Records of Irish heads of government since 1922 explained

The Taoiseach (plural: Taoisigh) is the head of government of Ireland. Prior to the enactment of the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, the head of government was referred to as the President of the Executive Council. This office was first held by W. T. Cosgrave from 1922 to 1932, and then by Éamon de Valera from 1932 to 1937. By convention Taoisigh are numbered to include Cosgrave,^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} for example Micheál Martin is considered the 15th Taoiseach.

Electoral history

No.	Name	Born	First elected	<	-- party colours -->	Party	Constituency	Left Dáil
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8					Dublin South-East
9
10					Meath
11
12					Laois–Offaly
13
14					Dublin West
15					Cork South-Central
16					Wicklow

Periods in office

No.	Name	Entered office	Left office	Elected	Period	<	-- party colours -->	Party
1				5 terms	-
2				6 terms	1st time
3				1 term	1st time
(2)				1 term	2nd time
(3)				1 term	2nd time
(2)				1 term	3rd time
4				3 terms	-
5				2 terms	1st time
6				1 term	-
(5)				1 term	2nd time
7				1 term	1st time
8				1 term	1st time
(7)				1 term	2nd time
(8)				1 term	2nd time
(7)				2 terms	3rd time
9				2 terms	-
10				1 term	-
11				3 terms	-
12				1 term	-
13				2 terms	-
14				1 term	1st time
15				1 term	-
(14)				1 term	2nd time
16			Incumbent	1 term

Cumulative days served

No.		Name	First entered office	Finally left office	Periods	Cumulative days
	2	Éamon de Valera	9 March 1932	23 June 1959	3	7,735 (21 years, 2 months)
	11	Bertie Ahern	26 June 1997	7 May 2008	1	3,968 (10 years, 10 months)
	1	W. T. Cosgrave	6 December 1922	9 March 1932	1	3,381 (9 years, 3 months)
	5	Jack Lynch	10 November 1966	11 December 1979	2	3,205 (8 years, 9 months)
	4	Seán Lemass	23 June 1959	10 November 1966	1	2,697 (7 years, 5 months)
	7	Charles Haughey	11 December 1979	11 February 1992	3	2,646 (7 years, 3 months)
	13	Enda Kenny	9 March 2011	14 June 2017	1	2,289 (6 years, 3 months)
	3	John A. Costello	18 February 1948	20 March 1957	2	2,233 (6 years, 1 month)
	8	Garret FitzGerald	30 June 1981	10 March 1987	2	1,799 (4 years, 11 months)
	14	Leo Varadkar	14 June 2017	9 April 2024	2	1,589 (4 years, 4 months)
	6	Liam Cosgrave	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	1	1,574 (4 years, 4 months)
	9	Albert Reynolds	11 February 1992	15 December 1994	1	1,038 (2 years, 10 months)
	12	Brian Cowen	7 May 2008	9 March 2011	1	1,036 (2 years, 10 months)
	10	John Bruton	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	1	924 (2 years, 6 months)
	15	Micheál Martin	27 June 2020	17 December 2022	1	904 (2 years, 5 months)
	16	Simon Harris	9 April 2024	Incumbent	1

