The 9th Dáil was elected at the 1937 general election on 1 July 1937 and met on 21 July 1937. The members of Dáil Éireann, the Chamber of Deputies of the Oireachtas (legislature) of the Irish Free State, are known as TDs. Seanad Éireann, a second chamber in the Irish Free State, had been abolished in May 1936.
On 29 December 1937, the Constitution of Ireland came into effect, with the state being renamed as Ireland. Under Article 54 of the Constitution, the Dáil established by the Constitution of the Irish Free State became Dáil Éireann of the new bicameral Oireachtas, being described in Article 15 of the Constitution as a House of Representatives. Under Article 55, the Oireachtas consisted of a single chamber only, pending the first assembly of the new Seanad Éireann on 27 April 1938. This took place following an indirect election forming the 2nd Seanad.
The 9th Dáil was dissolved on 27 May 1938 by the Presidential Commission, as constituted under Article 57 of the Constitution prior to the coming into office of the first president of Ireland. The 9th Dáil lasted . There were no by-elections during the 9th Dáil.
Composition of the 9th Dáil
- 8th Executive Council, 3rd government
- Providing confidence and supply
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 95%;"
|-
!colspan=2|Party
!July 1937
!May 1938
!class"unsortable"|Change
|-
| style="background-color: " |
|style="background-color:#DAEFF2" | Fianna Fáil
|style="background-color:#DAEFF2" align="center"| 69
|style="background-color:#DAEFF2" align="center"| 67
|style="background-color:#DAEFF2" align="center"| 2
|-
|
|align="center"| 48
|align="center"| 48
|align="center"|
|-
| style="background-color: " |
|style="background-color:#F7F4DE" | Labour
|style="background-color:#F7F4DE" align="center"| 13
|style="background-color:#F7F4DE" align="center"| 13
|style="background-color:#F7F4DE" align="center"|
|-
|
|align="center"| 8
|align="center"| 8
|align="center"|
|-
|
|
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| 1
|-
|
|
|align="center"| 1
|align="center"| 1
|-
! colspan="2" |Total
! colspan="3" align="center" | 138
|}
Fianna Fáil formed the 8th executive council of the Irish Free State, a minority government dependent on the support of the Labour Party. Under Article 56 of the Constitution, this became the 1st government of Ireland on the coming into operation of the Constitution on 29 December 1937.
Graphical representation
This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 9th Dáil from July 1937. This was not the official seating plan.
290px
Ceann Comhairle
On 21 July 1937, Frank Fahy (FF), who had served as Ceann Comhairle since 1932, was proposed by Éamon de Valera and seconded by William Norton for the position, and was elected without a vote.
TDs by constituency
The 138 TDs elected at the 1937 general election is given by Dáil constituency.