Definition of "Taoiseach"

Article 28. […] 5. 1º The head of the Government, or Prime Minister, shall be called, and is in this Constitution referred to as, the Taoiseach. 2º The Taoiseach shall keep the President generally informed on matters of domestic and international policy.

1937 July 1 (date ratified), “The Government”, in The Constitution of Erin, Ireland, San Francisco, Calif.: Russell Quinn, published , page 22

To cope with the situation created at home by the war so close at hand, an Taoiseach (Prime Minister [Éamon] de Valera) rearranged his cabinet and formed a Ministry of Supplies under one of his ablest men.

1940 December 7, Arthur W. Bromage, Mary C. Bromage, “Ireland—What Now?”, in The Michigan Alumnus: Quarterly Review: A Journal of University Perspectives, volume XLVII, number 10, Ann Arbor, Mich.: Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, page 208

The only leader of the 1916 Easter rebellion to escape hanging, [Éamon d]e Valera lost the civil war, then won elections that made him taoiseach (prime minister) for 19 years.

1954 May 31, “The Taoiseach Falls: De Valera Nears the End of Long Political Trail”, in Henry R[obinson] Luce, editor, Life, volume 36, number 22, Chicago, Ill., New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., page 29, column 1

The Constitution of Ireland, art. 13, requires that the President of Ireland, the formal head of state, appoints the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) on the nomination of the Dáil Eireann (a popular elected legislative Chamber of Deputies). Ther same provision also requires that the President appoints the other members of the government on the nomination of the Taoiseach with the previous approval of the Dáil.

1983 October, Law Library, Library of Congress, “Time Span between Election or Selection of an Official and the Subsequent Taking of Office in Various Foreign Countries [Ireland]”, in Commencement of Terms of Office of the President and Members of Congress: Hearing before the Subcommittee on the Constitution of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-eighth Congress, Second Session on S.J. Res. 71: A Joint Resolution Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States Relative to the Commencement of the Terms of Office of the President, Vice President, and Members of Congress […] (Serial No. J-98-113), Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published 24 April 1984, page 42

So what if they didn't have their Christmas Eve drinks party with the two Taoiseachs? They would have the satisfaction of knowing they could have.

1993, Mary Breasted, chapter 12, in Why Should You Doubt Me Now?, New York, N.Y.: Farrar Straus Giroux, page 50

Although Taoisigh insist that choices are based on merit and capacity, they show a remarkable tendency to surround themselves with loyalists.

1994, Brian Farrell, “The Political Role of Cabinet Ministers in Ireland”, in Michael Laver, Kenneth A. Shepsle, editors, Cabinet Ministers and Parliamentary Government (The Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, page 81

Despite the attacks, 'the boss', as [Charles] Haughey was to become known, was elected taoiseach by 82 votes to 62. However, he was a taoiseach with strong opposition from within his own party.

2003, Dermot Keogh, “Ireland, 1972–84”, in J[acqueline] R. Hill, editor, A New History of Ireland, volumes VII (Ireland 1921–84), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, page 379

Under normal circumstances, when a Taoiseach 'advises' the President to dissolve the Dáil and thereby bring about a general election, the President is bound to accede to this. However, the President, in the words of Article 13.2.2 [of the Constitution of Ireland], 'may in his absolute discretion refuse to dissolve Dáil Éireann on the advice of a Taoiseach who has ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann'.

2010, Michael Gallagher, “The Oireachtas: President and Parliament”, in John Coakley, Michael Gallagher, editors, Politics in the Republic of Ireland, 5th edition, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge in association with PSAI Press, part II (Representative Democracy at Work), page 200

For three centuries, the fabled Round Room in Dublin's Mansion House has been the site of some of Ireland's most important gatherings. British monarchs and Irish taoiseachs, a Catholic pope and a Protestant terrorist, all have walked its halls.

2010, David J. Lynch, “Money is Just Evidence”, in When the Luck of the Irish Ran Out: The World’s Most Resilient Country and Its Struggle to Rise Again, New York, N.Y., Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, page 175

He [Charles Haughey] was determined to seize the initiative, to paint a picture of a taoiseach forging ahead with a bold new strategy in relation to Northern Ireland – a leader, driven by an inner crusade to transform the landscape of Anglo-Irish relations.

2016, Stephen Kelly, “The Haughey—Thatcher Relationship: The Anglo-Irish Summit Meeting, May 1980”, in ‘A Failed Political Entity’: Charles Haughey and the Northern Ireland Question 1945–1992, Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland: Merrion Press, page 149

Everyone in the UK and Ireland should be afraid of a no-deal Brexit, the Irish taoiseach said, after he was accused of engaging in “Project Fear mark two”.

2019 August 1, Kevin Rawlinson, “Leo Varadkar: ‘We should all be afraid of a no-deal Brexit’”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎, London: Guardian News & Media, archived from the original on 2022-12-26

Well, I was there from 1973 to 1993, working directly with five different taoisigh, at different times, of course, as secretary to the government, or Cabinet Secretary in Robert [Armstrong]'s terms—from Sunningdale to the Downing Street Declaration.

2020, John Coakley, Jennifer Todd, quoting Dermot Nally, “The Anglo-Irish Agreement, 1985”, in Negotiating a Settlement in Northern Ireland, 1969–2019, Oxford, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, page 173