 1992	4 July 1995			Industrial and Commercial Panel
		20th
Liam Naughten			12 July 1995	16 November 1996		Agricultural Panel
Liam T. Cosgrave			27 November 1996	17 September 1997		Industrial and Commercial Panel
Brian Mullooly		17 September 1997	12 September 2002		Labour Panel	21st
Rory Kiely		12 September 2002	13 September 2007		Agricultural Panel	22nd
Pat Moylan		13 September 2007	25 May 2011		Agricultural Panel	23rd
Paddy Burke		25 May 2011	8 June 2016		Agricultural Panel	24th
Denis O'Donovan		8 June 2016	29 June 2020		Agricultural Panel	25th
Mark Daly		29 June 2020	16 December 2022		Agricultural Panel	26th
Jerry Buttimer		16 December 2022	Incumbent		Labour Panel

Leas-Chathaoirleach

The Cathaoirleach's deputy is the Irish: Leas-Chathaoirleach.

Name	Portrait	Term of office		Party		Panel	Seanad
James G. Douglas		12 December 1922	9 December 1925		N/A	1922
Thomas Westropp Bennett		9 December 1925	12 December 1928		N/A	1925
Patrick W. Kenny		12 December 1928	22 April 1931		N/A	1928
Patrick Hooper		6 May 1931	6 September 1931		N/A
Michael F. O'Hanlon		20 January 1932	12 December 1934		N/A	1931
Michael Comyn		12 December 1934	24 February 1936		N/A	1934
David Robinson		11 March 1936	19 May 1936		N/A
Pádraic Ó Máille		11 May 1938	30 November 1938		Agricultural Panel	2nd
Michael Tierney		30 November 1938	27 October 1943		National University of Ireland	3rd
		27 October 1943	18 August 1944	4th
Timothy O'Donovan		18 August 1944	21 April 1948		Agricultural Panel	5th
Seán Goulding		21 April 1948	14 August 1951		Administrative Panel	6th
Timothy O'Donovan		7 November 1951	27 July 1954		Agricultural Panel	7th
Liam Ó Buachalla		27 July 1954	29 May 1957		Cultural and Educational Panel	8th
Patrick Baxter		29 May 1957	3 April 1959		Agricultural Panel	9th
John O'Donovan		30 May 1959	3 January 1962		Cultural and Educational Panel
Patrick Lindsay		3 January 1962	30 June 1965		Industrial and Commercial Panel	10th
James Dooge	<	-- DO NOT ADD A NON-FREE IMAGE FOR THIS PERSON – ONLY FREELY LICENCED IMAGES ARE ALLOWED FOR LISTS. SEE WP:NFLISTS -->	30 June 1965	12 November 1969		Labour Panel	11th
		12 November 1969	20 June 1973	Industrial and Commercial Panel	12th
Evelyn Owens		20 June 1973	2 November 1977		Labour Panel	13th
Joe McCartin		2 November 1977	9 October 1981		Agricultural Panel	14th
Séamus Dolan		9 October 1981	19 May 1982		Labour Panel	15th
Charles McDonald		19 May 1982	9 March 1983		Agricultural Panel	16th
Tras Honan		9 March 1983	25 April 1987		Administrative Panel	17th
Charles McDonald		20 May 1987	8 November 1989		Agricultural Panel	18th
Liam Naughten	<	-- DO NOT ADD A NON-FREE IMAGE FOR THIS PERSON – ONLY FREELY LICENCED IMAGES ARE ALLOWED FOR LISTS. SEE WP:NFLISTS -->	8 November 1989	25 February 1993		Agricultural Panel	19th
		25 February 1993	12 July 1995	20th
Brian Mullooly		19 July 1995	18 September 1997			Labour Panel
Liam T. Cosgrave		18 September 1997	13 September 2002		Industrial and Commercial Panel	21st
Paddy Burke		13 September 2002	13 September 2007		Agricultural Panel	22nd
		13 September 2007	25 May 2011	23rd
Denis O'Donovan		25 May 2011	8 June 2016		Industrial and Commercial Panel	24th
Paul Coghlan		15 June 2016	27 March 2020		Industrial and Commercial Panel	25th
Jerry Buttimer		7 July 2020	21 August 2020		Labour Panel	26th
Joe O'Reilly		22 August 2020	16 December 2022		Labour Panel
Mark Daly		16 December 2022	Incumbent		Agricultural Panel

See also

• Ceann Comhairle (Chairperson of Dáil Éireann)
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• History of the Republic of Ireland
• Seanad Éireann (Irish Free State)
• Leader of the Seanad

Notes and References

1. Web site: TDs and Senators salaries. Houses of the Oireachtas. 21 February 2020. 21 February 2020. 15 January 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200115163126/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/salaries-and-allowances/salaries/. live.
2. For the pronunciation in Irish, see here .
3. Web site: Cathaoirleach. Houses of the Oireachtas. 20 January 2019. 21 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190121064656/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/office-holders/cathaoirleach/. live.
4. Web site: Former Cinn Comhairle and Cathaoirligh. Houses of the Oireachtas. 20 January 2019. 26 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181026143126/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/office-holders/former-office-holders/#Cathaoirligh. live.
5. The final sitting of Seanad Éireann of the Irish Free State was held on 19 May 1936. The Seanad was abolished on 29 May 1936. The election for the new Seanad, set up in accordance with the 1937 Constitution of Ireland, was held on 28 March 1938, and the first sitting was held on 27 April 1938.