cover image A MEMOIR

A MEMOIR

Terry de Valera, . . Currach, $37.95 (318pp) ISBN 978-1-85607-911-2

This autobiography by the youngest son of Irish revolutionary and politician Eamon de Valera (1882–1975) is essentially a biography of his parents. The de Valera family has been very closed-lipped about their patriarch, and this tome allows a rare access. Terry got his mother, Sinéad, a gifted writer of children's books, to record her life in a notebook. Her comments fill pages here and give a unique view into the development of modern Ireland and the politics that created it. Historians will want to know of the relationship between de Valera and his great rival, Michael Collins. Terry recalls that his mother "was a shrewd judge of character, she said that the British had found a weakness, his Achilles' heel: Collins was too prone to be duped by flattery...." Sinéad offers some remarkable details about the Easter Rising of 1916. Terry also relates the incendiary events of December 7, 1941, when Churchill sent de Valera a note with the phrase "a nation once again"—an obvious invitation to join the war on Britain's side with reunification promised in return. There are also some wonderful recollections of President Kennedy's visit to Ireland in 1963. This is an insightful, important book that adds a personal touch to the stoic, enigmatic Eamon de Valera—a must read for anyone interested, pro or con, in the most dominant figure of 20th-century Ireland. 31 b&w illus. (Oct. 29)