The 1938 Irish general election to the

10th Dáil 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

was held on Friday, 17 June following the dissolution of the

9th Dáil 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

on 27 May 1938 by the Presidential Commission on the request of

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

Éamon de Valera Éamon de Valera (, ; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent Irish statesman and political leader. He served several terms as head of govern ...

. It was a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

, less than a year after the previous election, the proximate cause being the government's loss of an opposition

motion In physics, motion is the phenomenon in which an object changes its position with respect to time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed and frame of reference to an observer and m ...

recommending use of arbitration to resolve Civil Service labour disputes.; The general election took place in 34 parliamentary constituencies throughout Ireland for 138 seats in Dáil Éireann. It was the first election held after the adoption of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...

on 29 December 1937.

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

won the first overall majority in the history of the State. The 10th Dáil met at

Leinster House Leinster House ( ga, Teach Laighean) is the seat of the Oireachtas, the parliament of Ireland. Originally, it was the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, ...

on 30 June to nominate the Taoiseach for appointment by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Douglas Hyde Douglas Ross Hyde ( ga, Dubhghlas de hÍde; 17 January 1860 – 12 July 1949), known as (), was an Irish academic, linguist, scholar of the Irish language, politician and diplomat who served as the first President of Ireland from June 1938 t ...

and to approve the appointment of a new

government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

on the nomination of the Taoiseach. Outgoing Taoiseach Éamon de Valera was re-appointed leading a single-party

government.

Result

Voting summary

Seats summary

Government formation

Fianna Fáil formed a majority government, the 2nd Government of Ireland.

First time TDs

Erskine H. Childers Erskine Hamilton Childers (11 December 1905 – 17 November 1974) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as the fourth president of Ireland from June 1973 to November 1974. He is the only Irish president to have died in office. He also ...

* Daniel Hogan * James Hughes *

Frank Loughman Francis Loughman (1892 – 13 May 1972) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) and Senator from the 1930s to the 1960s. A pharmaceutical chemist before entering politics, Loughman was first elected to Dáil É ...

* Henry McDevitt *

Thomas Mullen Thomas Mullen (20 June 1896 – 2 January 1966) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and school teacher. He was born in Roemore, Breaffy, County Mayo, to primary school teacher parents, Thomas and Mary Mullen (née Coggins).Deaths, ''Irish Ind ...

Peter O'Loghlen Peter Joseph O'Loghlen (1883 – 25 October 1971) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician. A publican, he was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Teachta Dála A Teachta Dála ( , ; plural ), abbreviated as TD (plural ''TDanna'' in Irish, T ...

Mícheál Ó Móráin Mícheál Ó Móráin (24 December 1911 – 6 May 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Minister for Justice from 1968 to 1970, Minister for the Gaeltacht from 1957 to 1959 and 1961 to 1968 and Minister for Lands from 1959 ...

Re-elected TDs

* William Broderick * Eamonn Cooney *

Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy (10 May 1886 – 16 December 1971) was an Irish Fine Gael politician and army general who served as Minister for Education from 1948 to 1951 and 1954 to 1957, Minister for the Gaeltacht from June 1956 to October 1956, ...

* James Reidy

Outgoing TDs

* Archie Heron (Lost seat) * Gerrard McGowan (Retired) * Edward Moane (Lost seat) * Sydney Minch (Lost seat) * Daniel O'Leary (Lost seat)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish General Election, 1938 General election, 1938 1938 10th Dáil June 1938 events General election