3rd Seanad

The 3rd Seanad was in office from 1938 to 1943. An election to Seanad Éireann, the Senate of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament), followed the 1938 general election to the 10th Dáil. The senators served until the close of poll for the 4th Seanad in 1943.

Cathaoirleach
On 7 September 1938, Seán Gibbons (FF) was proposed by Helena Concannon and seconded by Margaret Mary Pearse for the position of Cathaoirleach. He was elected unopposed.

On 16 November 1938, Patrick Baxter (CnaT) was proposed by John Counihan (Ind) and seconded by John Butler (FG) for the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach. Baxter was defeated by a vote of 15 to 28. On 23 November 1938, Michael Tierney was proposed by was proposed by James G. Douglas (Ind) and seconded by Henry Barniville (FG) for the position of Leas-Chathaoirleach. On 30 November 1938, Tierney was elected by a vote of 34 to 12.

Composition of the 3rd Seanad
There are a total of 60 seats in the Seanad: 43 were elected on five vocational panels, 6 were elected from two university constituencies and 11 were nominated by the Taoiseach.

The following table shows the composition by party when the 3rd Seanad first met on 7 September 1938.