Seán Lemass Irish Free State, the legitimacy of the Dáil, and its abstentionist policy of refusing to sit in the Dáil, if elected. However, the effort was unsuccessful and in March 1926, however, de Valera, along with Lemass, resigned from the party. At this point, de Valera contemplated leaving public life, a decision that would have changed the course of Irish history. It was Lemass who encouraged him to stay and form a political party. In May, de Valera, assisted by Gerald Boland and Lemass, began to plan a new party. This new party became known as Fianna Fáil – The Republican
Sinéad de Valera Sinéad de Valera Sinéad de Valera (née Ní Fhlannagáin; 3 June 1878 – 7 January 1975) was the wife of Taoiseach and the 3rd President of Ireland, Éamon de Valera. She was also the author of a number of children's books in English and Irish. She was born Jane O'Flanagan in Balbriggan. Her father, Laurence, was a carpenter and was a native of Kildare who moved to Balbriggan and married a local girl, Margaret Byrne. The couple emigrated to New York City where their daughter, Mary, was born in 1871. The family had returned to Balbriggan in 1873, and Sinéad