There was a big movement to get southern Ireland out of the United Kingdom. How to accomplish that without acquiring a new master in the form of the Catholic church was the challenge. Choosing the son of an Anglican Vicar as the first President was a way to walk that line. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
This is a strange stamp. At the time Douglas Hyde was the sitting President of Ireland. Yet the stamp was in recognition of his founding of the Gaelic League 60 years previous. Yes he was quite old. The Presidency was under the Irish constitution of the day was vague on whether the ceremonial post was actually Head of State or whether that was the British King. A stamp showing him above politics was a not so subtle hint that he really was the Head of State.
Todays stamp is issue A16, a half penny stamp issued by Ireland on July 31st, 1943. It was a two stamp issue in different denominations. According to the Scott Catalog, the stamp is worth $1 used.
Douglas Hyde was born in Ireland in 1860 the son of a Church of Ireland (Anglican) Vicar. In is teen years, he befriended a local Irish game keeper. What especially fascinated was the Roscommon form of the Gaelic language that the game keeper spoke and was getting quite rare. He bucked family tradition by studying languages and literature at Trinity University instead of going into the church.
As a member of the Literary Society, Hyde created quite a stir. Under the pen name “A pleasant little branch” he published poetry in Gaelic. Then he went further publishing a manifesto on The Necessity of Deanglicizing the Irish Nation. This argued the Irish were in much danger or loosing their language, literature, style of dress, music and dance if measures weren’t taken to preserve it. This got this discussion going among a high brow group less political and less Catholic.
Hyde then became a cofounder of the Gaelic League to do the above. He tried to keep the group apolitical but was forced out during the Irish troubles as by then politics and religion were front and center.
After Ireland formed the Free State, people remembered and respected Hyde and invited him to run and win a seat in the upper chamber of the legislature. After one term, the Catholic Church started a disinformation push to remove people like Hyde from power. The accused him of being in favor of divorce. He had a life long marriage. He lost his seat and returned to academia humiliated.
In 1937 there was a new constitution that devolved further from Britain and created a ceremonial office of President. The two rival political parties agreed on offering the Presidency to Hyde. He seemed a good choice. There were those that felt Ireland was a confessional state that was a tool of the Catholic Church. Having an Anglican President would diffuse that. Being near 80, it was also thought there would be less threat that he would attempt to become or allow Prime Minister to become a dictator. He was also a learned man who would be taken seriously on the world stage. There was much fanfare around the world in 1938 when Hyde was inaugurated. The exception was in Great Britain where it was thought to be a personal slight to the King.
Despite suffering a stroke and the loss of his wife, Hyde was able to serve a full seven year term as President. He was able to keep Ireland neutral through World War II. The level of anti British feelings were still high and came out on the very last days of the war upon the news of the death of Adolph Hitler. Politicians of many parties up to and including Douglas Hyde met with Nazi German Ambassador Eduard Hempel to offer the condolences of the Irish people. They found the German distraught and wringing his hands in anguish. Hempel’s wife Eva later claimed it was just that his eczema acting up.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast at least the non political version of the Gaelic Society. Who isn’t a fan of Irish culture? Come again next Monday when there will be another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. Happy New Year!