Éamon de Valera | |
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De Valera, photographed c. 1922–30
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3rd President of Ireland | |
In office 25 June 1959 – 24 June 1973 |
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Taoiseach | |
Preceded by | Seán T. O'Kelly |
Succeeded by | Erskine H. Childers |
Taoiseach | |
In office 20 March 1957 – 23 June 1959 |
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President | Seán T. O'Kelly |
Tánaiste | Seán Lemass |
Preceded by | John A. Costello |
Succeeded by | Seán Lemass |
In office 13 June 1951 – 2 June 1954 |
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President | Seán T. O'Kelly |
Tánaiste | Seán Lemass |
Preceded by | John A. Costello |
Succeeded by | John A. Costello |
In office 29 December 1937 – 18 February 1948 |
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President |
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Tánaiste |
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Preceded by | Himself as President of the Executive Council |
Succeeded by | John A. Costello |
Leader of the Opposition | |
In office 2 June 1954 – 20 March 1957 |
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President | Seán T. O'Kelly |
Taoiseach | John A. Costello |
Preceded by | John A. Costello |
Succeeded by | John A. Costello |
In office 18 February 1948 – 13 June 1951 |
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President | Seán T. O'Kelly |
Taoiseach | John A. Costello |
Preceded by | Richard Mulcahy |
Succeeded by | John A. Costello |
In office 11 August 1927 – 9 March 1932 |
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President | Douglas Hyde |
Taoiseach | W.T. Cosgrave |
Preceded by | Thomas Johnson |
Succeeded by | W. T. Cosgrave |
Leader of Fianna Fáil | |
In office 23 March 1926 – 23 June 1959 |
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Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Seán Lemass |
President of the Executive Council | |
In office 9 March 1932 – 29 December 1937 |
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Vice President | Seán T. O'Kelly |
Preceded by | W. T. Cosgrave |
Succeeded by | Himself as Taoiseach |
President of the Irish Republic | |
In office 26 August 1921 – 9 January 1922 |
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Preceded by | Himself as President of Dáil Éireann |
Succeeded by | Arthur Griffith |
President of Dáil Éireann | |
In office 1 April 1919 – 26 August 1921 |
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Preceded by | Cathal Brugha |
Succeeded by | Himself as President of the Republic |
Teachta Dála | |
In office August 1922 – June 1959 |
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Constituency | Clare |
In office December 1918 – June 1922 |
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Constituency | Clare East |
Member of Parliament for East Clare |
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In office 10 July 1917 – 15 November 1922 |
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Preceded by | Willie Redmond |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born |
George de Valero 14 October 1882 New York City, New York, U.S. |
Died | 29 August 1975 Blackrock, Dublin, Ireland |
(aged 92)
Resting place | Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, Ireland |
Nationality | Irish |
Political party | Fianna Fáil |
Other political affiliations |
Cumann na Poblachta (1922–23) Sinn Féin (1916–22, 1923–26) |
Spouse(s) | Sinéad de Valera (m. 1910; d. 1975) |
Children | |
Parents |
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Alma mater | Royal University of Ireland |
Profession | Teacher |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Signature |
Éamon de Valera (/ˈeɪmən dɛvəˈlɛrə/; first registered as George de Valero; changed some time before 1901 to Edward de Valera; 14 October 1882 – 29 August 1975) was a prominent politician and statesman in twentieth-century Ireland. His political career spanned over half a century, from 1917 to 1973; he served several terms as head of government and head of state. He also led the introduction of the Constitution of Ireland.
De Valera was a commander in the 1916 Easter Rising, a political leader in the War of Independence and of the anti-Treaty opposition in the ensuing Irish Civil War (1922–1923). After leaving Sinn Féin in 1926 due to its policy of abstentionism, he founded Fianna Fáil, and was head of government (President of the Executive Council, later Taoiseach) from 1932 to 1948, 1951 to 1954, and 1957 to 1959, when he resigned after being elected as President of Ireland. His political creed evolved from militant republicanism to social and cultural conservatism.
Assessments of de Valera's career have varied; he has often been characterised as a stern, unbending, devious, and divisive Irish politician. Biographer Tim Pat Coogan sees his time in power as being characterised by economic and cultural stagnation, while Diarmaid Ferriter argues that the stereotype of de Valera as an austere, cold and even backward figure was largely manufactured in the 1960s and is misguided.