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De Valera #1
De Valera, Volume 1: Rise, 1882-1932
From the host of RTÉ’s Primetime and author of The Reluctant Taoiseach, the widely acclaimed biography of John A. Costello, Rise 1882-1932 is the first volume of a major two-part reassessment of the man who shaped modern Ireland.
Eamon de Valera is the most single most consequential Irish figure of the twentieth century. He was a leader of the Easter Rising, the figurehead of the anti-treaty rebels during the dark days of the Civil War and later, as the founder of Fianna Fáil and President of Ireland, the pivotal figure in the birth of the Republic.
While de Valera the statesman, the rebel, the visionary, has passed over into a sort of myth, de Valera the man remains an elusive, almost opaque presence. Precious little is known of his background, his motivations - the roots, in short, of his ferocious devotion to a very particular brand of Irish nationalism. Here, in the first part of a major two-volume reassessment, historian and broadcaster David McCullagh considers the man behind the colossal achievements. McCullagh sketches a ground-breaking portrait of de Valera, his times and his complex, ever-shifting legacy. The concluding volume of this work, Rule 1932-1975, will be published in autumn 2018.
Eamon de Valera is the most single most consequential Irish figure of the twentieth century. He was a leader of the Easter Rising, the figurehead of the anti-treaty rebels during the dark days of the Civil War and later, as the founder of Fianna Fáil and President of Ireland, the pivotal figure in the birth of the Republic.
While de Valera the statesman, the rebel, the visionary, has passed over into a sort of myth, de Valera the man remains an elusive, almost opaque presence. Precious little is known of his background, his motivations - the roots, in short, of his ferocious devotion to a very particular brand of Irish nationalism. Here, in the first part of a major two-volume reassessment, historian and broadcaster David McCullagh considers the man behind the colossal achievements. McCullagh sketches a ground-breaking portrait of de Valera, his times and his complex, ever-shifting legacy. The concluding volume of this work, Rule 1932-1975, will be published in autumn 2018.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
26 people are currently reading
110 people want to read
About the author
David McCullagh
7 books9 followersDavid McCullagh began working as a journalist with the Evening Press before joining RTE, where he currently presents the broadcaster’s flagship current affairs programme, Primetime.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 30, 2018
Where De Valera is concerned,I try to read with an open mind.
This first volume of a new biography of the man known as (The Long Fellow),tries to be objective,and for the most part succeeds.
But I feel it gives short shift to the murder of Michael Collins and De Valera's home life.
The author makes it sound as if his wife had seven children with no help from him.
It does capture De Valera's,need to control everything and unable to accept it when he can't.
This is a very complicated man,who ran things in Ireland,as his own fiefdom.
This first volume of a new biography of the man known as (The Long Fellow),tries to be objective,and for the most part succeeds.
But I feel it gives short shift to the murder of Michael Collins and De Valera's home life.
The author makes it sound as if his wife had seven children with no help from him.
It does capture De Valera's,need to control everything and unable to accept it when he can't.
This is a very complicated man,who ran things in Ireland,as his own fiefdom.
March 21, 2021
A new(er) biography of the Long Fellow, Eamon De Valera, a giant of Ireland, seemed like a good read as we enjoy the St. Patrick’s Day holiday. David McCullagh has taken a new look at De Valera in a two-volume series on a highly complex man who still stirs great emotion, and whose imprint remains solidly on the Irish nation even today.
This book deals with De Valera in the period up to his entering the Free State Dail. His governance after that entry will be the subject of the second volume.
The book makes an attempt to remain even-handed in presenting the career of De Valera as the leader of the Irish resistance to British rule in Ireland. That effort is difficult, as many of De Valera’s actions in the run-up to the Irish civil war, in my opinion, were simply dead wrong and had devastating consequences for the Irish nationalist movement and the Irish people.
If you are looking for a more detailed look at how the breakdown came over the Treaty with Britain this book comes up a bit short. McCullagh is writing a biography of De Valera and appears to me to want to stay away from concentrating on the role of Michael Collins in the Treaty, as well as Collins outsized role in the War of Independence. I understand the sentiment but it is difficult to get to the heart of the split in the Dail, and in Sinn Fein, without examining the role of Collins and the relationship of De Valera and Collins over a longer period. Like it or not the two are intertwined in this period, and a full examination of the actions of either man must take into account the details of that relationship.
McCullagh gives us a very good account of the De Valera role in the Easter uprising, and how his leadership traits began to show even then. The book gives great insight here, bringing De Valera’s commitment to the “Irish Volunteers” and the development of his political philosophy a great and detailed look. Without question De Valera was an Irish patriot, and his contributions, as “the Chief” of the Irish nationalist movement, and then the President of the Irish Dail, were enormous. It was De Valera, and his strong leadership, that put the Irish in a position to break free of the British. But when it came time to make the difficult decisions necessary to actually break free De Valera flinched, creating a rupture that broke the Irish Republican movement in two, laying the groundwork for the Irish Civil War.
