William Thomas " W. T ." Cosgrave (; 6 June 1880 – 16 November 1965 ), was an Irish politician who succeeded Michael Collins as Chairman of the Irish Provisional Government from August to December 1922.

William Thomas Cosgrave, W. T., or Liam as he was generally known, was born at 174 James's Street, Dublin in 1880.

Following the rebellion Cosgrave was sentenced to death, however this was later commuted to penal servitude for life and he was interned in Frongoch, Wales.

Though one of the most politically experienced of Sinn Féin's TDs, Cosgrave was not among the major leadership of the party.

Cosgrave was very successful in his role at the Department of Local Government.

W. T. Cosgrave was a small, quiet man, and at 42 was the oldest member of the Cabinet.

Kevin O ' Higgins, the Minister for Justice, who was also acting President for Cosgrave while the latter was in hospital, moved to resolve the so-called " Army Mutiny ".

Cosgrave immediately went to London for a meeting with the British Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, where they agreed to let the border remain as it was, and in return the Free State did not have to pay its pro-rata share of the Imperial debt.

In the Dáil debate on 7 December Cosgrave stated: " I had only one figure in my mind and that was a huge nought.

A general election was not required by law until the end of 1932, however, Cosgrave called one for February of that year.

Perhaps the best endorsement made of Cosgrave came from his old rival, with whom he was reconciled before his death, Éamon de Valera.

Richard Mulcahy said, " It is in terms of the Nation and its needs and its potential that I praise God who gave us in our dangerous days the gentle but steel-like spirit of rectitude, courage and humble self-sacrifice, that was Liam T. Cosgrave ".

Three years later he was called to the inner bar and the following year, 1926, he became Attorney-General to the Cumann na nGaedheal government, led by W. T. Cosgrave.

However in 1976 the then Irish government, the Fine Gael – Labour Party National Coalition under Liam Cosgrave informed him that he was not being re-appointed to the Commission.

Opposition leader Liam Cosgrave was informed by the Garda that a plot to import arms existed and included government members.

Liam Cosgrave was elected Taoiseach and Lynch found himself on the opposition benches for the first time in sixteen years.

Cosgrave had fought in the 1916 Rising and had been prominent in the Government of the Irish Republic ; the burden of responsibility for building the new state on solid foundations was now on Cosgrave and his colleagues.

Cosgrave became Chairman of the Provisional Government on 25 August and, when he was also elected as President of Dáil Éireann in September, the two administrations were merged.

Cosgrave was appointed as the first President of the Executive Council on the same day.

Cosgrave can be accused of calling the 1977 election prematurely, as the Irish economy was recovering rapidly in early 1977 and a later election in the autumn or winter of that year may have been more propitious for the National Coalition.

Liam's son Liam T. Cosgrave was also an Irish politician who was accused before the Mahon Tribunal of accepting illegal payments from property developers in return for voting to rezone property in Dublin: he resigned from the Fine Gael party when this became known and pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was disqualified from continuing in his legal practice.

To his own son, Vivion, weeks after taking power in 1932 and reading the files on the actions of Cosgrave's governments in relation to its work in the Commonwealth, he said of Cosgrave and Cosgrave's ministers ".

Despite being criticized for taking a " partionist " or unionist stance in his speech, Cosgrave was leading Fine Gael back into power a year later.

The election campaign started without Cosgrave taking any opinion polls in advance-therefore not knowing that Fianna Fáil were well ahead.

In line with his conservative credentials, and on a free vote, Cosgrave, without warning, crossed the floor to help defeat his own Government's bill in the summer of 1974.

Combined with the Donegan affair and the hard line approach to law and order, the economic difficulties were quite damaging to Cosgrave and Corish's popularity.

* The Canadian representative, Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, signed below his line instead of above it on the Japanese copy, resulting in everyone after him to sign one line below the intended one.

He caused a little known mishap ; Colonel Cosgrave inadvertently placed his signature one line too low on the Japanese copy of the documents.

from: 1922 till: 1922 shift :($ dx ,$ dy ) color: CnaG text: W. Cosgrave I

from: 1922 till: 1923 shift :($ dx ,$ dy ) color: CnaG text: W. Cosgrave II

from: 1923 till: 1927 shift :($ dx ,$ dy ) color: CnaG text: W. Cosgrave III

from: 1927 till: 1927 shift :($ dx ,$ dy ) color: CnaG text: W. Cosgrave IV

from: 1927 till: 1930 shift :($ dx ,$ dy ) color: CnaG text: W. Cosgrave V

from: 1930 till: 1932 shift :($ dx ,$ dy ) color: CnaG text: W. Cosgrave VI

from: 1973 till: 1977 shift :($ dx ,$ dy ) color: FG text: L. Cosgrave

Liam Cosgrave becomes the new Taoiseach.

* June 6 – W. T. Cosgrave, Irish politician ( d. 1965 )

Tim Healy is appointed first Governor-General of the Irish Free State and W. T. Cosgrave becomes President of the Executive Council.

W. T. Cosgrave, the first President of the Irish Free State had led both of these " governments " since August 1922.

* Cumann na nGaedheal under W. T. Cosgrave ( 1922 – 32 )

With no ensuing restrictions on his policies, he abolished the Oath of Allegiance ( which Cosgrave intended to do had he won the 1932 general election ), the Senate, university representation in the Dáil, and appeals to the Privy Council.

Only two individuals held the office of President of the Executive Council during its existence: W. T. Cosgrave, until 1932, and Éamon de Valera thereafter.