13th Seanad

The 13th Seanad was in office from 1973 to 1977. An election to Seanad Éireann, the senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1973 general election to the 20th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 14th Seanad in 1977.

13th Seanad
← 12th Seanad 14th Seanad →
Overview
Legislative body	Seanad Éireann
Jurisdiction	Ireland
Meeting place	Leinster House
Term	1 June 1973 – 16 August 1977
Government	14th government of Ireland
Members	60
Cathaoirleach	James Dooge (FG)
Leas-Chathaoirleach	Evelyn Owens (Lab)
Leader of the Seanad	Michael O'Higgins (FG)

Cathaoirleach

On 1 June 1973, James Dooge (FG) was proposed for the position of Cathaoirleach by Michael O'Higgins (FG) and seconded by Jack Fitzgerald (FG). He was elected without a division.^[1]

On 20 June 1973, Kit Ahern (FF) was proposed for the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach by Brian Lenihan (FF) and seconded by Seán Brosnan (FF). She was defeated by a vote of 18 to 31. Evelyn Owens (Lab) was proposed by Jack Fitzgerald (FG) and seconded by Michael Moynihan (Lab). She was elected by a vote of 30 to 18. Mary Robinson (Ind) supported the election of Ahern, but abstained in the vote on Owens.^[2]

Composition of the 13th Seanad

There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels, 6 were elected from two university constituencies and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach.

The following table shows the composition by party when the 13th Seanad first met on 1 June 1973.

Origin Party		Vocational panels					NUI	DU	Nominated	Total
		Admin	Agri	Cult & Educ	Ind & Comm	Labour
	Fianna Fáil	4	5	2	4	3	0	0	0	18
	Fine Gael	3	5	2	3	4	0	0	7	24
	Labour Party	0	1	1	1	3	1	0	4	11
	Independent	0	0	0	1	1	2	3	0	7
Total		7	11	5	9	11	3	3	11	60

List of senators

• Note: The entries for Senators who were elected or appointed to fill vacancies are shown in italics

Name	Panel	Party		Notes
Seán Brosnan	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil	Elected to the 20th Dáil at a by-election on 13 November 1974[3]
Philip Burton	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Jack Garrett	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Seán Keegan	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Thomas Kilbride	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Bernard McGlinchey	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil
Andy O'Brien	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael
Micheál Prendergast	Administrative Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 23 April 1975, replacing Seán Brosnan[4]
Bob Aylward	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Died on 18 July 1974[5]
Jack Barrett	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Pierce Butler	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Bernard Cowen	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Fitzgerald	Agricultural Panel		Labour
John Mannion	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Joe McCartin	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Patrick McGowan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Cornelius O'Callaghan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil	Died on 24 January 1974[6]
William Ryan	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil
Liam Whyte	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael
Pat Codd	Agricultural Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 23 April 1975, succeeding Cornelius O'Callaghan[4]
Michael Ferris	Agricultural Panel		Labour	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 23 April 1975, succeeding Bob Aylward[4]
Kit Ahern	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Billy Fox	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael	Assassinated on 12 March 1974[7]
Timothy McAuliffe	Cultural and Educational Panel		Labour
Mary Walsh	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael	Died on 18 August 1976[8]
Michael Yeats	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fianna Fáil
Roddy Connolly	Cultural and Educational Panel		Labour	Elected to Seanad at a by-election 23 April 1975, replacing Billy Fox[4]
Vincent McHugh	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 25 October 1976, replacing Mary Walsh[9]
John J. Brennan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Fad Browne	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
James Dooge	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael	Cathaoirleach
Denis Farrelly	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael	Died on 27 December 1974[10]
Alexis FitzGerald	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael
Brian Lenihan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Michael Moynihan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Labour
Ted Russell	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Independent
Eoin Ryan	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Daly	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael	Elected to Seanad at a by-election on 23 April 1975, replacing Denis Farrelly[4]
John Boland	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Seán Brosnahan	Labour Panel		Independent
Séamus Dolan	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Des Hanafin	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Jack Harte	Labour Panel		Labour
Fintan Kennedy	Labour Panel		Labour
Mark Killilea	Labour Panel		Fianna Fáil
Michael Lyons	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Bernard Markey	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
William O'Brien	Labour Panel		Fine Gael
Evelyn Owens	Labour Panel		Labour
John Horgan	National University of Ireland		Labour
Augustine Martin	National University of Ireland		Independent
Patrick Quinlan	National University of Ireland		Independent
Noël Browne	Dublin University		Independent
Mary Robinson	Dublin University		Independent
Trevor West	Dublin University		Independent
John Blennerhassett	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Austin Deasy	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Elected to the 21st Dáil at the general election on 16 June 1977[11]
Benjamin Guinness	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Brendan Halligan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour	Elected to the 20th Dáil at a by-election on 10 June 1976[12]
Michael D. Higgins	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
Patrick Kerrigan	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour	Elected to the 21st Dáil at the general election on 16 June 1977[13]
Patrick W. McGrath	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Michael Mullen	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour
Michael J. O'Higgins	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Leader of the Seanad
Paddy O'Toole	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Elected to the 21st Dáil at the general election on 16 June 1977[13]
James Sanfey	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael
Ruairi Quinn	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour	Nominated on 1 July 1976, replacing Brendan Halligan[14] Elected to the 21st Dáil at the general election on 16 June 1977[13]
Liam Burke	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Nominated on 21 June 1977 to fill vacancy[15]
Martin Finn	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael	Nominated on 21 June 1977 to fill vacancy[15]
Frank King	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour	Nominated on 22 June 1977 to fill vacancy[15]

