The following is the list of those who are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army in the various incarnations of organisations bearing that name. Due to the clandestine nature of these organisations, this list is not definitive.

Chiefs of Staff of the Irish Republican Army (1917–1922)

No.	Name	Assumed Position	Left Position	Source
1	Cathal Brugha Cathal Brugha Cathal Brugha was an Irish revolutionary and politician, active in the Easter Rising, Irish War of Independence, and the Irish Civil War and was the first Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann.-Background:...  (Chairman of the Resident Executive)	27 October 1917	March 1919
2	Richard Mulcahy Richard Mulcahy Richard James Mulcahy was an Irish politician, army general and commander in chief, leader of Fine Gael and Cabinet Minister...	March 1919	15 January 1922
3	Eoin O'Duffy Eoin O'Duffy Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...	15 January 1922	July 1922

Chiefs of Staff of the (anti-Treaty) Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)

No.	Name	Assumed Position	Left Position	Source
	Liam Lynch (1st time)	26 March 1922	18 June 1922
	Joe McKelvey Joe McKelvey Joe McKelvey was an Irish Republican Army officer who was executed during the Irish Civil War. He participated in the anti-Treaty IRA's repudiation of the authority of the Dáil in March 1922 and was elected to the IRA Army Executive...	18 June 1922	30 June 1922
	Liam Lynch (2nd time)	30 June 1922	10 April 1923
	Frank Aiken Frank Aiken Frank Aiken was a commander of the Irish Republican Army and later an Irish politician. A founding-member of Fianna Fáil, Aiken was first elected to Dáil Éireann in 1923 and at each subsequent election until 1973...	20 April 1923	12 November 1925
	Andy Cooney Andy Cooney Andrew Cooney was an Irish Republican.From Nenagh, County Tipperary, Cooney began studying medicine at University College Dublin just as the Irish War of Independence was getting underway, and he played for a brief spell with the College's hurling club...	12 November 1925	July 1926
	Moss (Maurice) Twomey Moss (Maurice) Twomey Moss ' Twomey was an Irish republican and chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army .-Early life:...	1926 (acting), 1927 (official)	June 1936
	Seán MacBride Seán MacBride Seán MacBride was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA....	June 1936	late 1936
	Tom Barry Tom Barry Thomas Barry was one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence.-Early life:...	1937	1937
	Mick Fitzpatrick Mick Fitzpatrick Michael Fitzpatrick was an Irish republican and chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army .Born in Wexford in 1893 he was one of the 'driving forces' behind the anti-Treaty IRA in Dublin during the Irish Civil War. He was briefly the Officer Commanding of the IRA's Dublin Brigade and was...	1937	1938
	Seán Russell Seán Russell Seán Russell was an Irish republican who held senior positions in the IRA until the end of the Irish War of Independence...	1938	14 August 1940
	Stephen Hayes	1940?	30 June 1941
	Pearse Kelly (aka Paul Kelso)	1941	27 November 1941
	Seán Harrington	Aft. November 1941	February 1942
	Seán McCool Seán McCool Seán McCool was a prominent Irish Republican and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army. Imprisoned on numerous occasions, both North and South of the border, he embarked on a number of hunger strikes...	February 1942	14 August 1942
	Eoin McNamee Eoin McNamee Eoin McNamee is an Irish writer.He has written two novellas, The Last of Deeds and Love in History , which was shortlisted for the 1989 Irish Times/Aer Lingus Award for Irish Literature; and the novels, Resurrection Man , which detailed the bloodletting of the UVF gang the Shankill Butchers ;...	1942	1942
	Hugh McAteer Hugh McAteer Hugh McAteer was a volunteer in, and leader of, the Irish Republican Army.A bookkeeper by profession, McAteer was from Derry. He served as IRA Chief of Staff from 1941 until 12 October 1942, when he was captured and arrested by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He was later sentenced to 15 years...	1942	12 October 1942
	Charlie Kerins Charlie Kerins Charlie Kerins was a prominent Irish Republican, who following his killing of policeman Dennis O'Brien, was named the Chief of Staff of the IRA...	October 1942	16 June 1944
	Position vacant for some months	16 June 1944
	Harry White	1944	1945
	Patrick Fleming	1 March 1945	1947?
	Willie McGuinness	1947	1948?
	Tony Magan Tony Magan Tony Magan was an Irish republican and chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army .Magan was a son of farmer James Magan and his wife Elizabeth, of Kilmore, County Meath....  (1st time)	November 1948	6 July 1957
	Richard Burke	January 1957	May 1957
	Tony Magan Tony Magan Tony Magan was an Irish republican and chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army .Magan was a son of farmer James Magan and his wife Elizabeth, of Kilmore, County Meath....  (2nd time)	May 1957	6 July 1957
	Seán Cronin Seán Cronin Seán Cronin was a journalist and former Irish Army officer and twice Irish Republican Army chief of staff.Cronin was born in Dublin in 1920 but spent his childhood years in Ballinskelligs, in the County Kerry Gaeltacht....  (1st time)	July 1957 (acting), 11 November 1957 (official)	October 1958
	John Joe McGirl John Joe McGirl John Joe McGirl was an Irish republican, an elected TD and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army.Born and raised in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, McGirl became involved with the IRA in the 1930s...	October 1958	24 October 1958
	Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is an Irish republican. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army , former president of Sinn Féin and former president of Republican Sinn Féin.-Early life:...  (1st time)	24 October 1958	Late May 1959
	Seán Cronin Seán Cronin Seán Cronin was a journalist and former Irish Army officer and twice Irish Republican Army chief of staff.Cronin was born in Dublin in 1920 but spent his childhood years in Ballinskelligs, in the County Kerry Gaeltacht....  (2nd time)	Late May 1959	June 1960
	Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ruairí Ó Brádaigh Ruairí Ó Brádaigh is an Irish republican. He is a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army , former president of Sinn Féin and former president of Republican Sinn Féin.-Early life:...  (2nd time)	Summer 1960	7 September 1962
	Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA.One of seven children born into a republican family in East Arran Street in the north inner city of Dublin, Goulding was involved as teenager in Fianna Éireann, the IRA youth wing which he joined with his...	7 September 1962	December 1969

