Douglas Hyde

Douglas Hyde (1860–1949) was an Irish scholar, poet and the first President of Ireland. The son of a Church of Ireland rector in County Roscommon, he learned Irish from country people as a boy and devoted his life to the language and its literature. In 1893 he co-founded the Gaelic League and served as its president, arguing for the de-anglicization of Irish culture. Writing as An Craoibhín Aoibhinn, he published translations such as Love Songs of Connacht, folk tales and plays in Irish, and A Literary History of Ireland. He was professor of modern Irish at University College Dublin and served as president from 1938 to 1945.