irish heads of government since 1919

Republic of Ireland (and predecessor states)

The head of government, or prime minister, of the modern Republic of Ireland is known as the 'Taoiseach' and heads a cabinet called the Government. However, since 1919, heads of government in the southern state have bourne a number of titles. Under the short-lived Irish Republic of 1919-1922 the head of government was known first as the 'Promh Aire' or 'President of Dil ireann' and later as the 'President of the Republic'. Under the 1922-1937 Irish Free State the head of government was the President of the Executive Council. There also briefly existed, immediately before the creation of the Irish Free State, an interim office of Chairman of the Provisional Government. For a brief period in 1921 the offices of President of the Republic and Chairman of the Provisional Government existed simultaneously.

b>Head of government	Deputy	Cabinet	State	Constitution	From	Until
romh Aire/President of Dil ireann President of the Republic	n/a	Ministry	Irish Republic	Constitution of Dil ireann	1919 (Jan) 1921 (Aug)	1921 (Aug) 1922 (Dec)
a href="/encyclopedia/Chairman-of-the-Provisional-Government-of-Southern-Ireland" title="Chairman of the Provisional Government of Southern Ireland">Chairman of the Provisional Government	n/a	Provisional Government	(Interim)	n/a	1922 (Jan)	1922 (Dec)
a href="/encyclopedia/President-of-the-Executive-Council" title="President of the Executive Council">President of the Executive Council	Vice President	Executive Council	Irish Free State	Constitution of the Irish Free State	1922 (Dec)	1937
a href="/encyclopedia/Taoiseach" title="Taoiseach">Taoiseach	Tnaiste	Government	ire/Republic of Ireland	Constitution of Ireland	1937	Present

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1.	Cathal Brugha	January, 1919	April, 1919	Sinn Fin
2.	Eamon de Valera	April, 1919	January, 1922	Sinn Fin
3.	Arthur Griffith¹	January 10, 1922	August 12, 1922	Sinn Fin (Pro-Treaty faction)
4.	Michael Collins¹	January 16, 1922	August 22, 1922	Sinn Fin (Pro-Treaty faction)
5.	William T. Cosgrave	August, 1922	March 9, 1932	Cumann na nGaedheal²
	Eamon de Valera (2nd time)	March 9, 1932	February 18, 1948	Fianna Fil
6.	John A. Costello	February 18, 1948	June 13, 1951	Fine Gael
	Eamon de Valera (3rd time)	June 13, 1951	June 2, 1954	Fianna Fil
	John A. Costello (2nd time)	June 2, 1954	March 20, 1957	Fine Gael
	Eamon de Valera (4th time)	March 20, 1957	June 23, 1959	Fianna Fil
7.	Sean Lemass	June 23, 1959	November 10, 1966	Fianna Fil
8.	Jack Lynch	November 10, 1966	March 14, 1973	Fianna Fil
9.	Liam Cosgrave	March 14, 1973	July 5, 1977	Fine Gael
	Jack Lynch (2nd time)	July 5, 1977	December 11, 1979	Fianna Fil
10.	Charles J. Haughey	December 11, 1979	June 30, 1981	Fianna Fil
11.	Garret FitzGerald	June 30, 1981	March 9, 1982	Fine Gael
	Charles J. Haughey (2nd time)	March 9, 1982	December 14, 1982	Fianna Fil
	Garret FitzGerald (2nd time)	December 14, 1982	March 10, 1987	Fine Gael
	Charles J. Haughey (3rd time)	March 10, 1987	February 11, 1992	Fianna Fil
12.	Albert Reynolds	February 11, 1992	December 15, 1994	Fianna Fil
13.	John Bruton	December 15, 1994	June 26, 1997	Fine Gael
14.	Bertie Ahern	June 26, 1997	(Current incumbent)	Fianna Fil

Northern Ireland

The most recent devolved cabinet in Northern Ireland is the Northern Ireland Executive, established under the Belfast Agreement. The Executive has been in operation, intermittently, since 1999, but is currently in suspension. Since 1921, there have been three different prime ministerial offices in Northern Ireland.

b>Office	Cabinet	From	Until
a href="/encyclopedia/Prime-Minister-of-Northern-Ireland" title="Prime Minister of Northern Ireland">Prime Minister	Government	1921	1971
a href="/encyclopedia/Chief-Executive-of-Northern-Ireland" title="Chief Executive of Northern Ireland">Chief Executive	Executive (Sunningdale)	1973	1974
a href="/encyclopedia/First-Minister-of-Northern-Ireland" title="First Minister of Northern Ireland">First Minister	Executive	1999	Present

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1.	Sir James Craig	June 7, 1921	November 24, 1940	Ulster Unionist Party
2.	John Miller Andrews	November 25, 1940	May 1, 1943	Ulster Unionist Party
3.	Sir Basil Brooke	May 1, 1943	March 25, 1963	Ulster Unionist Party
4.	Terence O'Neill	March 25, 1963	May 1, 1969	Ulster Unionist Party
5.	James Chichester-Clark	May 1, 1969	March 23, 1971	Ulster Unionist Party
6.	Brian Faulkner	March 23, 1971	March 30, 1972	Ulster Unionist Party
	Brian Faulkner (2nd time)	1973	1974	Ulster Unionist Party
7.	David Trimble	1999	2002	Ulster Unionist Party

Footnotes

From January to August 1922 there were two administrations operating in parallel, the Provisional Government and the Ministry of the Irish Republic, and each cabinet had an overlapping membership. Thus, during this time, there were two heads of government, Arthur Griffith, as President of the Republic, and Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government. This anomalous situation came to an end when William T. Cosgrave became assumed both offices on the deaths of Griffith, on the 12 August 1922, and Collins, on 22 August, and merged the two competing administrations.
When William T. Cosgrave first became head of government he was still technically a member of Sinn Fin. However the pro-Treaty faction of Sinn Fin reformed itself as Cumann na nGaedheal shortly afterwards.