At an IRA Special Army Convention (SAC) held in Dublin on 28 December 1969, the IRA split into two factions, namely the majority Official IRA and the minority Provisional IRA

Provisional Irish Republican Army

The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...

.

Chiefs of Staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (1969–present)

No.	Name	Assumed Position	Left Position	Source
	Seán Mac Stíofáin Seán Mac Stíofáin Seán Mac Stíofáin was an Irish republican paramilitary activist born in London, who became associated with the republican movement in Ireland after serving in the Royal Air Force...	December 1969	19 November 1972
	Joe Cahill Joe Cahill Joe Cahill was a prominent Irish republican and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .- Background :In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in West Belfast, Ireland, where his parents had been neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish revolutionary James Connolly.Cahill...	November 1972	March 1973
	Seamus Twomey Seamus Twomey Seamus Twomey was an Irish republican and twice chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.-Biography:Born in Belfast, Twomey lived at 6 Sevastopol Street in the Falls district...  (1st time)	March 1973	June 1973
	Éamonn O'Doherty Éamonn O'Doherty Éamonn O’Doherty was an Irish republican and onetime chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .O’Doherty joined the IRA in 1958 in his native Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, and participated in the Border Campaign.In 1970, he went to Northern Ireland and was attached to the South...	June 1973	June/July 1974
	Seamus Twomey Seamus Twomey Seamus Twomey was an Irish republican and twice chief of staff of the Provisional IRA.-Biography:Born in Belfast, Twomey lived at 6 Sevastopol Street in the Falls district...  (2nd time)	June/July 1974	December 1977
	Gerry Adams Gerry Adams Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...	3 December 1977	18 February 1978
	Martin McGuinness Martin McGuinness James Martin Pacelli McGuinness is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland....	1978	Autumn 1982
	Ivor Bell Ivor Bell Ivor Malachy Bell is an Irish republican, and a former volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who later became Chief of Staff on the Army Council.-IRA career:...	Autumn 1982	September 1983
	Kevin McKenna	September 1983	October 1997
	Thomas "Slab" Murphy	October 1997

a. Some noted Irish and British historians, including Ed Moloney

Ed Moloney

Ed Moloney is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and particularly the activities of the Provisional IRA. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to serve as Northern Ireland editor for The Irish Times and...

, author of A Secret History of the IRA, have claimed that Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams

Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...

 has been part of the IRA leadership. Adams has always denied IRA membership, let alone being chief of staff.
b. Although he has admitted to IRA membership he has denied ever being Cheif of Staff

Chiefs of Staff of the Official Irish Republican Army (1969–present)

No.	Name	Assumed Position	Left Position	Source
	Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA.One of seven children born into a republican family in East Arran Street in the north inner city of Dublin, Goulding was involved as teenager in Fianna Éireann, the IRA youth wing which he joined with his...	December 1969	1972
	Seán Garland Seán Garland Seán Garland is a former President of the Workers' Party in Ireland.-Early Life:Born at Belvedere Place, off Mountjoy Square in Dublin, Garland joined the Irish Republican Army in 1953. In 1954, he briefly joined the British Army as an IRA agent and collected intelligence on Gough Barracks in...	1998

Chiefs of Staff of the Continuity Irish Republican Army (1986–present)

No.	Name	Assumed Position	Left Position	Source
	Dáithí Ó Conaill Dáithí Ó Conaill Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...	1986	1991

See also

• List of organisations known as the Irish Republican Army
• Provisional Irish Republican Army
  Provisional Irish Republican Army
  The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
  
  
• Official Irish Republican Army
• Continuity Irish Republican Army
  Continuity Irish Republican Army
  The Continuity Irish Republican Army, otherwise known as the Continuity IRA and styling itself as Óglaigh na hÉireann, is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that aims to bring about a united Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Provisional IRA in 1986 but did not become active until...