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Seán O'Sullivan, Irish, 1906-1964
Title: Portrait of Douglas Hyde, President of Ireland (1860-1949), Poet and Scholar
Date: c.1930
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
128 x 102 cm
Signed: lower right: Seán O'Sullivan, R.H.A.
Credit Line: Purchased, 1939
Object Number: NGI.1011
ProvenancePurchased, the Artist, 1939
Exhibition HistoryChurch Disestablishment 1870-1970, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 5 May - 7 June 1970
Label TextA multilingual scholar and writer, Douglas Hyde was educated at Trinity College Dublin. With W.B. Yeats he founded the Irish Literary Society in London (1891) and Dublin (1892). He was also co-founder of the Gaelic League, through which he promoted indigenous music, dancing and games, and the Irish language. However, he resigned from the presidency of the movement in 1915 due to its involvement in separatist politics. He was Professor of Modern Irish at University College Dublin (1909-1932) and Chairman of the Irish Folklore Institute (1930-1934). He became the first President of Ireland, serving a full term from 1938-45.
Label TextEducated at Trinity College, Dublin, Hyde was conversant in Latin, Hebrew, French, German and Irish. A co-founder of the Gaelic League, he promoted the Irish language, as well as traditional music, dancing and sports. Unhappy with the organisation’s increasingly separatist politics, he resigned in 1915. He was Professor of Modern Irish at UCD (1909-1932) and chairman of the Irish Folklore Institute (1930-34). He was chosen by all-party agreement as first President of Ireland and served a full term from 1938 to 1945. He published extensively, often under the pseudonym ‘An Craoibhín Aoibhinn’ (The Lovely Little Branch’).