Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces (Ireland)

The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces (COS) (Irish: Ceann Foirne na bhFórsaí Cosanta) is charged with the executive management of the Irish Defence Forces, and is the most senior military officer of the Army, Naval Service and Air Corps branches. The Chief of Staff is appointed by the President of Ireland, who is the Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces, on the recommendation of the Minister for Defence subject to the approval of the Government of Ireland. The office of the Chief of Staff consists of his personal staff, a strategic planning office, a public relations section and the military judge.^[1]

Chief of Staff of Defence Forces Ireland
Incumbent Lieutenant General Seán Clancy (AC) since 29 September 2021
Defence Forces
Member of	National Security Committee
Reports to	Minister for Defence
Nominator	Government of Ireland on the recommendation of the Minister for Defence
Appointer	President of Ireland
Website	Official website

The office of the General Staff are located at the DF/DoD HQ in Newbridge, County Kildare

The Defence Forces Chief of Staff sits on the government's National Security Committee (NSC).^[2]

The Chief of Staff delegates remaining executive duties to two deputy chiefs of staff (who hold the rank of major general or equivalent) and one assistant chief of staff (brigadier general or equivalent);

• The Deputy Chief of Staff Operations (D COS Ops) is tasked with operational matters.
• The Deputy Chief of Staff Support (D COS Sp) is tasked with military support matters.
• The Assistant Chief of Staff Support (ACOS Sp) is also tasked with military support matters.^[1]

The current Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces is Lieutenant General Seán Clancy. Clancy assumed the role on 29 September 2021.

Current General Staff of the Defence Forces

Position	Abbreviation	Photograph	Incumbent	Branch
Chief of Staff	COS		Lieutenant General Seán Clancy	Air Corps
Deputy Chief of Staff Operations	D COS Ops		Major General Anthony McKenna	Army
Deputy Chief of Staff Support	D COS Sp		Major General Adrian Ó Murchú	Army
Assistant Chief of Staff	ACOS		Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy	Army

Overseas

Deputy Military Advisor to UN Office of Military Affairs		Major General Maureen O'Brien	Army
Irish Military Representative to the EUMC		Brigadier General Philip Brennan	Army

Brigade Commanders

The country is divided into two areas for administrative and operational reasons, and in each area there is an Irish Army infantry brigade. The two brigade group structure envisages distinct operational areas of responsibility for each of the brigades and is supported in their responsibilities by the Naval Service and Air Corps. Each of the Brigade formations and the Air Corps are commanded by a Brigadier General, while the Naval Service is commanded by a Commodore;^[3]

Position	Branch	Abbreviation	Photograph	Incumbent
General Officer Commanding	1st Brigade (Army)	GOC 1 Brigade		Brigadier General Brian Cleary
General Officer Commanding	2nd Brigade (Army)	GOC 2 Brigade		Brigadier General Tony Cudmore
General Officer Commanding	Defence Forces Training Centre (Army)	GOC DFTC		Brigadier General Brendan McGuinness
General Officer Commanding	Air Corps	GOC Air Corps		Brigadier General Rory O'Connor
Flag Officer Commanding	Naval Service	FOCNS		Commodore Michael Malone

List of Irish Chiefs of Staff

No.	Portrait	Chief of Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch
1		O'Duffy, EoinGeneral Eoin O'Duffy (1890–1944)	February 1922	July 1922	5 months	Army
2		Mulcahy, RichardGeneral Richard Mulcahy (1886–1971)	July 1922	August 1922	1 month	Army
3		Mac Mahon, SeánGeneral Seán Mac Mahon (1893–1955)	August 1922	March 1924	1 year, 7 months	Army
4		MacMahon, PeadarGeneral Peadar MacMahon	March 1924	March 1927	3 years	Army
5		Hogan, DanielGeneral Daniel Hogan (1895–?)	March 1927	February 1929	1 year, 11 months	Army
6		Mac Eoin, SeánGeneral Seán Mac Eoin (1893–1973)	February 1929	October 1929	8 months	Army
7		Sweeney, JosephLieutenant General Joseph Sweeney (1897–1980)	October 1929	October 1931	2 years	Army
8		Brennan, MichaelLieutenant General Michael Brennan (1896–1986)	October 1931	January 1940	8 years, 3 months	Army
9		McKenna, DanielLieutenant General Daniel McKenna	January 1940	January 1949	9 years	Army
10		Archer, LiamLieutenant General Liam Archer	January 1949	January 1952	3 years	Army
11		Egan, W.Lieutenant General W. A. Egan	January 1952	December 1954	2 years, 11 months	Army
12		Mulcahy, PatrickLieutenant General Patrick Mulcahy	January 1955	December 1959	4 years, 11 months	Army
13		McKeown, JohnLieutenant General John McKeown (1910–1998)	January 1960	December 1960	11 months	Army
14		Powell, SeanLieutenant General Sean Collins Powell (1905–1991)	January 1961	March 1962	1 year, 2 months	Army
(13)		McKeown, JohnLieutenant General John McKeown (1910–1998)	April 1962	March 1971	8 years, 11 months	Army
15		Delaney, PatrickMajor General Patrick Delaney	April 1971	July 1971	3 months	Army
15		O'Carroll, ThomasLieutenant General Thomas O'Carroll	April 1971	July 1976	5 years, 3 months	Army
16		O'Sullivan, CarlLieutenant General Carl O'Sullivan	August 1976	June 1981	4 years, 11 months	Army
17		Hogan, LouisLieutenant General Louis Hogan DSM (1921–2001)	June 1981	April 1984	2 years, 10 months	Army
18		O'Sullivan, GeraldLieutenant General Gerald O'Sullivan	April 1984	February 1986	1 year, 10 months	Army
19		O'Neill, TadghLieutenant General Tadgh O'Neill	February 1986	October 1989	3 years, 8 months	Army
20		Parker, JamesLieutenant General James Parker (1929–2020)	October 1989	April 1992	2 years, 6 months	Army
21		Bergin, NoelLieutenant General Noel Bergin	April 1992	December 1994	2 years, 8 months	Army
22		McMahon, GeraldLieutenant General Gerald McMahon	February 1995	August 1998	3 years, 6 months	Army
23		Stapleton, DavidLieutenant General David Stapleton DSM	August 1998	24 September 2000	2 years, 1 month	Army
24		Mangan, ColmLieutenant General Colm Mangan	25 September 2000	20 February 2004	3 years, 4 months	Army
25		Sreenan, JamesLieutenant General James Sreenan	21 February 2004	28 June 2007	3 years, 4 months	Army
26		Earley, DermotLieutenant General Dermot Earley DSM (1948–2010)	28 June 2007	9 June 2010	2 years, 11 months	Army
27		McCann, SeanLieutenant General Sean McCann	9 June 2010	12 August 2013	3 years, 2 months	Army
28		O'Boyle, ConorLieutenant General Conor O'Boyle	12 August 2013	29 September 2015	2 years, 1 month	Army
29		Mellett, MarkVice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM (born 1958)	29 September 2015	29 September 2021	6 years	Naval Service
30		Clancy, SeánLieutenant General Seán Clancy	29 September 2021	Incumbent	3 years	Air Corps

See also

• Minister for Defence (Ireland)
• Director of Military Intelligence (Ireland)
• Garda Commissioner

References

1. "Official Defence Forces website - General Staff > Chief of Staff". Military.ie. 6 October 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
2. "Annual Report 2013" (PDF). Department of Defence and Defence Forces. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
3. "Defence Forces Brigade Commanders". military.ie. Retrieved 11 July 2015.