Eamon de valera quotes
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera[1][2] (born with the name Edward George de Valera, English pronunciation: /ˈeɪmən dɛ vəˈlɛɹə/) (14 October – 29 August () (aged&#;92)) was one of the dominant political figures in 20th century Ireland. Co-owner of one of the Irish Press Newspapers, he served in public office from to Several times he was either head of state or head of government in Ireland.
De Valera was a leader of Ireland's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. He also led opposition to the anti-Treaty in the Irish Civil War. De Valera was the author of the Constitution of Ireland.
His family
[change | change source]De Valera was born in the New York Nursery and Child's Hospital in New York City in to an Irish mother; he said that his parents were Catherine Coll Wheelwright, an immigrant from Bruree, County Limerick, and Juan Vivion de Valera, a Spanish-Cuban settler and sculptor, and that they were married in in New York.
In , after his father's death, de Valera was taken to Ireland by his Uncle Ned. He was brought up by his grandmother Elizabeth Coll, her son Patrick and her daughter Hannie, in County Limerick. At the age of sixteen, he won a scholarship to Blackrock College, County Dublin. In his first year in Blackrock College he was Student of the Year.
In was became mathematics teacher at Rockwell College, County Tipperary. When he graduated in mathematics from the Royal University of Ireland he went back to Blackrock College He taught in many other colleges, including Belvedere college where he taught Kevin Barry, the young Irish republican hanged by the British during the Irish War of Independence.
Eamon de valera biography book De Valera's final term as Taoiseach also saw the passage of numerous reforms in health and welfare. The Emergency Powers Act lapsed on 2 September , though the State of Emergency declared under the constitution was not lifted until the s. Page Talk. Several times he was either head of state or head of government in Ireland.Early political activity
[change | change source]De Valera was an active gaeilgeoir (Irish language enthusiast). In he joined the Conradh na Gaeilge (the Gaelic League), where he met Dubhghlas de hÍde, later first President of Ireland, and also Sinéad Flanagan, another teacher who he married on 8 January at St Paul's Church, Arran Quay, Dublin.
Easter Rising
[change | change source]On 25 November he joined the Irish Volunteers. He was soon elected captain of the Donnybrook company, then commandant of the Third Battalion and adjutant of the Dublin Brigade. He also joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood, which secretly controlled the central executive of the Volunteers.
On 24 April the Easter Rising began. De Valera occupied Boland's Mills, Grand Canal Street in Dublin.
After the fighting de Valera was court-martialled, convicted, and sentenced to death, but the sentence was changed to for life imprisonment. This was because he was not kept in Kilmainham Jail with the first prisoners executed. The delay meant British authorities started to check if he really was an American citizen, and wonder how the United States would react to the execution of one of its citizens.
De Valera's supporters say he showed leadership skills and a great ability for planning. His enemies claim he suffered a nervous breakdown during the Rising.
After imprisonment in Dartmoor, Maidstone and Lewes prisons in England, de Valera and other prisoners were released under an amnesty in June On 10 July he was elected member of the British House of Commons for East Clare (the constituency which he represented in Dail Eireann until ) in a by-election after MP Willie Redmond died fighting in World War I.
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British newspapers and picture postcards often called the Easter Rising the Sinn Féin rebellion. From de Valera was president of Sinn Féin. He and the other survivors of the Rising took over Sinn Féin and then turned into a republican party. Arthur Griffith, had wanted an Anglo-Irish "dual monarchy", with an independent Ireland governed separately from Britain, their only link being a shared monarch, like Canada and Britain today.
That had been the way Ireland was governed with the so-called Constitution of under Henry Grattan, until Ireland joined with Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in
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Sinn Féin won 73 out of Irish seats in the general election.
Eamon de valera biography definition biology: He also led opposition to the anti-Treaty in the Irish Civil War. Archived from the original on Lynn Boylan Kathleen Funchion. Patrick Brennan SF.
A lot more people wanted an independent Ireland after the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed of the leaders and the threat of conscription. In January , these Sinn Féin MPs, or "TD"s, met in the Mansion House (City Hall), Dublin and formed the First Dáil Éireann (English: Assembly of Ireland).
De Valera was not at this meeting because he had been arrested.
He escaped from Lincoln Prison in February , and when he got back to Dublin he replaced Cathal Brugha as Prime Minister Irish: Príomh Aire. The Dáil Constitution passed by the Dáil said that the Príomh Aire was prime minister not head of state.
In September the British authorities said that The Dáil was illegal.
The fighting against Britain escalated into the Irish War of Independence (also called the 'Anglo-Irish War').
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In January , he got back from the United States with a loan of $5,, This made him very popular.
In August de Valera had Dáil Éireann change the Dáil Constitution to upgrade his title from prime minister to President of the Republic.
He said that as Irish head of state he would not go to the Treaty Negotiations of October–December because the British head of state, King George V would not be there either.
The Treaty
[change | change source]The Treaty replaced the Republic by a dominion of the British Commonwealth with the King represented by a Governor-General of the Irish Free State.