Length of individual periods

No.		Name	Entered office	Left office	Period No.	Period length	Length in days
	2	Éamon de Valera	9 March 1932	18 February 1948	1	15 years, 11 months, 16 days	5,824
	11	Bertie Ahern	26 June 1997	7 May 2008	1	10 years, 10 months, 11 days	3,968
	1	W. T. Cosgrave	6 December 1922	9 March 1932	1	9 years, 3 months, 4 days	3,381
	4	Seán Lemass	23 June 1959	11 November 1966	1	7 years, 4 months, 17 days	2,697
	5	Jack Lynch	11 November 1966	14 March 1973	1	6 years, 4 months, 4 days	2,316
	13	Enda Kenny	9 March 2011	14 June 2017	1	6 years, 3 months, 5 days	2,289
	7	Charles Haughey	10 March 1987	11 February 1992	3	4 years, 11 months, 1 day	1,799
	6	Liam Cosgrave	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	1	4 years, 3 months, 22 days	1,574
	8	Garret FitzGerald	14 December 1982	10 March 1987	2	4 years, 2 months, 27 days	1,547
	3	John A. Costello	18 February 1948	13 June 1951	1	3 years, 3 months, 24 days	1,211
	14	Leo Varadkar	14 June 2017	27 June 2020	1	3 years and 13 days	1,109
		Éamon de Valera	13 June 1951	2 June 1954	2	2 years, 11 months, 19 days	1,085
	9	Albert Reynolds	11 February 1992	15 December 1994	1	2 years, 10 months, 4 days	1,038
	12	Brian Cowen	7 May 2008	9 March 2011	1	2 years, 10 months, 2 days	1,036
		John A. Costello	2 June 1954	20 March 1957	2	2 years, 9 months, 18 days	1,022
	10	John Bruton	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	1	2 years, 6 months, 11 days	924
	15	Micheál Martin	27 June 2020	17 December 2022	1	2 years, 5 months and 21 days	904
		Jack Lynch	5 July 1977	11 December 1979	2	2 years, 5 months, 6 days	889
		Éamon de Valera	20 March 1957	23 June 1959	3	2 years, 3 months, 3 days	825
		Charles Haughey	11 December 1979	30 June 1981	1	1 year, 6 months, 19 days	567
		Leo Varadkar	17 December 2022	9 April 2024	2	1 year, 3 months and 23 days	479
		Charles Haughey	9 March 1982	14 December 1982	2	9 months, 5 days	280
		Garret FitzGerald	30 June 1981	9 March 1982	1	8 months, 9 days	252
	16	Simon Harris	9 April 2024	Incumbent	1

Longevity

No.		Name	Born	Died	Age as of
	6	Liam Cosgrave	13 April 1920	4 October 2017
	2	Éamon de Valera	14 October 1882	29 August 1975
	1	W. T. Cosgrave	6 June 1880	16 November 1965
	8	Garret FitzGerald	9 February 1926	19 May 2011
	3	John A. Costello	20 June 1891	5 January 1976
	5	Jack Lynch	15 August 1917	20 October 1999
	9	Albert Reynolds	3 November 1932	21 August 2014
	7	Charles Haughey	16 September 1925	13 June 2006
	10	John Bruton	18 May 1947	6 February 2024
	13	Enda Kenny	24 April 1951
	11	Bertie Ahern	12 September 1951
	4	Seán Lemass	12 July 1899	11 May 1971
	12	Brian Cowen	10 January 1960
	15	Micheál Martin	1 August 1960
	14	Leo Varadkar	18 January 1979
	16	Simon Harris	17 October 1986

Age on entering/leaving office

No.		Name	Born	Entered office	Age	Left office	Age
	16	Simon Harris	17 October 1986	9 April 2024		Incumbent	-
	14	Leo Varadkar	18 January 1979	14 June 2017		9 April 2024
	1	W. T. Cosgrave	6 June 1880	6 December 1922		9 March 1932
	11	Bertie Ahern	12 September 1951	26 June 1997		7 May 2008
	10	John Bruton	18 May 1947	15 December 1994		26 June 1997
	12	Brian Cowen	10 January 1960	7 May 2008		9 March 2011
	5	Jack Lynch	15 August 1917	10 November 1966		11 December 1979
	2	Éamon de Valera	14 October 1882	9 March 1932		23 June 1959
	6	Liam Cosgrave	13 April 1920	14 March 1973		5 July 1977
	7	Charles Haughey	16 September 1925	11 December 1979		11 February 1992
	8	Garret FitzGerald	9 February 1926	30 June 1981		10 March 1987
	3	John A. Costello	20 June 1891	18 February 1948		20 March 1957
	9	Albert Reynolds	3 November 1932	11 February 1992		15 December 1994
	13	Enda Kenny	24 April 1951	9 March 2011		14 June 2017
	15	Micheál Martin	1 August 1960	27 June 2020		17 December 2022
	4	Seán Lemass	12 July 1899	23 June 1959		10 November 1966

Cabinet positions

Listed here are cabinet positions held either before or during holding the office of Taoiseach or President of the Executive Council.

