Mary Patricia McAleese (/mækəˈliːs/; née Leneghan; Irish: Máire Pádraigín Mhic Giolla Íosa; born 27 June 1951) served as the eighth President of Ireland from 1997 to 2011. She was the second female president and was first elected in 1997 succeeding Mary Robinson, making McAleese the world's first woman to succeed another as president. She was re-elected unopposed for a second term in office in 2004.