Eamonn de Valera was born in New York 14 October 1882. He was the son of a Spanish father and an Irish mother. His father died when he was only two years of age, which signalled his return to Ireland. He was educated at an array of schools and eventually graduated form the Royal University with an Arts Degree. He became a maths teacher, a subject to which he would retain a life long interest. It was around this period that de Valera's career moved from being an enthusiastic intellectual to that of a dynamic revolutionary. De Valera joined the Gaelic League in 1908 where he developed a love for the Irish language. He married his Irish teacher Sinead Flanagan, whom was 4 years older than him, in 1910. He gained his inspiration for republican separatism from his association with the league. De Valera joined the I.V.F when it was established in 1913, and became a member of the I.R.B in 1915. During Easter week 1916, de Valera was stationed at Boland's Mills with the third battalion of Volunteers. He was responsible for what was perhaps the most spectacular achievement of the week, the battle of Mount Street Bridge. In the aftermath of the Rising de Valera's death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Some argue that this was due to his American birth but it was also likely in the change and reaction of public opinion against the executions. .
Relatively unknown before the Rising, de Valera, the senior surviving Commandant, subsequently showed himself to be a powerful political figure. He was released from prison in June 1917 and stood as the Sinn Fein candidate in the East Clare by-election. He won by a huge majority and in accordance with Sinn Fein's abstentionist policy, he refused to take his seat at Westminster. At the Sinn Fein Ard Fheis on 25 October, he was elected President of the party. On the following day, he was also elected president of the Volunteers at the Volunteers Convention.