Changes

Date	Panel	Loss		Gain		Note
24 January 1974	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			Death of Cornelius O'Callaghan[6]
12 March 1974	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael			Death of Billy Fox[7]
18 July 1974	Agricultural Panel		Fianna Fáil			Death of Bob Aylward[5]
13 November 1974	Administrative Panel		Fianna Fáil			Seán Brosnan elected to the 20th Dáil at a by-election[3]
27 December 1974	Industrial and Commercial Panel		Fine Gael			Death of Denis Farrelly[10]
23 April 1975	Administrative Panel				Fine Gael	Micheál Prendergast elected at a by-election to replace Seán Brosnan[16][4]
23 April 1975	Agricultural Panel				Fine Gael	Pat Codd elected at a by-election to succeed Cornelius O'Callaghan[4]
23 April 1975	Agricultural Panel				Labour	Michael Ferris elected at a by-election to succeed Bob Aylward[4]
23 April 1975	Cultural and Educational Panel				Labour	Roddy Connolly elected at a by-election to succeed Billy Fox[4]
23 April 1975	Industrial and Commercial Panel				Fine Gael	Jack Daly elected at a by-election to succeed Denis Farrelly[17][4]
10 June 1976	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour			Brendan Halligan elected to the 20th Dáil at a by-election[12]
1 July 1976	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Labour	Ruairi Quinn nominated to succeed Brendan Halligan[14]
18 August 1976	Cultural and Educational Panel		Fine Gael			Death of Mary Walsh[8][18]
25 October 1976	Cultural and Educational Panel				Fine Gael	Vincent McHugh elected at a by-election to succeed Mary Walsh[9]
16 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael			Austin Deasy elected to the 21st Dáil at the 1977 general election[13]
16 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour			Patrick Kerrigan elected to the 21st Dáil at the 1977 general election[13]
16 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Fine Gael			Paddy O'Toole elected to the 21st Dáil at the 1977 general election[13]
16 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach		Labour			Ruairi Quinn elected to the 21st Dáil at the 1977 general election[13]
22 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fine Gael	Liam Burke nominated to fill vacancy[15]
22 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Fine Gael	Martin Finn nominated to fill vacancy[15]
22 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Labour	Brendan Halligan nominated to fill vacancy[15]
22 June 1977	Nominated by the Taoiseach				Labour	Frank King nominated to fill vacancy[15]