# 16th Dáil

The 16th Dáil was elected at the 1957 general election on 5 March 1957 and met on 20 March 1957. The members of Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas (legislature) of Ireland, are known as TDs. It sat with the 9th Seanad as the two Houses of the Oireachtas.
The 16th Dáil saw a change of Taoiseach from Éamon de Valera to Seán Lemass in June 1959. On 8 September 1961, President Éamon de Valera dissolved the Dáil on the request of Taoiseach Seán Lemass. The 16th Dáil lasted 4 years, 165 days.

## Composition of the 16th Dáil

| Party | Party | March 1957 | Sep. 1961 |
| ● | Fianna Fáil | 78 | 75 |
| | Fine Gael | 40 | 41 |
| | Labour | 12 | 11 |
| | Sinn Féin | 4 | 4 |
| | Clann na Talmhan | 3 | 3 |
| | Clann na Poblachta | 1 | 1 |
| | Independent | 9 | 7 |
| | Ceann Comhairle | — | 1 |
| | National Progressive Democrats | — | 2 |
| | Vacant | — | 2 |
In line with its policy of abstentionism, the Sinn Féin TDs did not take their seats.
Fianna Fáil, denoted with a bullet (●), formed the 8th government of Ireland led by Éamon de Valera as Taoiseach. Following de Valera's election as president of Ireland in June 1959, Seán Lemass formed the 9th government of Ireland.

### Graphical representation

This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 16th Dáil from March 1957. This was not the official seating plan.

## Ceann Comhairle

On the meeting of the Dáil, Patrick Hogan (Lab), who had served as Ceann Comhairle since 1951, was proposed by John A. Costello (FG) and seconded by Éamon de Valera (FF) for the position. His election was approved without a vote.

