The President of Ireland or in Irish, Uachtarán na hÉireann, is the head of state of Ireland.

The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The office was established by the Constitution of Ireland in 1937, and became internationally recognised as head of state in 1949 following the coming into force of the Republic of Ireland Act.

The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute discretion. The President's official residence is Áras an Uachtaráin in Dublin.

This is the story of the first 20 years of Irish Presidency broadcast on the day that Ireland inaugurated its third president, Éamon de Valera.

Douglas Hyde was the 1st President of Ireland and served from 1938-1945. He was born in Sligo but he grew up in French Park, Co. Roscommon. He was a co-founder of Conradh na Gaeilge (The Gaelic League), was also a poet and a playwright and he was Professor of Irish at UCD. He became Ireland's first President at the age of 78 on June 25, 1938 without an election as an agreed candidate and retired from office on June 24, 1945. He passed away on July 12, 1949, aged 89.

Seán T. Ó Ceallaigh was the 2nd President of Ireland and served from 1945-1959. He was a founder of Sinn Féin and fought in the 1916 Easter Rising. He was elected to the Dáil as a member of Fianna Fáil and served as a government minister. He became President on June 25, 1945. He served both his two, seven year terms and retired on June 24, 1959. He died on November 23,1966 at the age of 84.

Éamon de Valera was inaugurated on the 24th June 1959 as the 3rd President of Ireland. Éamon was born in New York. He was one of the leaders of the 1916 Rising and for his role he was sentenced to death by the British. However it was later commuted to life imprisonment but he was released from jail in 1917 and in the 1918 General Election led Sinn Féin to a landslide victory. He was the biggest opponent of the Treaty but after the Civil War he left Sinn Féin and founded Fianna Fáil (1926). He was Taoiseach on three occasions and wrote the 1937 Constitution- Bunreacht na hÉireann. He was 76 when he was elected President on June 25, 1959 and went onto serve two terms in office before he retired on June 24, 1973. De Valera died on August 28, 1975 aged 92, having been at the forefront of Irish politics for over half a century.

Written by Philip Rooney.

Produced by Seamus Breathnach

First broadcast 25th June 1959

An Irish radio documentary from RTÉ Radio 1, Ireland - Documentary on One - the home of Irish radio documentaries.