'The President Requests the Pleasure': Irish state dining, 1922-1940

This chapter explores dining with Irish heads of state and heads of government based on a chronological scope from the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 to the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. It quickly becomes clear that between 1922 and 1932, the Irish government, led by William T. Cosgrave, undertook a broad range of hospitality, entertaining important persons from around the globe. Between 1932 and 1940, the Fianna Fáil government led by Éamon de Valera built on the foundations of state hospitality put in place by the Cosgrave administration but also implemented significant changes in official entertaining. The 1937 Constitution of Ireland provided for a head of state and a head of government, respectively the President of Ireland and the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), and for the first time, state hospitality offered by the head of state and the head of government became clearly distinguishable. On entering office, Douglas Hyde established a series of ‘firsts’ in state entertaining by an Irish President.