The book covers, although not in great detail, the Irish uprising that led to the negotiations with the British. With all of the concentration on the negotiations that led to the Treaty not much attention has been paid to the direct negotiations that preceded the final negotiation. De Valera was the leader of the Irish delegation that went to London to negotiate with David Lloyd George, heading up an Irish delegation that omitted Michael Collins. That conference, and the following correspondence between Lloyd George and De Valera are covered here and although the conditions under which the final conference was scheduled later became a source of great controversy we only get a cursory view of the acceptance of the final conference by De Valera and the Irish Dail.
“…Lloyd George was forced to considerably tone down his draft reply. This once again insisted that a conference would be impossible if the Irish side demanded the right to set up a Republic and repudiate the Crown.”
De Valera Rise 1882-1932 David McCullagh Pg 221
McCullagh gives us a view of the back and forth on the “pre-conditions” for the final peace conference, but the above quote misses the mark slightly. De Valera, in a letter to Lloyd George seeking to establish the final peace conference, had indicated that the Irish entered the conference as the representatives of an independent State, with powers bestowed by that State. (De Valera letter to Lloyd George of September 12, 2021.) Lloyd George explicitly rejected, and refused British participation in, a conference based on de Valera’s letter. Lloyd George made it explicitly clear that the British could not, and would not, recognize the Irish Republic. Although not in the book Lloyd George’s reply left no doubt about the position of the British:
“It might be argued in future that the acceptance of the Conference on this basis had involved them in a recognition which no British government can accord. On this point they must guard themselves against any possible doubt. There is no purpose to be served by any further interchange of explanatory and argumentative communications upon this subject. The position taken by His Majesty’s Government is fundamental to the existence of the British Empire and they cannot alter it.” (Lloyd George to De Valera September 29, 1921.)
So before the Peace Conference the British had explicitly rejected the idea of an Irish Republic, but De Valera chose to accept the conference anyway. Collins would later make great political points on this very issue.
The book, of course, deals with De Valera’s decision not to attend the peace conference himself, sending Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, and others as plenipotentiaries with full powers to conclude a treaty. Was De Valera, understanding the true British position, looking to send scapegoats? It certainly appears that way. The author gives, in my view, a fair look at De Valera’s outrage upon learning that the Treaty had been published without his approval. That outrage can be described as personal pique, but the author correctly assigns to De Valera a political desire to hold the hard liners in place, attempting to walk a tightrope that simply could not be balanced. He came down on the side of the hard-liners.
With the onset of the Irish Civil War and the creation of the Irish Free State the book does a good job of describing the tortured position of De Valera in those years. His ridiculous propagation of what became known as “Document No. 2” as a substitute for the Treaty highlighted his difficulty, as all sides, including the IRA, simply rejected his position.
De Valera, despite reaching a low point politically that would have driven most out of public life, soldiered on. McCullagh covers the De Valera split with Sinn Fein and the creation of Fianna Fail by de Valera. His decision to enter the Free State Dail and sign the hated oath is well covered, and once again shows the political gyrations De Valera needed to undertake to make the argument that his position had not changed. In fact it had, and that entry into the Free State Dail, in my view, was the final testament to how wrong he was on the Treaty. Collins had described the Treaty as a steppingstone, and de Valera entering the Free State government showed that the Collins argument, over the longer term, was the absolutely correct one. It just took Dev a bit longer to see it. De Valera not only entered the Dail but in 1932 assumed the reigns of the Free State apparatus with Fianna Fail taking control. That is where the second installment will begin. I recommend the book for anyone looking for an understanding of Eamon De Valera, who may have been flawed, but most certainly was a giant of Ireland.
This book deals with De Valera in the period up to his entering the Free State Dail. His governance after that entry will be the subject of the second volume.
The book makes an attempt to remain even-handed in presenting the career of De Valera as the leader of the Irish resistance to British rule in Ireland. That effort is difficult, as many of De Valera’s actions in the run-up to the Irish civil war, in my opinion, were simply dead wrong and had devastating consequences for the Irish nationalist movement and the Irish people.
If you are looking for a more detailed look at how the breakdown came over the Treaty with Britain this book comes up a bit short. McCullagh is writing a biography of De Valera and appears to me to want to stay away from concentrating on the role of Michael Collins in the Treaty, as well as Collins outsized role in the War of Independence. I understand the sentiment but it is difficult to get to the heart of the split in the Dail, and in Sinn Fein, without examining the role of Collins and the relationship of De Valera and Collins over a longer period. Like it or not the two are intertwined in this period, and a full examination of the actions of either man must take into account the details of that relationship.
