A descriptive study of Oral Cancer Mortality in the Republic of Ireland is presented. The aim was to collate the data on oral cancer deaths (ICD9 140-146, 149) from the Department of Health Reports on Vital Statistics for the years 1979-86 and determine the numbers, sex distribution and rates. The annual number of oral cancer deaths represented a very small proportion of cancer deaths and all deaths. Deaths due to neoplasms of the tongue were the most common. Males had greater oral cancer death rates than females; death rates increased with age; two thirds of the deaths occurred over the age of 64 years. Age adjusted oral cancer death rates showed no significant change in male or female rates between 1979 and 1986.