List of ambassadors and high commissioners of Canada to Ireland

The ambassador of Canada to Ireland is the official representative of the Canadian government to the government of Ireland. The official title for the ambassador is Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ireland. The current ambassador of Canada to Ireland is Dennis King who was appointed on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 3, 2025.^[1][2]

Ambassador of Canada to Ireland
Incumbent Dennis King since March 3, 2025
Seat	Embassy of Canada, Dublin
Nominator	Prime Minister of Canada
Appointer	Governor General of Canada
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	John Hall Kelly
Formation	December 28, 1939 as High Commissioner

From 1928 to 1949, Canada sent High Commissioners to the Irish Free State, which was a fellow member of the Commonwealth and a Dominion at the time. With the passage of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland left the Commonwealth, and Canada and Ireland have exchanged ambassadors since.

The Embassy of Canada is located at 7-8 Wilton Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland. The ambassador lives at 22 Oakley Road, Ranelagh a rowhouse in The Triangle area.

From 1954 to 2008, the ambassador lived at Strathmore in Killiney.

History of diplomatic relations

Main article: Canada–Ireland relations

The Canadian Embassy in Dublin, on the Grand Canal

Diplomatic relations between Canada and Ireland was established on September 11, 1939.^[3] John Hall Kelly was appointed as Canada's first High Commissioner in Ireland on December 28, 1939.^[3] On April 17, 1949, Ireland severed its formal association with the Commonswealth, and the Canadian embassy to the newly independent Ireland was established on July 17, 1949.^[3]

List of ambassadors of Canada to Ireland

No.	Name	Term of office			Career	Prime Minister nominated by		Ref.
		Start date	PoC.	End date
—	High Commissioner of Canada to Ireland
1	John Hall Kelly	December 28, 1939	March 9, 1940	March 9, 1941	Non-Career		W. L. Mackenzie King (1935–1948)	[a][b]
2	John Doherty Kearney	July 31, 1941	August 26, 1941		Non-Career
3	Merchant M. Mahoney	November 19, 1945		May 4, 1946	Career			[a]
4	Edward Joseph Garland	May 4, 1946		March 19, 1947	Non-Career
5	William Ferdinand Alphonse Turgeon	October 24, 1946	March 19, 1947	June 30, 1949	Non-Career
—	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Ireland
–	David Moffat Johnson (Chargé d'Affaires)	July 17, 1949		December 1949	Career		Louis St. Laurent (1948–1957)	[c]
6	William Ferdinand Alphonse Turgeon	January 23, 1950	July 17, 1950	April 20, 1955	Non-Career
–	Jean Chapdelaine (Chargé d'Affaires)	January 23, 1950		July 17, 1950	Career
7	Alfred Rive	August 16, 1955		July 7, 1963	Career
–	Paul Vernon McLane (Chargé d'Affaires)	July 7, 1963		March 29, 1965	Career		Lester B. Pearson (1963–1968)
8	Evan William Thistle Gill	November 6, 1964	March 29, 1965	March 22, 1968	Career
9	James Joachim McCardle	October 8, 1968	January 16, 1969		Career		Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1968–1979 & 1980–1984)
10	Harold Morton Maddick	May 25, 1972	October 17, 1972	August 31, 1976	Career
11	Edgar Ritchie	June 29, 1976	October 27, 1976	November 7, 1980	Career
12	Alan William Sullivan	February 12, 1981			Career
13	Edgar J. Benson	September 3, 1982	November 25, 1982		Non-Career
–	Gustav Gad Rezek (Chargé d'Affaires)	1985		May 12, 1986	Career		Brian Mulroney (1984–1993)
14	Dennis McDermott	January 28, 1986	May 15, 1986	May 24, 1989	Non-Career
15	Mike Wadsworth	August 24, 1989	October 17, 1989	October 22, 1994	Non-Career
16	Barry Michael Mawhinney	July 12, 1994	November 4, 1994	October 4, 1996	Career		Jean Chrétien (1993–2003)
17	Michael B. Phillips	September 24, 1996	November 5, 1996	September 11, 1998	Career
18	Ron Irwin	September 4, 1998	September 24, 1998		Non-Career
–	William Gusen (Chargé d'Affaires)	October 10, 2001		August 1, 2002	Career
19	Mark Moher	July 2, 2002	September 10, 2002	August 8, 2006	Career
20	Chris Westdal	September 20, 2006	October 24, 2006	December 7, 2006	Career		Stephen Harper (2006–2015)
–	Carl Schwenger (Chargé d'Affaires)	December 7, 2006			Career
21	Pat Binns	August 13, 2007	October 2, 2007	September 3, 2010	Non-Career			[d]
22	Loyola Hearn	November 17, 2010	January 12, 2011	August 26, 2014	Non-Career			[d]
23	Kevin Vickers	January 19, 2015	January 21, 2015	March 2, 2019	Non-Career			[4][d]
24	Nancy Smyth	March 23, 2021	June 17, 2021		Career		Justin Trudeau (2015–2025)	[5]
25	Dennis King	March 3, 2025	April 8, 2025		Non-Career			[1][2]

See also

• Canada–Ireland relations
• Embassy of Ireland, Ottawa
• Strathmore (Killiney), residence of the Canadian Ambassador to Ireland (1957-2008)
• List of diplomatic missions in Ireland
• List of diplomatic missions of Canada

Notes

1. Died in office
2. High Commissioner Kelly is the only Canadian head of mission to be buried in Ireland, where he died in office as High Commissioner.
3. Canada severed its formal association with Ireland on 17 April 1949. The Canadian Embassy in the Republic of Ireland was established on 17 July 1949, with representatives having the rank of Ambassador.
4. Ambassadors Binns, Hearn and Vickers are a few Irish-Canadians whom have had the honour of serving in the post.