Forgotten Patriot

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.

Table of Contents:
Introduction1. The Political Origins of the Presidency2. The Creation of the Presidency3. Seeking Hyde: How a retired academic became the first President of Ireland 4. The Foundations of Presidential Precedence5. The British Connection6. A Healing Presidency7. A Gaelic Presidency8. The Politics of Neutrality9. Constitutional Activity10. RetirementConclusion

About the Author :
BRIAN MURPHY lectures in Communications at the Dublin Institute of Technology. A graduate of University College Dublin, he completed a PhD in Modern Irish History on the Irish Presidency. He has worked as a parliamentary researcher in Dail Eireann and at the Department of the Taoiseach, as a speechwriter to two Taoisigh. A regular contributor to Irish media, he co-edited the bestselling book Brian Lenihan: In Calm and Crisis (2014).

Review :
'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.' Combining important new research with the fascinating insight of the scholar, he has written an absorbing portrait in lucid prose. Remarkably revealing book ... often riveting and highly entertaining. Excellent, original account. Well-researched and thoroughgoing biography ... an important contribution to the literature on Irish constitutional development. Insightful and interesting … well-written and thoroughly researched. 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. Welcome contribution to our understanding of the presidency and how it came into being.