THE DEV YOU KNOW Published on October 14th, 1962 Photograph by Jimmy McCormack
IF YOU’VE EVER wondered who, exactly, is who in the de Valera family, wonder no more. Just ponder this extraordinary shot of the extended clan, taken in 1962 to celebrate the 80th birthday of president Éamon de Valera, who was born on October 14th, 1882. We are indebted to Éamon Ó Cuív, TD for Galway West and Fianna Fáil spokesman on agriculture and food, who helped us put names to all the faces, and who says it’s the only extant picture of all the children and grandchildren together with the president and Mrs de Valera. A slice of history for sure.
Front row, from left: 1. Ruairí de Valera, (son of Ruaidrrí no 30), 2. Eón Ó Cuív, (son of Emer no 22), 3. Jane de Valera, (daughter of Terry no 24), 4. Ruairí Ó Cuív, (son of Emer no 22).
Second row, seated, from left: 5. Vivion de Valera (eldest son of Éamon and Sinéad, owner of The Irish Press which closed down in 1995) 6. Sinéad de Valera, (wife of Éamon), 7. President Éamon de Valera, 8. Máirín de Valera, (daughter of Éamon and Sinéad), 9. Síle de Valera, (daughter of Terry no 24)
Third row from front: 10. Eithne de Valera, (wife of Ruaidrrí no 30), 11. Sally de Valera, (wife of Éamonn no 27), 12. Eithne de Valera, (daughter of Ruaidrrí no 30), 13. Éamonn de Valera, (son of Ruaidrrí no 30), 14. Shán Ó Cuív, (son of Emer no 22), 15. Éamon de Valera, (son of Vivion, no 5), 16. Éamon Ó Cuív, (son of Emer no 22), 17. Brian Ó Cuív, (son of Emer no 22).
Second row from back: 18. Phyllis de Valera, (wife of Terry no 24), 19. Vivian Ní Chuív, (daughter of Emer no 22), 20. Nóra Ní Chuív, (daughter of Emer no 22), 21. Caitríona Ní Chuív, (daughter of Emer no 22), 22. Emer Í Chuív, (daughter of Éamon and Sinéad), 23. Éamon de Valera, (son of Éamonn no 27)
Back row: 24. Terry de Valera, (son of Éamon and Sinéad), 25. Ann de Valera, (daughter of Vivion no 5), 26. Máire de Valera, (daughter of Éamonn no 27), 27. Éamonn de Valera, (son of Éamon and Sinéad), 28. Brian Ó Cuív, (husband of Emer no 22) 29. Máire Ní Chuív, (daughter of Emer no 22), 30. Ruaidrrí de Valera, (son of Éamon and Sinéad).
PS If the names are making you dizzy, concentrate on the faces. Some smile obediently at the camera; some are in a world of their own. And the outfits: Jackie Onassis levels of chic from the ladies on the left while the men are in identikit suits and the children are modestly, almost invisibly, dressed. It could be a portrait of any Irish family from the early 1960s. Except, of course, it isn’t. . .