McCullagh gives us a very good account of the De Valera role in the Easter uprising, and how his leadership traits began to show even then. The book gives great insight here, bringing De Valera’s commitment to the “Irish Volunteers” and the development of his political philosophy a great and detailed look. Without question De Valera was an Irish patriot, and his contributions, as “the Chief” of the Irish nationalist movement, and then the President of the Irish Dail, were enormous. It was De Valera, and his strong leadership, that put the Irish in a position to break free of the British. But when it came time to make the difficult decisions necessary to actually break free De Valera flinched, creating a rupture that broke the Irish Republican movement in two, laying the groundwork for the Irish Civil War.
The book covers, although not in great detail, the Irish uprising that led to the negotiations with the British. With all of the concentration on the negotiations that led to the Treaty not much attention has been paid to the direct negotiations that preceded the final negotiation. De Valera was the leader of the Irish delegation that went to London to negotiate with David Lloyd George, heading up an Irish delegation that omitted Michael Collins. That conference, and the following correspondence between Lloyd George and De Valera are covered here and although the conditions under which the final conference was scheduled later became a source of great controversy we only get a cursory view of the acceptance of the final conference by De Valera and the Irish Dail.
“…Lloyd George was forced to considerably tone down his draft reply. This once again insisted that a conference would be impossible if the Irish side demanded the right to set up a Republic and repudiate the Crown.”
De Valera Rise 1882-1932 David McCullagh Pg 221
McCullagh gives us a view of the back and forth on the “pre-conditions” for the final peace conference, but the above quote misses the mark slightly. De Valera, in a letter to Lloyd George seeking to establish the final peace conference, had indicated that the Irish entered the conference as the representatives of an independent State, with powers bestowed by that State. (De Valera letter to Lloyd George of September 12, 2021.) Lloyd George explicitly rejected, and refused British participation in, a conference based on de Valera’s letter. Lloyd George made it explicitly clear that the British could not, and would not, recognize the Irish Republic. Although not in the book Lloyd George’s reply left no doubt about the position of the British:
“It might be argued in future that the acceptance of the Conference on this basis had involved them in a recognition which no British government can accord. On this point they must guard themselves against any possible doubt. There is no purpose to be served by any further interchange of explanatory and argumentative communications upon this subject. The position taken by His Majesty’s Government is fundamental to the existence of the British Empire and they cannot alter it.” (Lloyd George to De Valera September 29, 1921.)
So before the Peace Conference the British had explicitly rejected the idea of an Irish Republic, but De Valera chose to accept the conference anyway. Collins would later make great political points on this very issue.
The book, of course, deals with De Valera’s decision not to attend the peace conference himself, sending Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins, and others as plenipotentiaries with full powers to conclude a treaty. Was De Valera, understanding the true British position, looking to send scapegoats? It certainly appears that way. The author gives, in my view, a fair look at De Valera’s outrage upon learning that the Treaty had been published without his approval. That outrage can be described as personal pique, but the author correctly assigns to De Valera a political desire to hold the hard liners in place, attempting to walk a tightrope that simply could not be balanced. He came down on the side of the hard-liners.
With the onset of the Irish Civil War and the creation of the Irish Free State the book does a good job of describing the tortured position of De Valera in those years. His ridiculous propagation of what became known as “Document No. 2” as a substitute for the Treaty highlighted his difficulty, as all sides, including the IRA, simply rejected his position.
De Valera, despite reaching a low point politically that would have driven most out of public life, soldiered on. McCullagh covers the De Valera split with Sinn Fein and the creation of Fianna Fail by de Valera. His decision to enter the Free State Dail and sign the hated oath is well covered, and once again shows the political gyrations De Valera needed to undertake to make the argument that his position had not changed. In fact it had, and that entry into the Free State Dail, in my view, was the final testament to how wrong he was on the Treaty. Collins had described the Treaty as a steppingstone, and de Valera entering the Free State government showed that the Collins argument, over the longer term, was the absolutely correct one. It just took Dev a bit longer to see it. De Valera not only entered the Dail but in 1932 assumed the reigns of the Free State apparatus with Fianna Fail taking control. That is where the second installment will begin. I recommend the book for anyone looking for an understanding of Eamon De Valera, who may have been flawed, but most certainly was a giant of Ireland.
July 13, 2024
I picked up this book from Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, a quaint bookshop in Sligo, Ireland. I was interested in learning more about modern Irish History after finishing a history that covered the Emerald Isle from Celtic settlement to the Celtic Tiger economic boom.
