The leader of the Labour Party and two high-profile outgoing Fianna Fáil TDs were all re-elected following Friday's count at Tallaght Community School.
But there was no seat for outgoing Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe, who topped the poll in 2002, but who saw his vote collapse this time around.
Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Conor Lenihan, was elected on the first count along with Fine Gael Seanad leader Brian Hayes, who regained the seat he lost in 2002.
Labour leader Pat Rabbitte missed the quota of 8,331 by just six votes and had to wait until the second round to be elected, following the distribution of Mr Lenihan's surplus of 211 votes.
On the final count, Fianna Fáil TD Charlie O'Connor, the man known as "Mr Tallaght", was elected with the help of 330 transfers from Mick Murphy of the Socialist Party.
Crowe's failure to gain re-election was seen as a surprise, since it had been thought that one of the two sitting Fianna Fail TDs, rather than Crowe, could be vulnerable as a result of the challenge posed by Hayes. But both Fianna Fail TDs put in strong performance.
In 2002 Hayes had suffered a similar fate to that of Crowe when he too failed to retain his seat that year despite having topped the poll in 1997.
This led some observers, and indeed several candidates, to suggest on Friday that topping the poll in this constituency in some ways appears to be the "kiss of death" for future election prospects.
Outgoing TDs
Conor Lenihan FF
Charlie O'Connor FF
Pat Rabbitte Lab
Seán Crowe SF