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It had been a busy few days for Adolf Hitler, but Douglas Hyde had not slipped his mind … On 25 June 1938, Douglas Hyde became the first President of Ireland. His values stood in stark contrast to those of the continental dictator. As a Protestant nationalist and a leading figure in the language revival, he made the office an inclusive one and determined to be a president for all the people of Ireland. He also played a highly significant, but previously unheralded, role in the state’s policy of neutrality during the Second World War. Hitler’s fleeting fixation with Hyde was that the new presidency significantly diluted Ireland’s bonds with the British Empire. The accepted wisdom is that Hyde’s transition to the presidency was a seamless process, but new research shows it only came about on foot of a late political compromise. He may have been a compromise candidate, but with his non-partisan background, he was also an inspired choice. Forgotten Patriot shows Hyde’s considerable impact on the development and perception of the office of President of Ireland.
Publisher: Gill
ISBN: 9781848892903
Number of pages: 328
Weight: 529 g
Dimensions: 234 x 156 x 24 mm
'Vividly written and drawing on a wealth of new documents, Brian Murphy's important new book forces us to revisit Douglas Hyde, a figure often forgotten by history, and reestablishes the first president as one of the seminal figures of modern Irish politics.' - Professor Richard Aldous, Bard College, New York
Combining important new research with the fascinating insight of the scholar, he has written an absorbing portrait in lucid prose. - Law Society Gazette
Remarkably revealing book ... often riveting and highly entertaining. - The Irish Times
Excellent, original account. - Irish Independent
Well-researched and thoroughgoing biography ... an important contribution to the literature on Irish constitutional development. - History Ireland
Insightful and interesting … well-written and thoroughly researched. - Irish Examiner
The fascination of the book lies in Murphy's accounts of Dáil debates about the insertion of a president into the 1937 Constitution, with Fine Gael convinced that it was a step towards de Valera imposing a dictatorship and de Valera seeing it as a vehicle to remove any last link to the British crown. - The Sunday Business Post
Welcome contribution to our understanding of the presidency and how it came into being. - Irish Independent
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