Garda Commissioners
The first Commissioner, Michael Staines, who was a Pro-Treaty member of Dáil Éireann, held office for only eight months. It was his successors, Eoin O'Duffy and Éamon Broy, who played a central role in the development of the force. O’Duffy was Commissioner in the early years of the force when to many people’s surprise the viability of an unarmed police force was established. O'Duffy later became a short-lived political leader of the quasi-fascistBlueshirts before heading to Spain to fight alongside Francisco Franco's Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. Broy had greatly assisted the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Anglo-Irish War, while serving with the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP). Broy's fame grew in the 1990s when he featured in the film Michael Collins, in which it was misleadingly suggested that he had been murdered by the British during the War of Independence, when in reality he lived for decades and headed the Garda Síochána from 1933 to 1938.
One later Commissioner, Edmund Garvey, was sacked by the Fianna Fáil government of Jack Lynch in 1978 after it had lost confidence in him. Garvey won 'unfair dismissal' legal proceedings against the government.[citation needed] The case made its way to the Supreme Court which found the action of the government improper.[citation needed] This outcome required the passing of the Garda Síochána Act 1979 to retrospectively validate the actions of Garvey's successor since he had become Commissioner.[13] His successor in turn, Patrick McLaughlin, was forced to resign along with his deputy in 1983 over his peripheral involvement in a political scandal. The current Commissioner, since November 2007, is Fachtna Murphy.
Michael Staines February 1922 September 1922 Resigned.
Eoin O'Duffy September 1922 February 1933 Dismissed for
encouraging military coup.
Eamon Broy February 1933 June 1938 Retired.
Michael Kinnane June 1938 July 1952 Died
Daniel Costigan July 1952 February 1965 Resigned
William P Quinn February 1965 March 1967 Retired
Patrick Carroll March 1967 September 1968 Retired
Michael Wymes September 1968 January 1973 Retired
Patrick Malone January 1973 September 1975 Retired
Edmund Garvey September 1975 January 1978 Replaced (lost government confidence)
Patrick McLaughlin January 1978 January 983 Retired (wiretap scandal)
Lawrence Wren February 1983 November 1987 Retired
Eamonn Doherty November 1987 December 1988 Retired
Eugene Crowley December 1988 January 1991 Retired
Patrick Culligan January 1991 July 1996 Retired
Patrick Byrne July 1996 July 2003 Retired
Noel Conroy July 2003 November 2007 Retired
Fachtna Murphy November 2007 Present Current