"There is enduring mystery, however, over his paternity gaps in the record fuelled whispers and speculation about the Spanish artist, Vivion de Valera, said to be his father. As taoiseach, Dev, as he was known, instructed Ireland's ambassador in Madrid to investigate the Spanish side of his family tree, but the ambassador drew a blank. Now an RTE documentary has found fresh evidence that suggests Vivion de Valera never existed that he was invented and that the real father's identity was concealed."
"You might ask does it matter if his parents were really married? Does it matter who his father really was? says David McCullagh, the documentary's presenter. But the point is, it mattered to him. It shaped his character. The programme is part of renewed debate over De Valera's personality and impact on Ireland amid the 50th anniversary of his death, which passed on 29 August."
Eamon de Valera fought in Ireland's 1916 rebellion and later served as taoiseach and president, imprinting his identity on the newly independent state. Modern Ireland has rejected much of his conservative Catholic ethos, yet he remains a founding father. Gaps in official records have fostered long-running mystery over his paternity, with claims of a Spanish artist, Vivion de Valera, as his father. Fresh evidence suggests Vivion may never have existed and that the real father's identity was concealed. Discrepancies in De Valera's birth certificate, his mother's emigration and aloofness, and doubts about his origins shaped his complex personality.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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