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Records of Irish heads of government since 1922

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Summary

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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, for example Micheál Martin is considered the 15th Taoiseach.

Electoral history

No.	Name	Born	First elected		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	Left office	Dáil(s)	Period
1			3rd, 4th, 5th,
6th	–
2			7th, 8th, 9th
10th, 11th, 12th	1st time
3			13th	1st time
(2)			14th	2nd time
(3)			15th	2nd time
(2)			16th	3rd time
4			16th, 17th, 18th	–
5			18th, 19th	1st time
6			20th	–
(5)			21st	2nd time
7			21st	1st time
8			22nd	1st time
(7)			23rd	2nd time
(8)			24th	2nd time
(7)			25th, 26th	3rd time
9			26th, 27th	–
10			27th	–
11			28th, 29th, 30th	–
12			30th	–
13			31st, 32nd	–
14			32nd	1st time
15			33rd	1st time
(14)			33rd	2nd time
16			33rd	–
(15)		Incumbent	34th	2nd time

Cumulative days served

Name	First entered office	Finally left office	Periods	Cumulative days
2	Éamon de Valera	9 March 1932	23 June 1959	3
11	Bertie Ahern	26 June 1997	7 May 2008	1
1	W. T. Cosgrave	6 December 1922	9 March 1932	1
5	Jack Lynch	10 November 1966	11 December 1979	2
4	Seán Lemass	23 June 1959	10 November 1966	1
7	Charles Haughey	11 December 1979	11 February 1992	3
13	Enda Kenny	9 March 2011	14 June 2017	1
3	John A. Costello	18 February 1948	20 March 1957	2
8	Garret FitzGerald	30 June 1981	10 March 1987	2
14	Leo Varadkar	14 June 2017	9 April 2024	2
6	Liam Cosgrave	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	1
15	Micheál Martin	27 June 2020	Incumbent	2
9	Albert Reynolds	11 February 1992	15 December 1994	1
12	Brian Cowen	7 May 2008	9 March 2011	1
10	John Bruton	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	1
16	Simon Harris	9 April 2024	23 January 2025	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
	11	Bertie Ahern	26 June 1997	7 May 2008	1	10 years, 10 months, 11 days
	1	W. T. Cosgrave	6 December 1922	9 March 1932	1	9 years, 3 months, 4 days
	4	Seán Lemass	23 June 1959	11 November 1966	1	7 years, 4 months, 17 days
	5	Jack Lynch	11 November 1966	14 March 1973	1	6 years, 4 months, 4 days
	13	Enda Kenny	9 March 2011	14 June 2017	1	6 years, 3 months, 5 days
	7	Charles Haughey	10 March 1987	11 February 1992	3	4 years, 11 months, 1 day
	6	Liam Cosgrave	14 March 1973	5 July 1977	1	4 years, 3 months, 22 days
	8	Garret FitzGerald	14 December 1982	10 March 1987	2	4 years, 2 months, 27 days
	3	John A. Costello	18 February 1948	13 June 1951	1	3 years, 3 months, 24 days
	14	Leo Varadkar	14 June 2017	27 June 2020	1	3 years and 13 days
		Éamon de Valera	13 June 1951	2 June 1954	2	2 years, 11 months, 19 days
	9	Albert Reynolds	11 February 1992	15 December 1994	1	2 years, 10 months, 4 days
	12	Brian Cowen	7 May 2008	9 March 2011	1	2 years, 10 months, 2 days
		John A. Costello	2 June 1954	20 March 1957	2	2 years, 9 months, 18 days
	10	John Bruton	15 December 1994	26 June 1997	1	2 years, 6 months, 11 days
	15	Micheál Martin	27 June 2020	17 December 2022	1	2 years, 5 months and 21 days
		Jack Lynch	5 July 1977	11 December 1979	2	2 years, 5 months, 6 days
		Éamon de Valera	20 March 1957	23 June 1959	3	2 years, 3 months, 3 days
		Charles Haughey	11 December 1979	30 June 1981	1	1 year, 6 months, 19 days
		Leo Varadkar	17 December 2022	9 April 2024	2	1 year, 3 months and 23 days
		Micheál Martin	23 January 2025	Incumbent	2
	16	Simon Harris	9 April 2024	23 January 2025	1	9 months, 14 days
		Charles Haughey	9 March 1982	14 December 1982	2	9 months, 5 days
		Garret FitzGerald	30 June 1981	9 March 1982	1	8 months, 9 days