## TDs by constituency

The list of the 147 TDs elected, is given in alphabetical order by Dáil constituency.
Members of the 16th Dáil :
| Constituency | Name | Party |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | Patrick Crotty | Fine Gael |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | Jim Gibbons | Fianna Fáil |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | Joseph Hughes | Fine Gael |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | Francis Humphreys | Fianna Fáil |
| Carlow–Kilkenny | Martin Medlar | Fianna Fáil |
| Cavan | Patrick O'Reilly | Fine Gael |
| Cavan | Michael Sheridan | Fianna Fáil |
| Cavan | Paddy Smith | Fianna Fáil |
| Cavan | John Tully | Clann na Poblachta |
| Clare | Éamon de Valera | Fianna Fáil |
| Clare | Patrick Hillery | Fianna Fáil |
| Clare | Patrick Hogan | Labour |
| Clare | William Murphy | Fine Gael |
| Cork Borough | Stephen Barrett | Fine Gael |
| Cork Borough | Seán Casey | Labour |
| Cork Borough | John Galvin | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork Borough | Gus Healy | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork Borough | Jack Lynch | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork East | Richard Barry | Fine Gael |
| Cork East | Martin Corry | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork East | John Moher | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork North | Batt Donegan | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork North | Patrick McAuliffe | Labour |
| Cork North | Denis O'Sullivan | Fine Gael |
| Cork South | Dan Desmond | Labour |
| Cork South | Seán McCarthy | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork South | Tadhg Manley | Fine Gael |
| Cork West | Edward Cotter | Fianna Fáil |
| Cork West | Michael Pat Murphy | Labour |
| Cork West | Florence Wycherley | Independent |
| Donegal East | Neil Blaney | Fianna Fáil |
| Donegal East | Liam Cunningham | Fianna Fáil |
| Donegal East | Daniel McMenamin | Fine Gael |
| Donegal East | William Sheldon | Independent |
| Donegal West | Joseph Brennan | Fianna Fáil |
| Donegal West | Cormac Breslin | Fianna Fáil |
| Donegal West | Patrick O'Donnell | Fine Gael |
| Dublin County | Kevin Boland | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin County | Patrick Burke | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin County | Éamon Rooney | Fine Gael |
| Dublin North-Central | Vivion de Valera | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North-Central | Colm Gallagher | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North-Central | Patrick McGilligan | Fine Gael |
| Dublin North-East | Jack Belton | Fine Gael |
| Dublin North-East | Patrick Byrne | Fine Gael |
| Dublin North-East | Charles Haughey | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North-East | Denis Larkin | Labour |
| Dublin North-East | Oscar Traynor | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin North-West | Thomas Byrne | Independent |
| Dublin North-West | Declan Costello | Fine Gael |
| Dublin North-West | Richard Gogan | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-Central | Philip Brady | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-Central | Maurice E. Dockrell | Fine Gael |
| Dublin South-Central | Seán Lemass | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-Central | Celia Lynch | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-Central | Jack Murphy | Independent |
| Dublin South-East | Noël Browne | Independent |
| Dublin South-East | John A. Costello | Fine Gael |
| Dublin South-East | Seán MacEntee | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-West | Robert Briscoe | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-West | Bernard Butler | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-West | James Carroll | Independent |
| Dublin South-West | Noel Lemass | Fianna Fáil |
| Dublin South-West | Michael O'Higgins | Fine Gael |
| Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown | Lionel Booth | Fianna Fáil |
| Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown | Seán Brady | Fianna Fáil |
| Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown | Liam Cosgrave | Fine Gael |
| Galway North | Michael Donnellan | Clann na Talmhan |
| Galway North | Mark Killilea Snr | Fianna Fáil |
| Galway North | Michael F. Kitt | Fianna Fáil |
| Galway South | Patrick Beegan | Fianna Fáil |
| Galway South | Michael Carty | Fianna Fáil |
| Galway South | Brigid Hogan | Fine Gael |
| Galway West | Gerald Bartley | Fianna Fáil |
| Galway West | Fintan Coogan | Fine Gael |
| Galway West | Johnny Geoghegan | Fianna Fáil |
| Kerry North | Patrick Finucane | Independent |
| Kerry North | Tom McEllistrim | Fianna Fáil |
| Kerry North | Daniel Moloney | Fianna Fáil |
| Kerry North | Dan Spring | Labour |
| Kerry South | Honor Crowley | Fianna Fáil |
| Kerry South | Patrick Palmer | Fine Gael |
| Kerry South | John Joe Rice | Sinn Féin |
| Kildare | Patrick Dooley | Fianna Fáil |
| Kildare | William Norton | Labour |
| Kildare | Gerard Sweetman | Fine Gael |
| Leix–Offaly | Kieran Egan | Fianna Fáil |
| Leix–Offaly | Nicholas Egan | Fianna Fáil |
| Leix–Offaly | Oliver J. Flanagan | Fine Gael |
| Leix–Offaly | Peadar Maher | Fianna Fáil |
| Leix–Offaly | Tom O'Higgins | Fine Gael |
| Limerick East | John Carew | Fine Gael |
| Limerick East | Paddy Clohessy | Fianna Fáil |
| Limerick East | Donogh O'Malley | Fianna Fáil |
| Limerick East | Ted Russell | Independent |
| Limerick West | James Collins | Fianna Fáil |
| Limerick West | Denis Jones | Fine Gael |
| Limerick West | Donnchadh Ó Briain | Fianna Fáil |
| Longford–Westmeath | Erskine H. Childers | Fianna Fáil |
| Longford–Westmeath | Charles Fagan | Fine Gael |
| Longford–Westmeath | Michael Kennedy | Fianna Fáil |
| Longford–Westmeath | Seán Mac Eoin | Fine Gael |
| Longford–Westmeath | Ruairí Ó Brádaigh | Sinn Féin |
| Louth | Frank Aiken | Fianna Fáil |
| Louth | George Coburn | Fine Gael |
| Louth | Pádraig Faulkner | Fianna Fáil |
| Mayo North | Phelim Calleary | Fianna Fáil |
| Mayo North | Seán Doherty | Fianna Fáil |
| Mayo North | Patrick Lindsay | Fine Gael |
| Mayo South | Joseph Blowick | Clann na Talmhan |
| Mayo South | Seán Flanagan | Fianna Fáil |
| Mayo South | Henry Kenny | Fine Gael |
| Mayo South | Mícheál Ó Móráin | Fianna Fáil |
| Meath | Patrick Giles | Fine Gael |
| Meath | James Griffin | Fianna Fáil |
| Meath | Michael Hilliard | Fianna Fáil |
| Monaghan | James Dillon | Fine Gael |
| Monaghan | Patrick Mooney | Fianna Fáil |
| Monaghan | Eighneachán Ó hAnnluain | Sinn Féin |
| Roscommon | John Beirne | Clann na Talmhan |
| Roscommon | James Burke | Fine Gael |
| Roscommon | Gerald Boland | Fianna Fáil |
| Roscommon | Jack McQuillan | Independent |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Stephen Flynn | Fianna Fáil |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Eugene Gilbride | Fianna Fáil |
| Sligo–Leitrim | John Joe McGirl | Sinn Féin |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Mary Reynolds | Fine Gael |
| Sligo–Leitrim | Patrick Rogers | Fine Gael |
| Tipperary North | John Fanning | Fianna Fáil |
| Tipperary North | Mary Ryan | Fianna Fáil |
| Tipperary North | Patrick Tierney | Labour |
| Tipperary South | Dan Breen | Fianna Fáil |
| Tipperary South | Michael Davern | Fianna Fáil |
| Tipperary South | Frank Loughman | Fianna Fáil |
| Tipperary South | Richard Mulcahy | Fine Gael |
| Waterford | William Kenneally | Fianna Fáil |
| Waterford | Thomas Kyne | Labour |
| Waterford | Thaddeus Lynch | Fine Gael |
| Waterford | John Ormonde | Fianna Fáil |
| Wexford | Denis Allen | Fianna Fáil |
| Wexford | Seán Browne | Fianna Fáil |
| Wexford | Brendan Corish | Labour |
| Wexford | Anthony Esmonde | Fine Gael |
| Wexford | James Ryan | Fianna Fáil |
| Wicklow | Paudge Brennan | Fianna Fáil |
| Wicklow | James Everett | Labour |
| Wicklow | James O'Toole | Fianna Fáil |