This was just how Canada was governed. Treaty was finally signed on 6 December
De Valera's opponents said that he did not join the negotiations because he knew that the British would only allow an Irish dominion, not a republic, and did not want to be blamed for giving up the idea of a republic. De Valera said he was angry because the delegates working out the treaty had not asked him before signing the treaty.
But at a secret session of the Dáil during the Treaty Debates and publicised in January , his ideas for a treaty included dominion status, the 'Treaty Ports',[3] a veto by the parliament in Belfast, and the king as head of the Commonwealth. Ireland's would pay a share of the imperial debt.[4]
When the Treaty was accepted by 64 votes to 57, de Valera and a large minority of Sinn Féin TDs left Dáil Éireann.
He resigned and Arthur Griffith was elected President of Dáil Éireann in his place.[5]
In March , de Valera made an angry speech saying that, if the Treaty was accepted, it might be necessary to "wade through Irish blood" to achieve Irish freedom. Later he said that
the IRA would have to wade through, perhaps, the blood of some of the members of the Government, in order to get Irish freedom
—&#;De Valera, speaking in Thurles
De Valera's enemies said that this was encouraging civil war.
Civil War broke out in late June
Civil War
[change | change source]Fighting in the Irish Civil War started on 28 June and ended in May when the pro-treaty Free State forces beat the anti-Treaty IRA.
De Valera was supposed to be the head of the anti-Treatyites, but he had little power.
Usually he had little influence with the IRA Chief of Staff, Liam Lynch. De Valera formed a republican government on 25 October but it had no real authority and was never like the Dáil governments of –21, which was an alternative government to the British, even running their own courts.
When the IRA's new Chief of Staff called a ceasefire Frank Aiken on 30 May the government had won.
Many republicans were arrested when they came out of hiding and returned home. De Valera was arrested in County Clare and interned until
The 'empty formula'
[change | change source]De Valera resigned from the presidency of Sinn Féin after losing a vote to accept the Free State Constitution (if the Oath of Allegiance was dropped).
In March he formed a new party, Fianna Fáil (Soldiers of Destiny). Fianna Fáil was successful in elections, but for over a year a it did not take its seats in the Dáil. When a new law made candidates promise to take the oath if elected, de Valera and his TDs took the Oath of Allegiance in They said the oath was "an empty formula" that is, just words they had to say, they did not have to believe them.
Back in Power
[change | change source]Six years after it was founded Fianna Fáil won 72 seats in the general election, and had a plurality in the Dáil. That is, it was the largest party but had less than half of all of the seats, which would be a majority. On 9 March Governor-General James McNeill appointed de Valera President of the Executive Council .
He abolished the oath and stopped paying money owed to Britain.
De Valera called a general election in January and won 77 seats, giving him an overall majority. Under his leadership, Fianna Fáil won further general elections in , , and
De Valera was his own Minister for External Affairs. He attended meetings of the League of Nations, and was president of the Council of the League on his first appearance at Geneva in In , he supported the admission of the Soviet Union into the League.
In September he was elected nineteenth president of the Assembly of the League, a tribute to the international recognition he had won by his independent stance on world questions.
De Valera's new constitution – Bunreacht na hÉireann
[change | change source]| Timeline – | |
| Birth &#; | 14 October in New York.
|
| &#; | Sent by his mother to live with her family in Ireland. |
| &#; | Graduates from the Royal University of Ireland. |
| &#; | Joins the Gaelic League. |
| &#; | 8 January marries Sinéad Flanagan.Eamon de valera biography definition ap While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Irish Examiner. Juan Vivion de Valera Catherine Coll. Forms his first government. |
| &#; | 25 November: Joins Irish Volunteers. |
| &#; | 24 April: Commander in Bolands Mills during the Easter Rising. Later sentenced to death for participation but death sentence not carried out |
| &#; | Joins Sinn Féin and replaces long-time leader Arthur Griffith as president.
Elected MP for East Clare but refuses to take his seat in the House of Commons. |
| &#; | November Elected MP in general election. |
| &#; | 1 April: Elected Príomh Aire (chief minister) of the new Dáil Éireann, the assembly formed by a majority of Irish MPs.
Forms his first government. May Travels to the United States to lobby on behalf of the Irish Republic. |
| &#; | July: Irish and British government call truce. October—December: Envoys Plenipotentiary negotiate Anglo-Irish Treaty. December Dáil, against de Valera's advice, approves Treaty.
De Valera resigns as president. Seeks re-election but is defeated. |
| – &#; | Irish Civil War |
| &#; | March: Leaves Sinn Féin and sets up his own republican party, Fianna Fáil. |
| &#; | Faced with disqualification from contesting elections, takes the Oath of Allegiance and enters Free State Dáil.
|
| &#; | Forms his first Free State government. |
| &#; | Enactment of new constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann, becomes Taoiseach for the first time. |
| &#; | Loses power for the first time in the modern Irish state. |
| &#; | Re-elected as Taoiseach. |
| &#; | Loses power for the second time. |
| &#; | Re-elected as Taoiseach for the last time.
|
| &#; | Elected as President of Ireland. |
| &#; | Re-elected as President. |
| &#; | Retires from Public Office. |
| Death &#; | 29 August, |
During the s, de Valera changed a lot of the Irish Free State constitution.
