De Valera and the Church’s special position

On the 40th anniversary of the deletion of the ‘special position’ of the Catholic Church from the Constitution, Ryle Dwyer examines the article’s origins

PRESIDENT Éamon de Valera signed into law the constitutional amendment abolishing article 44’s recognition of “the special position” of the Catholic Church on Jan 5, 1973. Ironically, the clause dealing with religion had caused de Valera the greatest anxiety in drafting the Constitution in 1937.

He had sought “to produce a constitution which would not require any fundamental change when the unity of Ireland was accomplished”. Subject to “public order and morality”, the proposed constitution guaranteed “fundamental rights”, like freedoms of speech, conscience, association, and assembly, as well as habeas corpus, and the inviolability of one’s home. All citizens were equal before the law, and there was protection against religious discrimination.