Born in New York in 1882, Éamon De Valera was an Irish politician and patriot. Educated at the Royal University, Dublin, he became a teacher of mathematics and an ardent supporter of the Irish language revival. He participated in revolutionary politics as a young man and after the Easter Rising he became national president of Sinn Féin in 1917. After the Irish Civil War, in which De Valera sided with the anti-treaty nationalists, he established the Fianna Fáil party in 1926. At various intervals between 1932 and 1959 he served as Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, of Ireland. Under De Valera, the Irish Free State became Éire, a sovereign, independent nation linked with the British Commonwealth in 1937. He ended his public career by serving two terms as President of Ireland.

Sinéad De Valera was an Irish author of a number of children's books and plays in both Irish and English. Born Jane O’Flanagan in Balbriggan, she was trained as a teacher and closely associated with the Gaelic Language Revival. Sinéad taught Irish at the Leinster College of the Gaelic League in Parnell Square. One of her students was Éamon De Valera. The two were married in January 1910 and together had five sons and two daughters.

Both Éamon and Sinéad died in 1975.

Sources:

“Éamon De Valera,” In Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, April 17, 2013. Encyclopædia Britannica (Accessed April 3, 2020).

“Sinéad De Valera, 96, Wife of Irish President,” The New York Times, January 8, 1975.