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Hyde, Douglas (Dubhghlas de hÍde)

Dubhghlas de hÍde = Douglas Hyde

b. 17 Jan 1860, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon
d. 12 Jul 1949, Dublin

Title: Uachtarán na hÉireann = President of Ireland
Term: 25 Jun 1938 - 24 Jun 1945
Chronology: 4 May 1938, declared to have been elected by a certificate issued by the Presidential Returning Officer (unopposed nomination)
25 Jun 1938, sworn in, St Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle, Dublin
24 Jun 1945, term expired
Names/titles: pseudonym An Craoibhín Aoibhinn ("the delightful little branch")
Biography:

Son of Reverend Arthur Hyde, rector of Tibohine, Frenchpark, Douglas Hyde was educated at Trinity College in Dublin. After spending a year in Canada, he returned to Ireland and devoted himself to literary pursuits and the revival of Irish. He collected Irish folklore and poetry, published collections of folk-tales. In 1893 he became the president of the Gaelic League, the national movement for the revival of the Irish language. Hyde became the first professor of Modern Irish in University College, Dublin (1909) and held the chair until his retirement in 1932. He resigned the presidency of the Gaelic League in 1915, when it became clear that it had become a political organization. He was a member of Seanad Éireann (4 Feb 1925 - 9 Dec 1925). When the office of President of Ireland was created under the Constitution of 1937, Hyde was unanimously selected by all parties and held office until his term expired in 1945. Biography source: [1; 2]


[1] "A Dictionary of Irish Biography", ed. by Henry Boylan (Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 1998).
[2] Toghcháin Uachtaráin 1938-1997 Presidential Elections. Dublin: Stationery Office, September 2000.
Image: photograph, c. 1940.