View source for 1938 Irish presidential election

{{Short description|none}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox election
|election_name      = 1938 Irish presidential election
|country            = Ireland
|type               = presidential
|ongoing            = no
|next_election      = 1945 Irish presidential election
|next_year          = 1945
|election_date      = 31 May 1938<br/>(Unopposed)
|image1             = [[File:Douglas Hyde - Project Gutenberg eText 19028.jpg|150px]]
|nominee1           = [[Douglas Hyde]]
|party1             = Independent politician (Ireland)
|title              = President
|before_election    = New office
|after_election     = [[Douglas Hyde]]
|after_party        = Independent politician (Ireland)
}}
The '''1938 Irish presidential election''' was the first Irish presidential election, held to fill the new office of [[President of Ireland]].

==Procedure==
The office of president was established by Article 12 of the new [[Constitution of Ireland]], which [[Adoption of the Constitution of Ireland|came into force]] on 29 December 1937. Article 57 of the Constitution provided that the president would enter office not later than 180 days after that date. Until the inauguration of the first president, the powers and functions of the office were carried out by a [[Presidential Commission (Ireland)|Presidential Commission]] consisting of the [[Chief Justice of Ireland|Chief Justice]], the [[High Court (Ireland)|President of the High Court]] and the [[Ceann Comhairle]].

On 14 April 1938, [[Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Minister for Local Government and Public Health]] [[Seán T. O'Kelly]] made an order under section 6 of the Presidential Elections Act 1937 opening nominations, with noon on 4 May as the deadline for nominations, and 31 May set as the date for a poll (if any).<ref>{{cite news|title=Presidential election|date=16 April 1938|work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

Under Article 12, candidates could be nominated by:
*at least twenty of the 198 serving members of the Houses of the [[Oireachtas]], or
*at least four of 31 [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|councils of the administrative counties, including county boroughs]].

All [[Irish nationality law|Irish citizen]]s on the Dáil [[Electoral roll|electoral register]] were eligible to vote.

==Nomination process==
The first candidate to seek a nomination was [[Alfie Byrne]], who had been serving as [[Lord Mayor of Dublin]] since 1930, and would continue in that position until 1939.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Presidency of Eire. Agreed Candidate Question. Lord Mayor appoints Election Agent|date=20 April 1938|work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

On 21 April, representatives of the two major parties, [[Fianna Fáil]] and [[Fine Gael]], met and agreed to nominate [[Douglas Hyde]] for the office.<ref>{{cite news|title=Dr. Douglas Hyde chosen for Presidency of Eire. Agreed Candidate of Two Parties|date=22 April 1938|work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref> The following day, [[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] leader [[William Norton]] expressed his approval in the Dáil of the nomination of Hyde, and Alfie Byrne issued a statement ending his nomination campaign.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lord Mayor and the Presidency. Will not now seek nomination|date=23 April 1938|work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

At the close of nominations, Hyde was the only nominated candidate, with two separate nomination forms received on behalf of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Oireachtas members. Accepting the nominations and his election to office on 4 May, Hyde said, "I accept this office willingly, but with humility. I will do my best to carry out my duties in the future".<ref>{{cite news|title=Eire's First President. Dr Douglas Hyde Elected|date=5 May 1938|work=[[The Irish Times]]}}</ref>

==Result==
{{Uncontested election box
|title      = 1938 Irish presidential election<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/FileDownLoad%2C661%2Cen.pdf|title=Presidential Elections 1938–2011|publisher=[[Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage|Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government]]|access-date=15 July 2018|format=PDF|page=20|archive-date=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220201718/http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/FileDownLoad,661,en.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
|candidate  = '''[[Douglas Hyde]]'''
|party      = Independent politician (Ireland)
|nominator  = [[Fianna Fáil]] and [[Fine Gael]]
}}

After the close of nominations on 4 May, the election scheduled for 31 May was cancelled as superfluous, and 1 June was set as the date of Hyde's [[Inauguration of the President of Ireland|inauguration as President]]. However, on 27 May, the [[9th Dáil]] was [[Dissolution of parliament|dissolved]] and a general election [[1938 Irish general election|called for 17 June]]. Since the Constitution mandates that [[Teachta Dála|members of the Dáil]] be present when the President takes his [[oath of office]], the inauguration was postponed until 25 June.<ref>{{cite news |title=Installation of President; Postponed Till End of June |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1938/0528/Pg009.html#Ar00905 |access-date=25 February 2021 |work=The Irish Times |date=28 May 1938 |page=9}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Irish elections|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irish Presidential Election, 1938}}
[[Category:1938 elections in the Republic of Ireland]]
[[Category:1938 in Irish politics|Presidential election]]
[[Category:Presidential elections in Ireland]]
[[Category:Uncontested elections]]
[[Category:June 1938 events]]