Minister: William T Cosgrave

William T Cosgrave

William Thomas Cosgrave (5 June 1880 – 16 November 1965) was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as the president of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State from 1922 to 1932, leader of the Opposition in both the Free State and Ireland from 1932 to 1944, leader of Fine Gael from 1934 to 1944, founder and leader of Fine Gael's predecessor, Cumann na nGaedheal, from 1923 to 1933, chairman of the Provisional Government from August 1922 to December 1922, the president of Dáil Éireann from September 1922 to December 1922, the minister for Finance from 1922 to 1923 and minister for Local Government from 1919 to 1922. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1921 to 1944. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Kilkenny constituency from 1918 to 1922.While Cosgrave never officially held the office of Taoiseach (the current title of Ireland's prime minister, created in 1937), Ireland considers him to be its first Taoiseach due to having been the Free State's first head of government. His son, Liam, served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977.

name	from	to	role	description	end	source	confidence
Department of the President of the Executive Council	1924-01-01	1932-03-09	President of the Executive Council	Cumann na nGaedhael	Election New Goverment	http://www.oireachtas.ie/members-hist/	5
Ministry of Defence	1924-03-19	1924-06-02	President of the Executive Council	Cumann na nGaedheal. W.T. Cosgrave temporarily assumed the Defence portfolio following the resignation of Richard Mulcahy in March 1924. Kevin O'Higgins de facto carried out some of Cosgrave's responsibilities during this period owing to Cosgrave's illness. New Department of Defence created in 1924 under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 (No. 16 of 1924). W.T. Cosgrave continued to act as Minister for Defence until 20 November 1924	Midterm Reshuffle	Chubb 1970	4
Department of Defence	1924-06-02	1924-11-20	President of the Executive Council		Midterm Reshuffle	Chubb 1970	4
Ministry of Finance	1922-08-22	1923-09-21	President of the Executive Council	"Cumann na nGaedheal; Succeeded by Ernest Blythe "	Election Reshuffle	Chubb 1970	4
Ministry of Local Government	1922-01-10	1922-09-09	Minister	Succeeded by Ernest Blythe in a reshuffle following the assassination of Michael Collins	Election Reshuffle	Chubb 1970	4
Office of the President of the Executive Council	1922-12-06	1924-06-02	President of the Executive Council	The 'Office' of the President of the Executive Council was replaced by a 'Department' for same under the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 (No. 16 of 1924). William T. Cosgrave continued in office thereafter	Midterm Reshuffle	Chubb 1970; Comptroller and Auditor General Appropriation Report 1923-1924: https://http://www.audit.gov.ie/en/find-report/publications/appropriation%20accounts/appropriation-accounts-1923-24.pdf	4
Office of the Chairman of the Provisional Government	1922-08-22	1922-12-06	President of the Executive Council	"William T Cosgrave succeeded Michael Collins as Chairman of the Provisional Government, becoming President of the Executive Council from 6 December 1922"	Midterm Reshuffle		5

Minister Information

William T Cosgrave