1945 Irish presidential election

Irish presidential election, 1945

14 June 1945
Turnout	63.0%
120px Nominee Seán T. O'Kelly Seán Mac Eoin Patrick McCartan Party Fianna Fáil Fine Gael Independent 1st preference 537,965 (49.5%) 335,539 (30.9%) 212,834 (19.6%) Final count 565,165 (55.5%) 453,425 (44.5%) Eliminated
President before election Douglas Hyde Independent Elected President Seán T. O'Kelly Fianna Fáil

The Irish presidential election of 1945 was held on 14 June 1945. It was Ireland's first contested presidential election. With the decision of the outgoing president Douglas Hyde not to seek a second term, Fianna Fáil decided to nominate its deputy leader, the Tánaiste Seán T. O'Kelly as its candidate. Independent republican Patrick McCartan sought and failed to receive the necessary four nominations from local councils. Expecting that McCartan would fail, the main opposition Fine Gael party decided at the last moment to run a candidate, choosing Seán Mac Eoin. However McCartan finally managed to get a nomination from twenty members of the Oireachtas, producing an unexpected three candidate race.

In the election, O'Kelly as expected won on the second count. However the degree of voting transfers between the two opposition candidates, and O'Kelly's failure to win on the first count, showed the depth of growing opposition to Éamon de Valera's government and the potential that existed for cooperation among various opposition groups. De Valera's government was defeated in the subsequent 1948 general election and replaced by an Inter-Party government from the opposition. In some ways, the First Inter-Party Government born in 1948 was conceived due to the results of the 1945 presidential election.

Result

Irish presidential election, 1945
Party		Candidate	% 1st Pref	Count 1	Count 2
	Fianna Fáil	Seán T. O'Kelly	49.5	537,965	565,165
	Fine Gael	Seán Mac Eoin	30.9	335,539	453,425
	Independent	Patrick McCartan	19.6	212,834
Electorate: 1,803,463   Valid: 1,086,338   Spoilt: 50,287 (4.4%)   Quota: 543,170   Turnout: 63.0%

First preference vote
O'Kelly			49.5%
Mac Eoin			30.9%
McCartan			19.6%

Final percentage
O'Kelly			55.5%
Mac Eoin			44.5%

City and County results

First preference votes by City/County

City/County	Seán T. O'Kelly	Seán Mac Eoin	Patrick McCartan
County Carlow	46.8%	39.3%	13.9%
County Cavan	49.3%	40.4%	10.3%
County Clare	57.7%	27.2%	15.1%
County Cork	44.1%	34.5%	21.4%
Cork City	50.2%	32.7%	17.1%
County Donegal	54.4%	28.6%	17%
County Dublin	43%	31%	26%
Dublin City	45.9%	25.5%	28.6%
County Galway	57.7%	22.6%	19.8%
County Kerry	56.8%	19.8%	23.4%
County Kildare	54.1%	31.9%	14%
County Kilkenny	53.6%	32.5%	13.9%
County Laois	45.8%	29.1%	25%
County Leitrim	39.5%	45.8%	14.7%
County Limerick	55.9%	32.4%	11.7%
Limerick City	56.2%	28.5%	15.3%
County Longford	35.1%	61%	3.9%
County Louth	49.3%	33.9%	16.8%
County Mayo	50%	27%	23%
County Meath	58%	27.9%	14%
County Monaghan	54.4%	28.7%	16.9%
County Offaly	53.1%	26.1%	20.8%
County Roscommon	47.6%	36.4%	15.9%
County Sligo	39.7%	46.4%	13.9%
North Tipperary	52.1%	31.4%	16.5%
South Tipperary	50.5%	33.2%	16.3%
County Waterford	58.8%	27.9%	13.3%
Waterford City	52.2%	28.9%	18.9%
County Westmeath	47.5%	44.9%	7.5%
County Wexford	46.9%	28.8%	24.3%
County Wicklow	42.8%	21%	36.2%
Total	49.5%	30.9%	19.6%

See also

• President of Ireland