Longevity

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==

Name	Born	Entered office	Age	Age
16	Simon Harris	17 October 1986	9 April 2024	23 January 2025
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	Incumbent
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 Local Government (1919–1922)
Minister for Finance (1922–1923)
Chairman of the Provisional Government (1922)
President of Dáil Éireann (1922)
	2	Éamon de Valera	President of Dáil Éireann (1919–1922)
	3	John A. Costello	Attorney General (1926–1932)
	4	Seán Lemass	Minister for Industry and Commerce
(1932–1939, 1941–1948, 1951–1954, 1957–1959)
Minister for Supplies (1939–1945)
Tánaiste (1945–1948, 1951–1954, 1957–1959)
	5	Jack Lynch	Minister for the Gaeltacht (1957)
Minister for Education (1957–1959)
Minister for Industry and Commerce (1959–1965)
Minister for Finance 1965–1966)
	6	Liam Cosgrave	Minister for External Affairs (1954–1957)
	7	Charles Haughey	Minister for Justice (1961–1964)
Minister for Agriculture (1964–1966)
Minister for Finance (1966–1970)
Minister for Health (1977–1979)
Minister for Social Welfare (1977–1979)
	8	Garret FitzGerald	Minister for Foreign Affairs (1973–1977)
	9.	Albert Reynolds	Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (1979–1981)
Minister for Transport 1980–1981)
Minister for Industry and Energy (1982)
Minister for Industry and Commerce (1987–1988)
Minister for Finance (1988–1991)
	10	John Bruton	Minister for Finance (1981–1982, 1986–1987)
Minister for Industry and Energy (1982–1983)
Minister for Industry, Trade, Commerce and Tourism (1983–1986)
Minister for the Public Service (1987)
	11	Bertie Ahern	Minister for Labour (1987–1991)
Minister for Finance (1991–1994)
Minister for Industry and Commerce (1993)
Tánaiste (1994)
Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht (1994)
	12	Brian Cowen	Minister for Labour (1992–1993)
Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications (1993–1994)
Minister for Health and Children (1997–2000)
Minister for Foreign Affairs (2000–2004)
Minister for Finance (2004–2008)
Tánaiste (2007–2008)
	13	Enda Kenny	Minister for Tourism and Trade (1994–1997)
	14	Leo Varadkar	Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport (2011–2014)
Minister for Health (2014–2016)
Minister for Social Protection (2016–2017)
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2020–2022)
Tánaiste (2020–2022)
	15	Micheál Martin	Minister for Education and Science (1997–2000)
Minister for Health and Children (2000–2004)
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (2004–2008)
Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008–2011)
Minister for Foreign Affairs (2022–2025)
Minister for Defence (2022–2025)
Tánaiste (2022–2025)
	16	Simon Harris	Minister for Health (2016–2020)
Minister for Justice (2022–2023)
Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (2020–2024)
Tánaiste (2025–present)
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (2025)
Minister for Defence (2025)
Minister for Finance (2025–present)

Education

Name	Second level	Third level
1	W. T. Cosgrave	St. Joseph's Secondary, Fairview
2	Éamon de Valera
3	John A. Costello
4	Seán Lemass	O'Connell School
5	Jack Lynch	North Monastery
6	Liam Cosgrave
7	Charles Haughey	St. Joseph's Secondary, Fairview
8	Garret FitzGerald	Belvedere College
9	Albert Reynolds	Summerhill College
10	John Bruton	Clongowes Wood College
11	Bertie Ahern	St Aidan's C.B.S.
12	Brian Cowen	Cistercian College, Roscrea
13	Enda Kenny	St Gerald's College, Castlebar
14	Leo Varadkar	The King's Hospital
15	Micheál Martin	Coláiste Chríost Rí
16	Simon Harris	St David's Holy Faith, Greystones

Living officeholders

There are currently five living former Taoisigh:

Taoiseach	Term of office	Date of birth
Bertie Ahern	1997–2008
Brian Cowen	2008–2011
Simon Harris	2024–2025
Enda Kenny	2011–2017
Leo Varadkar

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

Notes

References

(7 May 2008). "Coughlan new Tánaiste in Cowen Cabinet". [[The Irish Times]].
(7 May 2008). "Taoiseach reveals new front bench". [[RTÉ News]].
(7 May 2008). "Cowen confirmed as Taoiseach". BreakingNews.ie.
"Former Taoisigh". Department of the Taoiseach.
Oireachtas Library and Research Service. (28 June 2016). "Caretaker governments and caretaker conventions". Houses of the Oireachtas.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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