Mary Patricia McAleese is an Irish activist lawyer, academic, author, and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. McAleese was first elected as president in 1997, having received the nomination of Fianna Fáil. She succeeded Mary Robinson, making her the second female president of Ireland, and the first woman in the world to succeed another woman as president. She nominated herself for re-election in 2004 and was returned unopposed for a second term. Born in Ardoyne, north Belfast, McAleese is the first president of Ireland to have come from either Northern Ireland or Ulster.
McAleese in 2007
McAleese meets with President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev in 2010
McAleese in discussion with US President Barack Obama at Áras an Uachtaráin on 23 May 2011
The president of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces.
President of Ireland
Áras an Uachtaráin is the official residence of the president.
The Inauguration of Seán T. O'Kelly in 1945. The 2nd Cavalry Squadron of the Blue Hussars escort the president, who travelled in the late Queen Alexandra's landau. The Landau and the Hussars were later scrapped.
The president's wreath (in green) laid at Ireland's Remembrance Day ceremonies in St. Patrick's Cathedral in 2005. Presidents have attended the ceremony since the 1990s.
