The following is the list of those who are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army in the organisations bearing that name. Due to the clandestine nature of these organisations, this list is not definitive.
a.^ Some noted Irish and British historians, including Ed Moloney, author of A Secret History of the IRA, have claimed that Gerry Adams has been part of the IRA leadership. Adams has always denied IRA membership, let alone being chief of staff.[31]b.^ Although he has admitted to IRA membership he has denied ever being Chief of Staff
Chiefs of Staff of the Official Irish Republican Army (1969–present)[edit]
^ abMaryann Gialanella V, Portrait of a Revolutionary. General Richard Mulcahy and the Founding of the Irish Free State, Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992. ISBN 0-8131-1791-7
^ abMeda Ryan, The Real Chief: Liam Lynch, Cork: Mercier, 2005. ISBN 1-85635-460-1
^J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA, Somerset: Transaction Publishers, 1997. Magan's tenure ended with his arrest in Dublin. The IRA adjutant-general as well as members of the Army Council were also arrested. See Dáil Debates, 6 November 1957.
^Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-253-34708-4, pp. 85–6.
^Named as such by prominent republican, Owen Carron, in a letter entitled Deireadh Seachtaine John Joe McGirl, An Phoblacht/Republican News, 31 July 1997. See also: J. Bowyer Bell, The Secret Army: The IRA, Somerset: Transaction Publishers, 1997, p. 322.
^By his own admission, see Saoirse interview Revolt in the North 1956-62. See also: Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-253-34708-4, p. 89.
^Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-253-34708-4, p. 98.]
^Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-253-34708-4, pp. 98–9, 114.]
^Robert W. White, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary, Bloomington/Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-253-34708-4, pp. 114.]