Hyde, Douglas (1860-1949)

Irish writer, scholar, and propagandist, president of Ireland 1938-45. He became president of the Gaelic League in 1893. His translations of Irish poetry and prose developed an English style that reflected Gaelic idiom and syntax, and had considerable influence on the younger writers of the Irish literary revival. However, he attempted to resist the politicization of the Gaelic League, and resigned as its president in 1915. He was a member of the Senate from 1925, and was chosen as president of Ireland by agreement between the parties in 1938.

Hyde was professor of Irish at University College Dublin, 1909-32. His important published works include Love Songs of Connacht (1893), his Literary History of Ireland (1899) and The Religious Songs of Connacht (1906). He wrote Casadh ant Sugáin (1901), the first modern play in Irish.

Born in County Sligo, Hyde studied law at Trinity College, Dublin. His 1892 inaugural address as president of the National Literary Society was a rallying cry for those who wished to arrest the decline in the use of the Irish language. It has been seen as a key moment in that Gaelic element in reinvigorated national sentiment around the turn of the century.