The Governor-General of the Irish Free State could reserve or deny the Royal Assent to any changes after being advised (ordered) by His Majesty's Government in London. After a legal argument with the British Government the power this was changed to His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State
That meant that de Valera was the only person who could stop a bill becoming law.
De Valera abolished:
When King Edward VIII abdicted (resigned) as King of Ireland de Valera passed two Bills;
- one took out all mention of the King and Governor-General in the constitution
- the second said the King's only job was formally sending and receiving ambassadors.
In July , de Valera wrote to King Edward in London saying that he planned to introduce a new constitution.
This was only a little different from the Bunreacht na hÉireann (meaning literally the Constitution of Ireland).
Eamon de valera biography definition He served several terms as head of government and head of state and had a leading role in introducing the Constitution of Ireland. He spent several months in the Netherlands where he had six operations on his eyes. He opposed secret societies, but this was the only way he could be guaranteed full information on plans for the Rising. A new economic policy emerged with the First Programme for Economic Expansion.The new constitution was not an act of the Dáil but was voted for in a referendum, because de Valera wanted a new start for the new country he was setting up.
Neutrality in World War II
[change | change source]Ireland stayed neutral in World War II, which was called The Emergency in Ireland. Both the possibility of a German invasion and a British invasion were discussed in the Dáil.
But even though de Valera hated Britain, Irish neutrality often favoured the allies:
- The Irish government weather reportshelped to decide when D-Day should be;
- British planes from Lough Erne in County Fermanagh flew a shortcut across Donegal to patrol the Atlantic.
- The German Ambassador's Eduard Hempel radio transmitter was shut down in
- Crashed airmen "operational" flights were interned until the end of the war.
If the flight was "non-operational" the crew were allowed home. Nearly all Allied airmen were said to be on "non-operational" flights, while German airmen were judged to be on "operational"
- Roughly 45, Irish men voluntarily joined the Allied forces (including Patrick and Tom Clancy, who had also been IRA volunteers).
In May , de Valera visited the German minister in Dublin, to express sympathy over the death of the Führer.[6] Along with President Douglas Hyde, de Valera was the only head of government to do this.
De Valera did not visit the American embassy following the death of Roosevelt, as David Gray, the American Ambassador said he would not receive de Valera.
Eamon de valera biography definition us history Succeeded by Pompeo Aloisi. Contents move to sidebar hide. Conventional wisdom held that de Valera would remain Taoiseach with the support of independent deputies. At this time though primary education was free, most second level education was fee paying.All flags were flown at half-mast on Roosevelt's death on de Valera's instructions
Post–war period
[change | change source]After sixteen years in power, Fianna Fáil lost the election. John A. Costello was Taoiseach of a coalition Government. It was Costello who declared Ireland a republic, making de Valera's friend President Ó Ceallaigh Ireland's head of state.
In de Valera was returned to power but without an overall majority. Many people thought this was his worst government. He spent several months in the Netherlands where he had six operations on his eyes.
Fianna Fáil was defeated again in the general election, but in de Valera, won a majority of nine seats.
This was the beginning of another sixteen year period in office for Fianna Fáil. But de Valera was only Taoiseach for two years.
In he was elected President of Ireland, as which he served until At his retirement at the age of 90, he was the oldest Head of State in the world.
Éamon de Valera died in Linden Convalescent Home, Blackrock, County Dublin on 29 August aged His wife, Sinéad de Valera, four years his senior, had died the previous January, on the eve of their 65th wedding anniversary.
He is buried in Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery.
Overview
[change | change source]In his recent controversial biography by Tim Pat Coogan says that his failures are more than his achievements, and that de Valera's popularity fell as Michael Collins's rose.
Garret Fitzgerald summarised[7] his last term as Taoiseach;
Total economic stagnation marked de Valera's last seven years as leader of his party - because all of the chickens of his disastrous commitment to an inward-looking policy of self sufficiency were coming home to roost.
References
[change | change source]- ↑His name is frequently misspelled Eamonn De Valera but in fact he never used the second 'n' in his first name (the standard Irish spelling) and always a small 'd' in 'de Valera', which is proper in Spanish names (de meaning 'of').
- ↑"Eamon(n)" actually translates into English as Edmond or Edmund.
The correct Irish translation of "Edward" is Éadhbhard.
- ↑ports in Ireland that the Royal Navy had a right to use
- ↑"De Valera's Treaty proposals". Archived from the original on Retrieved
- ↑"". Retrieved
- ↑Duggan, J. P. (). Herr Hempel at the German Legation in Dublin .
Irish Academic Press. ISBN&#;.
- ↑Garret Fitzgerald, Irish Times, September 16,