1937 Irish general election

Election to the 9th Dáil

1937 Irish general election

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| <- 1933 | 1 July 1937 | 1938 ->

|
|

<- outgoing members

elected members ->

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138 seats in Dáil Éireann[a]
70 seats needed for a majority
Turnout| 76.2%  5.1 pp
|  | First party  | Second party  | Third party

|
|
|

Leader  | Éamon de Valera | W. T. Cosgrave | William Norton
Party  | Fianna Fáil | Fine Gael | Labour
Leader since  | 26 March 1926  | September 1934  | 19 July 1932
Leader's seat  | Clare | Cork Borough | Carlow–Kildare
Last election  | 77 seats, 49.7%  | 59 seats, 39.6%[b] | 8 seats, 5.7%
Seats won  | 69 | 48[b] | 13
Seat change  | 8  | 11  | 5
Popular vote  | 599,040 | 461,171  | 135,758
Percentage  | 45.2% | 34.8%  | 10.3%
Swing  | 4.5 pp  | 4.8 pp  | 4.6 pp

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Percentage of seats gained by each of the three major parties, and number of seats gained by smaller parties and independents.

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| President of the Executive Council before election

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

| President of the Executive Council after election

Éamon de Valera
Fianna Fáil

|

The 1937 Irish general election to the 9th Dáil was held on Thursday, 1 July, following the dissolution of the 8th Dáil on 14 June by Ceann Comhairle Frank Fahy on the direction of the Executive Council. The general election took place in 34 parliamentary constituencies throughout the Irish Free State for 138 seats in Dáil Éireann. The number of seats in the Dáil was reduced by 15, from 153 to 138 seats, under the Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935.

A plebiscite on whether to approve the new Constitution of Ireland was held on the same day. It was approved with the support of 56.5% of voters and would come into operation on 29 December 1937.

The 9th Dáil met at Leinster House on 21 July 1937 to elect the President of the Executive Council and approve the appointment of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State. Outgoing president Éamon de Valera was re-elected leading a single-party Fianna Fáil government.

## Result

[edit]

Election to the 9th Dáil - 1 July 1937[5][6][7]

Party  | Leader  | Seats  | ±  | % of
seats  | First pref.
votes  | % FPv  | ±%
| Fianna Fáil | Éamon de Valera | 69[a] | –8  | 50.0  | 599,040  | 45.2  | –4.5
| Fine Gael | W. T. Cosgrave | 48[b] | –11  | 34.8  | 461,171  | 34.8  | –4.8
| Labour | William Norton | 13  | +5  | 9.4  | 135,758  | 10.3  | +4.6
| Independent | N/A | 8  | –1  | 5.8  | 128,480  | 9.7  | +4.7
Spoilt votes  | 27,824  | —  | —
Total | 138 | –15 | 100 | 1,352,273 | 100 | —
Electorate/Turnout  | 1,775,055  | 76.2%  | —

### Voting summary

[edit]

| First preference vote

|  |
Fianna Fáil |

| 45.23%
Fine Gael |

| 34.82%
Labour |

| 10.25%
Independent |

| 9.70%

### Seats summary

[edit]

| Dáil seats

|  |
Fianna Fáil |

| 50.00%
Fine Gael |

| 34.78%
Labour |

| 9.42%
Independent |

| 5.80%

## Changes in membership

[edit]

### First time TDs

[edit]

* Ernest Benson
* Cormac Breslin
* Patrick Browne
* Thomas Burke
* A. P. Byrne
* Michael Colbert
* Matthew Davis
* John Esmonde
* John Friel
* Archie Heron
* Timothy Linehan
* Gerrard McGowan
* John Munnelly
* Jeremiah Ryan
* Laurence Walsh

### Re-elected TDs

[edit]

* Patrick Gorry
* Joseph Mongan

### Defeated TDs

[edit]

* William Broderick
* William Browne
* Eamonn Cooney
* Robert Davitt
* Stephen Jordan
* James McGuire
* James Morrisroe
* Patrick Murphy
* Patrick O'Dowd
* Margaret Mary Pearse
* James Reidy

### Retiring TDs

[edit]

* Hugh Doherty
* Eamon Donnelly
* Séamus Keely
* Patrick Kehoe
* William Kent

### Vacancies

[edit]

* Conor Maguire (Resigned on appointment as judge in 1936)

## Government formation

[edit]

Fianna Fáil formed a minority government, the 8th Executive Council of the Irish Free State, with the support of the Labour Party. This became the 1st Government of Ireland on 29 December 1937 on the coming into operation of the Constitution.

## Seanad election

[edit]

After the coming into operation of the Constitution, an election took place under Article 53 of the Constitution for the 2nd Seanad in March 1938.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b Including Frank Fahy, returned automatically for Galway East as outgoing Ceann Comhairle, under Art. 21 of the Constitution, as amended by the Constitution (Amendment No. 2) Act 1927, and s. 2 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927, adapted under the constituency revision.[1][2][3][4]
2. ^ a b c The total number of Fine Gael TDs is compared to the combined total won by Cumann na nGaedheal and the National Centre Party at the previous general election.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Constitution (Amendment No. 2) Act 1927, s. 1: Re-election at general election of outgoing Chairman of Dáil Eireann (No. 6 of 1927, s. 1). Enacted on 19 March 1927. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
2. ^ Electoral (Amendment) Act 1927, s. 2: Re-election of outgoing Ceann Comhairle (No. 21 of 1927, s. 2). Enacted on 22 May 1927. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
3. ^ Electoral (Revision of Constituencies) Act 1935, s. 4: Constituency of the Ceann Comhairle (No. 5 of 1935, s. 4). Enacted on 27 February 1935. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
4. ^ "9th Dáil 1937: Galway East". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
5. ^ "9th Dáil 1937 General Election". ElectionsIreland.org. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
6. ^ "Dáil elections since 1918". ARK Northern Ireland. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
7. ^ Nohlen, Dieter; Stöver, Philip (2010). Elections in Europe: A data handbook. Nomos. pp. 1009–1017\. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7.1009-1017&rft.pub=Nomos&rft.date=2010&rft.isbn=978-3-8329-5609-7&rft.aulast=Nohlen&rft.aufirst=Dieter&rft.au=Stöver,+Philip&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:1937+Irish+general+election" class="Z3988">

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* Chairman of the Provisional Government
* Adoption of the Constitution of Ireland

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