Fianna Fáil took two of the three seats in the new Meath East constituency, dashing Labour's hopes of regaining a seat in the county, while Fine Gael TD Shane McEntee retained his seat.
Minister of State for Agriculture Mary Wallace topped the poll to be elected on the first count, but it was her Fianna Fáil running mate Thomas Byrne who was the big surprise, taking the second-highest number of first preferences and 18.22 per cent of the vote.
Byrne had been seen by many as a vote-catcher for Wallace and his strong performance ended Labour's hopes that Cllr Dominic Hannigan would take the third seat.
Hannigan had been hotly tipped to be one of the 30th Dáil's new TDs, but with just 11.94 per cent of first-preferences votes, he accepted early on Friday that he couldn't catch up on his Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael opponents.
Fine Gael newcomer Regina Doherty polled 10.14 per cent of the vote and, following her elimination at the end of the seventh count, her transfers were instrumental in bringing McEntee over the quota, to be elected on the eighth count. That count also saw Byrne elected without reaching the quota.
There had been 11 candidates in the race for Meath East, with Fianna Fáil's two candidates taking a total of 43.57 per cent of first preferences, while Fine Gael took 25.87 per cent and Labour 11.94 per cent. Former Labour TD Brian Fitzgerald, now standing as an Independent, took 6.01 per cent of first preferences.
Sinn Féin's Joanne Finnegan took 3.94 per cent, while Green Party candidate Seán Ó Buachalla polled just 3.09 per cent and Sirena Campbell of the Progressive Democrats polled 2.23 per cent.
Overall change: New Constituency
Outgoing TDs
Mary Wallace FF
Shane McEntee FG