I highly recommend this book for any descendants of the diaspora interested in learning more about Ireland. De Valera is a fascinating figure. David McCullaugh's well researched biography covers De Valera's less than humble, almost scandalous origins as the son of a single mother in New York City who may or may not have made up a marriage to De Valera's supposed father, a fictitious Spaniard.
The bastard born in America with a Spanish surname went on to become the Prime Minister and singular political leader post independence due to an unequivocal nationalist ideology, that the author hints may be the result of some overcompensation.
De Valera's path to primacy of the Irish nationalist movement is bizarre. From mathematics professor to revolutionary. From instigator of civil war to leader of the opposition, somewhat due to being the last man standing as all his compatriots had taken each other out.
Apologies for the imperfect analogy, but De Valera is like the fusion of George Washington, Jefferson Davis, and Richard Nixon all in one man. While many modern analysts provide slanted reviews on De Valera's reign, McCullough's story is balanced and lets the man speak for himself. He also does a good job of providing context on the overarching struggle for Irish Independence, and contrasting perspectives from De Valera's compatriots.
A quote from De Valera while to explain the goals of the revolutionaries while attempting to raise money from Irishmen in the United States (He raised millions of dollars while speaking to sold out crowds at Madison Square Garden, Wrigley Field, and many other locations):
"Our position should be simply that we are insisting on only one right, and that is the right of the people of this country to determine for themselves how they should be governed. That sounds moderate, but includes everything.
I highly recommend this book for any descendants of the diaspora interested in learning more about Ireland. De Valera is a fascinating figure. David McCullaugh's well researched biography covers De Valera's less than humble, almost scandalous origins as the son of a single mother in New York City who may or may not have made up a marriage to De Valera's supposed father, a fictitious Spaniard.
The bastard born in America with a Spanish surname went on to become the Prime Minister and singular political leader post independence due to an unequivocal nationalist ideology, that the author hints may be the result of some overcompensation.
De Valera's path to primacy of the Irish nationalist movement is bizarre. From mathematics professor to revolutionary. From instigator of civil war to leader of the opposition, somewhat due to being the last man standing as all his compatriots had taken each other out.
Apologies for the imperfect analogy, but De Valera is like the fusion of George Washington, Jefferson Davis, and Richard Nixon all in one man. While many modern analysts provide slanted reviews on De Valera's reign, McCullough's story is balanced and lets the man speak for himself. He also does a good job of providing context on the overarching struggle for Irish Independence, and contrasting perspectives from De Valera's compatriots.
A quote from De Valera while to explain the goals of the revolutionaries while attempting to raise money from Irishmen in the United States (He raised millions of dollars while speaking to sold out crowds at Madison Square Garden, Wrigley Field, and many other locations):
"Our position should be simply that we are insisting on only one right, and that is the right of the people of this country to determine for themselves how they should be governed. That sounds moderate, but includes everything.
September 13, 2022
Has there ever been a more thorough telling of Eamon De Valera's life from the origins to his birth but to his rise to the leader of Ireland? No, there has hasn't. I have watched numerous documentaries on Mr. De Valera, but none come close to telling the full story of this man who, had some circumstances changed, may have been a Priest or a Mathematician, to leader of a nation that he was not even born to. Love him or Hate him, and there are many who fit into both camps, you cannot deny how Mr. De Valera is one of the most important and defining figures of Anglo-Irish history. This book is certainly worth reading.
October 29, 2020
McCullagh does an excellent job of laying out the facts and allowing you come to your own conclusions. A thoroughly researched book, with full bibliography to boot, and excellently articulated.
I did find some of the chapters were quite long, and so progress felt slow at some stages, although it was necessary to go into that detail in order to do it justice.
Will be getting Volume 2 - Rise, but will leave a few weeks gap and enjoy a lighter book before cracking into it.
I did find some of the chapters were quite long, and so progress felt slow at some stages, although it was necessary to go into that detail in order to do it justice.
Will be getting Volume 2 - Rise, but will leave a few weeks gap and enjoy a lighter book before cracking into it.
February 2, 2024
Best view I’ve had into the inception of the Republic of Ireland so far. Focus was held pretty close to de Valera himself without going too far to provide context for what was going on around him, many times it seemed like the intent was to dispel long held myths about the man, but I’m not familiar with those myths in the first place
March 20, 2025
Fabulous work by McCullagh. Extremely well researched. A good examination of both the positives and negative aspects of de Valera. McCullagh's choice to include anecdotes about Sinead and the children really adds to the book.
April 8, 2020
Excellent stuff. So readable yet doesn't skimp on any historical detail. A stellar effort from David McCullough.
December 21, 2020
3 1/2 Stars Not a page-turner, but a very good history book.
January 30, 2025
Both books are very comprehensive and capture the life and times of a divisive man in great detail. His impact on Ireland for good and bad still exists today.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews