Éamon de Valera was the dominant Irish political figure of the 20th century. His political longevity was unmatched: he was the leading figure of the revolutionary Irish independence movement in the early 1920s, served as head of government for twenty-two years throughout the 1930s-1950s, and as head of state for another fourteen.

Despite many articles and books written documenting his life, political career, and impact on Irish life, there has been much less work devoted more squarely to assessing his political and constitutional thought. This is perhaps surprising given that de Valera was a central protagonist in the most important Irish constitutional controversies of the 20th century – including the 1918 declaration of independence, the Anglo-Irish Treaty debates and Civil War, the transformation of the Free State into a republic, and the drafting and enactment of the 1937 Irish Constitution – just to name a few.

This essay contributes to filling this gap by offering a constructive account of de Valera’s thought about perennial issues of constitutional law and theory: including the appropriate role of political authority, what limits should be on State power, the source of authority for governmental power, what the best form of government is, and in what circumstances political violence is justified. I build this account through study of his extensive body of articles, broadcasts, public speeches, letters, and memorandums.

De Valera may have begun his career in academia, but he never outlined his political beliefs in a scholarly fashion, by painting a comprehensive portrait of his first principles political and constitutional thinking. He was a statesman and highly skilled political animal whose speeches and essays were often directed toward live political controversies, with the aim of eliciting a desired response from his audience. Doubtless the push and pull of political opportunism and calculation might have led him, in his public pronouncements, to modulate his genuine all-things-considered thoughts or feelings on a particular issue. This is why I am offering a constructive account of his political-constitutional thinking; one that puts some coherence and order on his thought on constitutional issues as expressed over the years – reconciling apparent inconsistencies where possible while distilling some of its more key and consistent features.

Part I of this essay provides a concise biography of de Valera that outlines the defining aspects of his long and storied political career. Part II provides an account of de Valera’s thought on several core questions in constitutional theory. Part III concludes.