Summary: Although political science in Ireland got off to an earlier start than almost anywhere else (with a first chair appearing in 1855, and the oldest current established chair dating back to 1908), it has faced the same challenges as those encountered elsewhere in Europe. These include a difficulty in establishing autonomy in relation to adjacent disciplines, and a problem in maintaining its own integrity given the diversity of its subfields. Nevertheless, the discipline was able to record steady progress from the 1960s onwards, as the number of staff members grew and the infrastructural support base improved. Especially since the economic crisis that began in 2008, however, the discipline has come under stress, with many of the best qualified and most mobile young academics leaving for posts abroad in a context of domestic austerity. The discipline has survived this development, though, and has been significantly reinforced by links at European level. These have helped in the development of the political science curriculum (notably, as a consequence of the “Bologna process”), and in encouraging research (an area in which the European Consortium for Political Research played a big role). The capacity of the discipline to grow and thrive, and to survive budgetary setbacks, has been assisted by its popularity with students and its continuing relevance to policy makers.