John Costello

John Costello (1891-1976), Irish statesman and prime minister (Taoiseach) of Ireland (1948-1951; 1954-1957), under whose administration Éire formally became a republic in 1948. Costello was born in Dublin and educated at University College, Dublin, part of the National University of Ireland. He was admitted to the bar in 1914. Costello participated in the Irish rebellion of 1916. From 1926 to 1932 he was Attorney-General of the Irish Free State (Éire, after 1937), and he was also its delegate to the League of Nations. He entered the Dáil, the lower house of the legislature, in 1933 as a Fine Gael deputy. In 1948 the Dáil elected him prime minister as a compromise candidate in the state's first interparty government, replacing Eamon De Valera, who had served since 1932. Costello and De Valera alternated as prime minister, Costello serving from 1948 until 1951 and from 1954 until 1957. He was leader of the opposition from 1951 to 1954 and from 1957 to 1959; he retained his seat until 1969.