## Changes

| Date | Constituency | Loss | Gain | Note |
| 20 March 1957 | Clare | Labour | Ceann Comhairle | Patrick Hogan takes office as Ceann Comhairle |
| 26 June 1957 | Dublin North-Central | Fianna Fáil | | Death of Colm Gallagher |
| 14 November 1957 | Dublin North-Central | | Independent | Frank Sherwin wins seat vacated by the death of Gallagher |
| 2 February 1958 | Galway South | Fianna Fáil | | Death of Patrick Beegan |
| 16 May 1958 | Dublin South-East | Independent | National Progressive Democrats | Noël Browne co-founds the National Progressive Democrats |
| 16 May 1958 | Roscommon | Independent | National Progressive Democrats | Jack McQuillan co-founds the National Progressive Democrats |
| 30 May 1958 | Galway South | | Fianna Fáil | Anthony Millar holds seat vacated by the death of Beegan |
| 13 May 1958 | Dublin South-Central | Independent | | Resignation of Jack Murphy |
| 25 June 1958 | Dublin South-Central | | Fianna Fáil | Patrick Cummins wins seat vacated by the resignation of Murphy |
| 13 March 1959 | Dublin South-West | Fianna Fáil | | Death of Bernard Butler |
| 22 March 1959 | Meath | Fianna Fáil | | Death of James Griffin |
| 17 June 1959 | Clare | Fianna Fáil | | Election of Éamon de Valera as president of Ireland |
| 22 July 1959 | Dublin South-West | | Fine Gael | Richie Ryan wins seat vacated by the death of Butler |
| 22 July 1959 | Meath | | Fianna Fáil | Henry Johnston holds seat vacated by the death of Griffin |
| 22 July 1959 | Clare | | Fianna Fáil | Seán Ó Ceallaigh holds seat vacated by de Valera |
| 20 January 1960 | Carlow–Kilkenny | Fine Gael | | Death of Joseph Hughes |
| 23 June 1960 | Carlow–Kilkenny | | Fianna Fáil | Patrick Teehan wins seat vacated by the death of Hughes |
| 24 November 1960 | Sligo–Leitrim | Fianna Fáil | | Death of Stephen Flynn |
| 1 March 1961 | Sligo–Leitrim | | Fine Gael | Joseph McLoughlin wins seat vacated by the death of Flynn |
| 29 March 1961 | Wexford | Fianna Fáil | | Death of Denis Allen |
| 19 April 1961 | Carlow–Kilkenny | Fianna Fáil | | Death of Francis Humphreys |