Liam Cosgrave

Liam Cosgrave
Cosgrave in 1976
6th Taoiseach
In office 14 March 1973 – 5 July 1977
President	Éamon de Valera Erskine H. Childers Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh Patrick Hillery
Tánaiste	Brendan Corish
Preceded by	Jack Lynch
Succeeded by	Jack Lynch
Leader of the Opposition
In office 21 April 1965 – 14 March 1973
Taoiseach	Seán Lemass Jack Lynch
Preceded by	James Dillon
Succeeded by	Jack Lynch
Leader of Fine Gael
In office 21 April 1965 – 1 July 1977
Deputy	Tom O'Higgins
Preceded by	James Dillon
Succeeded by	Garret FitzGerald
Minister for External Affairs
In office 2 June 1954 – 20 March 1957
Taoiseach	John A. Costello
Preceded by	Frank Aiken
Succeeded by	Frank Aiken
Parliamentary Secretary
1948–1951	Government Chief Whip
1948–1951	Industry and Commerce
Teachta Dála
In office June 1977 – June 1981
Constituency	Dún Laoghaire
In office February 1948 – June 1977
Constituency	Dún Laoghaire and Rathdown
In office June 1943 – February 1948
Constituency	Dublin County
Personal details
Born	(1920-04-13)13 April 1920 Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland
Died	4 October 2017(2017-10-04) (aged 97) Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland[1][2]
Resting place	Goldenbridge Cemetery, Inchicore, Dublin, Ireland[3]
Political party	Fine Gael
Spouse	Vera Osborne ​ ​ (m. 1952; died 2016)​
Children	3, including Liam
Parents	W. T. Cosgrave Louisa Flanagan
Education	Castleknock College Synge Street CBS
Alma mater	King's Inns

Liam Cosgrave (13 April 1920 – 4 October 2017)^[4][5][6] was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1973 to 1977, Leader of Fine Gael from 1965 to 1977, Leader of the Opposition from 1965 to 1973, Minister for External Affairs from 1954 to 1957, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Commerce and Government Chief Whip from 1948 to 1951. He served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1943 to 1981.^[7]

Born in Castleknock, Dublin, Cosgrave was the son of W. T. Cosgrave, the first President of the Executive Council in the newly formed Irish Free State. After qualifying as a barrister he began a political career. He was elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1943 general election and sat in opposition alongside his father. In the first inter-party government in 1948, Cosgrave was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach John A. Costello. He became a cabinet member in 1954 when he was appointed Minister for External Affairs. The highlight of his three-year tenure was Ireland's successful entry into the United Nations. In 1965, Cosgrave was the unanimous choice of his colleagues to succeed James Dillon as leader of Fine Gael. He lost the 1969 general election to the incumbent Taoiseach Jack Lynch, but won the 1973 general election and became Taoiseach in a Fine Gael-Labour Party government.

Cosgrave died on 4 October 2017, at the age of 97. He remains to date the longest-lived Taoiseach.