Éamon de Valera new line. However, a vote to accept the Free State Constitution (contingent on the abolition of the Oath of Allegiance) narrowly failed. Soon afterward, de Valera resigned from Sinn Féin and seriously considered leaving politics. However, one of his colleagues, Seán Lemass, convinced de Valera to found a new republican party. In March 1926, with Lemass, Constance Markievicz and others, de Valera formed a new party, Fianna Fáil ("The Warriors of Destiny"), a party that was to dominate 20th-century Irish politics. While Sinn Féin still held to an abstentionist line, Fianna Fáil was dedicated to republicanising the Free State from
Rúaidhrí de Valera Rúaidhrí de Valera Rúaidhrí de Valera (3 November 1916 – 28 October 1978) was an Irish archaeologist most known for his work on the megalithic tombs of his country. He was the son of Éamon de Valera and Sinéad de Valera. De Valera took a Bachelor of Arts degree in Celtic studies from University College Dublin in 1939, before serving briefly in the Irish Army and then lecturing at the National University of Ireland at Maynooth for one year until 1943. He then studied for an MA in archaeology, writing his thesis on the prehistoric tombs of County Clare. In