1923 Irish general election

Election to the 4th Dáil

1923 Irish general election

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| <- 1922 | 27 August 1923 | Jun 1927 ->

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<- outgoing members

elected members ->

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All 153 seats in Dáil Éireann
77 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 61.3%  1.2pp
|  | First party  | Second party

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Leader  | W. T. Cosgrave | Éamon de Valera
Party  | Cumann na nGaedheal | Republican
Leader since  | April 1923  | 1917
Leader's seat  | Carlow–Kilkenny | Clare
Last election  | 58 seats, 38.5%  | 36 seats, 21.8%
Seats won  | 63 | 44
Seat change  | 5[a] | 8[b]
Popular vote  | 410,695 | 288,794
Percentage  | 39.0% | 27.4%
Swing  | 0.5%[a] | 5.6%[b]

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| Third party  | Fourth party

Leader  | Denis Gorey | Thomas Johnson
Party  | Farmers' Party | Labour
Leader since  | 1922  | 1922
Leader's seat  | Carlow–Kilkenny | Dublin County
Last election  | 7 seats, 7.8%  | 16 seats, 21.3%
Seats won  | 15  | 14
Seat change  | 8  | 3
Popular vote  | 127,184  | 111,939
Percentage  | 12.1%  | 10.6%
Swing  | 4.3%  | 10.7%

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Election results and first-preference votes in each constituency

Number of seats gained by each party in each constituency

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| President of the Executive Council before election

W. T. Cosgrave
Cumann na nGaedheal

| President of the Executive Council after election

W. T. Cosgrave
Cumann na nGaedheal

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The 1923 Irish general election to elect the 4th Dáil was held on Monday, 27 August, following the dissolution of the Third Dáil on 9 August 1923. It was the first general election held since the establishment of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. The election was held shortly after the end of the Irish Civil War in May 1923. Many of the Republican TDs, who represented the losing anti-Treaty side, were still imprisoned during and after the election and had committed to not participating in the Dáil if elected.

The 4th Dáil assembled at Leinster House on 19 September to nominate the President of the Executive Council and Executive Council of the Irish Free State for appointment by the Governor-General. Cumann na nGaedheal, the successor to the Pro-Treaty wing of Sinn Féin, won the election and formed the government.[1]

## Legal background[edit]

It was the first general election fought since the establishment of the Irish Free State and the adoption of the Constitution of the Irish Free State on 6 December 1922. It was contested under the Electoral Act 1923, which increased the seats in the Dáil from 128 to 153, and introduced a franchise of all citizens over the age of 21, without distinction of sex. Lax electoral practices were tightened up by The Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act 1923.[2]

## Result[edit]

Election to the 4th Dáil - 27 August 1923[3][4][5]

Party  | Leader  | Seats  | ±  | % of
seats  | First pref.
votes  | % FPv  | ±%
| Cumann na nGaedheal | W. T. Cosgrave | 63  | +5[a] | 41.2  | 410,695  | 39.0  | +0.5
| Republican | Éamon de Valera | 44  | +8[b] | 28.7  | 288,794  | 27.4  | +5.6
| Farmers' Party | Denis Gorey | 15  | +8  | 9.8  | 127,184  | 12.1  | +4.3
| Labour | Thomas Johnson | 14  | −3  | 9.2  | 111,939  | 10.6  | −10.7
| Businessmen's Party | N/A | 2  | +2  | 1.3  | 9,648  | 0.9  | −1.4
| Cork Progressive Association  | N/A | 2[c] | New | 1.3  | 6,588  | 0.6  | New
| National Democratic | N/A | 0  | New | 0  | 4,968  | 0.5  | New
| Dublin Trades Council | P. T. Daly | 0  | New | 0  | 3,847  | 0.4  | New
| Ratepayers' Association  | N/A | 0  | ±0  | 0  | 2,620  | 0.2  | −0.2
| Town Tenants' Association  | N/A | 0  | New | 0  | 1,803  | 0.2  | New
| Independent | N/A | 13  | +4  | 8.5  | 85,869  | 8.1  | +0.3
Spoilt votes  | 40,047  | —  | —
Total | 153 | +25 | 100 | 1,094,002 | 100 | —
Electorate/Turnout  | 1,786,318  | 61.3%  | —

Most parties made gains, in part because the total number of seats in the Dáil was increased by 25 from 128 to 153.

### Voting summary[edit]

| First preference vote

|  |
Cumann na nGaedheal |

| 38.97%
Republican |

| 27.40%
Farmers' |

| 12.07%
Labour |

| 10.62%
Businessman's |

| 0.92%
Cork Progressive Association |

| 0.63%
Others |

| 1.26%
Independent |

| 8.15%

### Seats summary[edit]

| Dáil seats

|  |
Cumann na nGaedheal |

| 41.18%
Republican |

| 28.76%
Farmers' |

| 9.80%
Labour |

| 9.15%
Businessman's |

| 1.31%
Cork Progressive Association |

| 1.31%
Independent |

| 8.50%

## Government formation[edit]

The Republican TDs continued to abstain from the Dáil. Therefore, Cumann na nGaedheal had a majority of seats which were taken in the Dáil and formed the 2nd Executive Council of the Irish Free State on 19 September 1923.

## Changes in membership[edit]

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (December 2022)

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### First time TDs[edit]

* Frank Aiken
* Patrick Baxter
* Dan Breen
* Frank Cahill
* John James Cole
* Margaret Collins-O'Driscoll
* Cornelius Connolly
* Edward Doyle
* Peadar Doyle
* Seán Gibbons
* Kathleen Lynn
* Patrick McFadden
* James Myles
* Michael Shelly
* Paddy Smith

### Retiring TDs[edit]

* Gerald Fitzgibbon
* Joseph Whelehan

### Defeated TDs[edit]

* Walter L. Cole
* Robert Day
* Patrick Gaffney

## References[edit]

### Notes[edit]

1. ^ a b c Cumann na nGaedheal's results are compared with those of the Pro-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin in the previous general election.
2. ^ a b c Results given for Republicans here are compared to those won by the Anti-Treaty faction of Sinn Féin in the previous election.
3. ^ Andrew O'Shaughnessy and Richard Beamish were elected under the label of Cork Progressive Association, a group associated with the Businessmen's Party.

### Sources[edit]

* Department of Local Government and Public Health (July 1924). Memorandum on the conduct of the general election to Dáil Éireann held on the 27th August, 1923 (PDF). Dublin: Alex. Thom for Official P. P. Retrieved 2 February 2018.

### Citations[edit]

1. ^ Hopkinson, Michael (1988). Green Against Green: The Irish Civil War. Dublin: Gill and Macmillan. p. 262\. ISBN 0-7171-3760-0. "Despite the absence of many Sinn Féin candidates and workers in jail, the results were surprising good for the Republicans. Cumann na nGaedheal, the newly formed government party, had 63 candidates elected, compared with 44 Republicans."
2. ^ The Prevention of Electoral Abuses Act 1923 (No. 38 of 1923). Enacted on 8 August 1923. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 28 February 2020.
3. ^ "4th Dáil 1923 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Archived from the original on 5 June 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
4. ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 13 April 2009.
5. ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos. pp. 1009–1017. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.

## Further reading[edit]

* Callinan, Elaine; Farrell, Mel; Tormey, Thomas (September 2023). Vying for Victory: The 1923 General Election in the Irish Free State. University College Dublin Press. ISBN 978-1-910820-70-4.

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* Adoption of the Constitution of Ireland

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