President of Dáil Éireann

The President of Dáil Éireann was the leader of the revolutionary Irish Republic of 1919–1921. The office, also known as Príomh Aire (Irish pronunciation: [ˈpʲrʲiːv ˈarʲə]), was created in the Dáil Constitution adopted by Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Republic, at its first meeting in January 1919. This provided that the President was elected by the Dáil as head of a cabinet called the 'Ministry'. During the period of the Republic there were two office-holders, Cathal Brugha (on a provisional basis) and Éamon de Valera.

The Irish text of the Dáil Constitution referred to the leader of the state as the Príomh Aire. In English this was translated as both Prime Minister and President of the Ministry. President of Dáil Éireann was also used, interchangeably with these terms, despite the fact that it did not appear in the constitution, and it was the title preferred by de Valera during his visit to the United States in 1920–1921. Contrary to what the title might suggest, the President of Dáil Éireann was not its chairman, this was the role of a separate official: the Ceann Comhairle. In some senses the office exercised a role that combined that of Prime Minister and Leader of the House.

As adopted, the Dáil Constitution deliberately did not provide for a head of state and the titles initially used all suggested an official who was merely the head of government.

In practice, de Valera, particularly when abroad, called himself "President de Valera", creating the impression that he was head of state. In August 1922 in the run-up to the negotiations that would produce the Anglo-Irish Treaty, de Valera asked the Dáil to amend the constitution to upgrade his official status to that of head of state, in part to give him equality with King George V of the United Kingdom in accrediting delegates to the negotiations. He also had the ministry restructured, with a number of offices downgraded from cabinet to sub-cabinet level.

...
Wikipedia