John Downing: Half-a-century after the death of Éamon de Valera, the Long Fellow still casts a long shadow

John Downing: Half-a-century after the death of Éamon de Valera, the Long Fellow still casts a long shadow

Former taoiseach and president changed Ireland for ever

Éamon de Valera, who died 50 years ago today, addresses a meeting in Los Angeles during his US tour as president of Dáil Éireann. Photo: Getty

Many years after the death of Éamon de Valera, I met an old man who told me that, as a serving soldier, he reported in sick rather than join the army firing party picked to do the honours at the graveside in Glasnevin Cemetery.

“I could not trust myself to resist the temptation to fire into, rather than over, Dev’s coffin,” the man recalled with a passion still strong decades after the event.