No.		Name	Before or after position of Taoiseach	While Taoiseach
	1	W. T. Cosgrave		Minister for Finance Minister for Defence Minister for External Affairs
	2	Éamon de Valera		Minister for External Affairs Minister for Education Minister for Local Government and Public Health
	3	John A. Costello		Minister for Health
	4	Seán Lemass		Minister for Justice
	5	Jack Lynch		Minister for Education
	6	Liam Cosgrave		Minister for Defence
	7	Charles Haughey		Minister for Education Minister for the Gaeltacht Minister for Defence
	8	Garret FitzGerald		Minister for Trade, Commerce and Tourism
	9.	Albert Reynolds		Minister for Energy
	10	John Bruton		Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications
	11	Bertie Ahern
	12	Brian Cowen		Minister for Foreign Affairs
	13	Enda Kenny
	14	Leo Varadkar
	15	Micheál Martin		Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (July 2020 and Aug. 2020)
	16	Simon Harris

Education

No.		Name	Second level	Third level
	1	W. T. Cosgrave	St. Joseph's Secondary, Fairview	none
	2	Éamon de Valera
	3	John A. Costello		University College Dublin
	4	Seán Lemass	O'Connell School	University College Cork
	5	Jack Lynch	North Monastery
	6	Liam Cosgrave		King's Inns
	7	Charles Haughey	St. Joseph's Secondary, Fairview	University College Dublin
	8	Garret FitzGerald	Belvedere College	University College Dublin
	9	Albert Reynolds	Summerhill College	none
	10	John Bruton	Clongowes Wood College
	11	Bertie Ahern	St Aidan's C.B.S.	College of Commerce, Rathmines
	12	Brian Cowen	Cistercian College, Roscrea
	13	Enda Kenny	St Gerald's College, Castlebar
	14	Leo Varadkar	The King's Hospital	Trinity College Dublin
	15	Micheál Martin	Coláiste Chríost Rí	University College Cork
	16	Simon Harris	St David's Holy Faith, Greystones	Dublin Institute of Technology (did not graduate)

Living officeholders

There are currently five living former Taoisigh:

Taoiseach	Term of office	Date of birth
Bertie Ahern	1997–2008	1951 9, df=y
Brian Cowen	2008–2011	1960 1, df=y
Enda Kenny	2011–2017	1951 4, df=y
Micheál Martin	2020–2022	1960 8, df=y
Leo Varadkar		1979 1, df=y

Timeline of living/deceased officeholders

Date	Living	Deceased	Notes
9 April 2024	6	10	Simon Harris accedes
6 February 2024	5	10	John Bruton dies
27 June 2020	6	9	Micheál Martin accedes
4 October 2017	5	9	Liam Cosgrave dies
14 June 2017	6	8	Leo Varadkar accedes
21 August 2014	5	8	Albert Reynolds dies
19 May 2011	6	7	Garret FitzGerald dies
9 March 2011	7	6	Enda Kenny accedes
7 May 2008	6	6	Brian Cowen accedes
13 June 2006	5	6	Charles Haughey dies
20 October 1999	6	5	Jack Lynch dies
26 June 1997	7	4	Bertie Ahern accedes
15 December 1994	6	4	John Bruton accedes
11 February 1992	5	4	Albert Reynolds accedes
30 June 1981	4	4	Garret FitzGerald accedes
11 December 1979	3	4	Charles Haughey accedes
6 January 1976	2	4	John A. Costello dies
29 August 1975	3	3	Éamon de Valera dies
14 March 1973	4	2	Liam Cosgrave accedes
16 May 1971	3	2	Seán Lemass dies
10 November 1966	4	1	Jack Lynch accedes
11 May 1965	3	1	W. T. Cosgrave dies
23 June 1959	4	0	Seán Lemass accedes
18 February 1948	3	0	John A. Costello accedes
9 March 1932	2	0	Éamon de Valera accedes
6 December 1922	1	0	W. T. Cosgrave accedes

See also

• History of the Republic of Ireland
• Irish heads of government since 1919
• Politics of the Republic of Ireland
• Records of members of the Oireachtas

External links

• Official website of the Taoiseach

Notes and References

1. News: Coughlan new Tánaiste in Cowen Cabinet. The Irish Times. 7 May 2008. 17 May 2008.
2. News: Taoiseach reveals new front bench. RTÉ News. 7 May 2008. 17 May 2008.
3. News: Cowen confirmed as Taoiseach. BreakingNews.ie. 7 May 2008. 17 May 2008.
4. Web site: Former Taoisigh. Department of the Taoiseach. 11 May 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20110717202718/http://www.taoiseach.ie/eng/Taoiseach_and_Government/History_of_Government/Former_Taoisigh/. 17 July 2011.