A brief account of the State's seven previous presidents.
Douglas Hyde (1860-1949). An early leader of the Irish-language revival movement and son of a Protestant clergyman, Hyde was the cross-party choice for the new office of President created under the 1937 Constitution, which he held until his term expired in 1945.
Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh (1882-1966). Founder-member of Sinn Féin in 1905 and, later, Fianna Fáil in 1926. Staff captain to Pádraig Pearse in 1916 Rising. Elected President in 1945 and returned unopposed for second term in 1952.
Eamon de Valera (1882-1975). Sole surviving commandant of the 1916 Rising and political leader of anti-Treaty forces in the Civil War. Head of government: 1932-48, 1951-54 and 1957-59. Elected President in 1959 and re-elected for a further seven years in 1966.
Erskine Hamilton Childers (1905-74). Son of executed republican leader, Robert Erskine Childers (1870-1922). Served in different cabinet posts until elected President in 1973, defeating T.F. O'Higgins of Fine Gael. Died suddenly, November 17th, 1974.
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh (1911-78). Agreed candidate for President after death of Erskine Childers in 1974. In September 1976 he referred the Emergency Powers Bill to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality and resigned a month later to protect the dignity of the office after Defence Minister Patrick Donegan called his action "a thundering disgrace".
Patrick J. Hillery (1923-). Agreed candidate for President when Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh resigned in late 1976, the former government minister and European commissioner served two terms in Áras an Uachtaráin. In January 1982 the Fine Gael-Labour government collapsed and Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald requested a parliamentary dissolution in order to hold elections. Hillery resisted a series of phone-calls urging him to refuse a dissolution and allow Fianna Fáil to take power.
Mary Robinson (1944). A former Labour Party senator, she became Ireland's first woman President in 1990 after a stormy election campaign. Resigned four months before her term of office ended in 1997 to take up the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which she held until 2002.