Éamon de Valéra and the Survival of Democracy in Inter-War Ireland

Abstract

This article explores how, in the wake of civil war and continued instability, Éamon de Valéra attempted to stabilize parliamentary democracy in Ireland through the introduction of a new constitution in 1937. This constitution has been seen as a product of his uniquely conservative personality, but Irish constitutional developments between the wars reflected the tensions of an era in which liberal constitutionalism proved unable to meet the challenges posed to it. This article constitutes an attempt to put the constitution into its appropriate European context.