electionstracker

Ireland 1948 general election

What was the result of the 1948 general election in Ireland?

Fianna Fáil won 68 of 147 seats with 41.9% of the vote. 74.2% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Ireland
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Fianna Fáil won 68 of 147 seats with 41.9% of the vote; 74.2% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Fianna Fáil 68 41.9%
  • Fine Gael 31 19.8%
  • Clann na Poblachta 10 13.2%
  • Labour Party 14 8.7%
  • Clann na Talmhan 7 5.6%
  • National Labour Party 5 2.6%
  • Seats won
  • Share of the vote
74 of 147 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 41.9%

    Share of the vote won by Fianna Fáil

    Fianna Fáil won 68 of 147 seats. A majority needs 74.

  2. 74.2%

    Voter turnout

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats%Votes
Fianna Fáil6841.9553,914
Fine Gael3119.8262,393
Clann na Poblachta1013.2174,823
Labour Party148.7115,073
Clann na Talmhan75.673,813
National Labour Party52.634,015
Largest party without seats00.0323
Independents12
Votes by party
  • Fianna Fáil 553,914
  • Fine Gael 262,393
  • Clann na Poblachta 174,823
  • Labour Party 115,073
  • Clann na Talmhan 73,813
  • National Labour Party 34,015
  • Largest party without seats 323
  • Independents

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

74.2% of the 1,800,210 registered voters cast a ballot (1,336,628 ballots). 1,323,443 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Fianna Fáil41.9% of votes46.3% of seats
  • Fine Gael19.8% of votes21.1% of seats
  • Labour Party8.7% of votes9.5% of seats
  • Clann na Poblachta13.2% of votes6.8% of seats
  • Clann na Talmhan5.6% of votes4.8% of seats
  • National Labour Party2.6% of votes3.4% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 8.1 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 4.1 by votes and 3.5 by seats; Fianna Fáil led Fine Gael by 22.0 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of