Eamon de Valera was an Irish politician and patriot who was a key figure in the country’s fight for independence from the UK. De Valera was a key political figure in twentieth-century Ireland, serving as the Taoiseach (prime minister) and president of the country at various times. He is also credited for establishing the Irish Constitution. He was born in America to a Spanish father and an Irish mother, and after his father died, he had a tough upbringing. He was subsequently moved to live with his grandmother in Ireland. He grew up to be a bright and athletic young man who also became a dedicated patriot. He went on to become a teacher and became interested in Gaelic revival, or the rebirth of interest in the Irish language on a national level. He also became a member of the Irish Volunteers and was a key figure in the anti-British Easter Rising in Dublin. During the Easter Rising, he was a member of the Sinn Féin party, which was connected with radical nationalist feeling, and eventually became its president. He became one of the most powerful personalities in Irish politics after the country’s independence.
Childhood and Adolescence
Edward George de Valero was born in New York City, United States, on October 14, 1882, to a Spanish father, Juan Vivion de Valero, and an Irish mother, Catherine Coll. His father died when he was two years old, and he was transferred to live with his maternal family in Ireland. After graduating from high school, he attended Blackrock College and subsequently Rockwell College. He was a physically fit young man who enjoyed playing rugby.
Career of Éamon de Valera
Eamon de Valera was hired as a mathematics instructor at Rockwell College in County Tipperary in 1903. In 1906, he completed his study at the Royal University of Ireland and was hired as a mathematics instructor at the Carysfort Teachers’ Training College for Women in Blackrock. He was a passionate patriot who joined the Irish Volunteers, an organization that advocated Irish Home Rule, in 1913 and became active in the political movement.
De Valera led his soldiers to take Boland’s Mill in 1916, while the anti-British Easter Rising in Dublin was in full swing. After a week of combat, the soldiers were instructed to surrender, and de Valera was the last to do so. He was also the sole rebel commander who was spared execution, owing to his American ancestry.
In 1916, he joined the Sinn Féin political party and was chosen its president in 1917, after numerous other rebel leaders had died. After Sinn Féin gained a large majority in the 1918 general election, de Valera traveled to the United States in incognito to raise finances for the cause of Irish independence from the United Kingdom. De Valera was able to raise $5,500,000 from his American backers.
Meanwhile, in Ireland, the Irish revolutionaries’ patriotic fervor reached unprecedented heights, sparking the Irish War of Independence. De Valera returned to Ireland soon before the conflict ended on July 11, 1921, with the signing of a truce.
In 1922, the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, and the majority of Ireland broke away from the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State. It would take several more years for it to become a republic, though. In 1926, De Valera broke away from Sinn Féin and created Fianna Fáil. In 1932, he was elected President of the Executive Council, the highest position in the administration.
In 1937, he drafted a new constitution that featured changes and symbols aimed at asserting Irish sovereignty. The constitution also proposed “Éire” (Irish) and “Ireland” as new names for the country (in English). Ireland became a republic when the new constitution was adopted, and Douglas Hyde was sworn in as the first President of Ireland on June 26, 1938, at the nation’s first inaugural ceremony.
When the new constitution was enacted in 1937, De Valera was the President of the Executive Council. When Ireland became a republic, he was immediately elevated to the post of Taoiseach (Prime Minister), a position with far greater authority than the one he had previously held. He was elected president late in life. He ran for President of the United States in 1959 and won. On June 25, 1959, he resigned as Taoiseach and was installed as President. He was re-elected in 1966 and, at the age of 90, retired in 1973.
Major Projects of Éamon de Valera
Eamon de Valera is without a doubt one of Ireland’s most important political figures. He was a key figure in the Irish War of Independence and, decades later, the establishment of Ireland as a republic during his long political career, which spanned more than half a century.
Personal History and Legacy
In 1908, he met Sinéad Flanagan, a teacher, and they married in 1910. Five boys and two daughters were born to the marriage. At the age of 92, Eamon de Valera died on August 29, 1975.
Estimated Net Worth
Eamon is one of the wealthiest World Leaders and one of the most loved. Eamon De Valera’s net worth is estimated to be $1.5 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.
Trivia
This former Irish President held the record for being the world’s oldest elected head of state at the time.