President Douglas Hyde joined taoiseach Eamon de Valera in expressing official condolences to Nazi Germany on the death of Adolf Hitler, newly released State papers reveal.
A book recording messages of sympathy sent by the Office of the President between 1938 and 1957 showed an entry for Hitler's death on May 1st, 1945, according to a presidential protocol record released with the 1975 papers.
It said no message of condolence was telegrammed to the relevant country, as was the norm in such cases, "as the capital of Germany, Berlin, was under siege and no successor had been appointed".
However, the secretary to the president was said to have called on "His Excellency, the German minister, Dr Hempel" on May 3rd, 1945.
On the previous day, the then taoiseach Eamon de Valera and external affairs minister Joe Walshe had visited the Dún Laoghaire home of Dr Edouard Hempel, minister at the German legation in Dublin between 1937 and 1945, to express their condolences on behalf of the State.
Commentators have since criticised de Valera's actions, and some have suggested the former taoiseach may have been sympathetic to Nazi Germany.
But the discovery, in this year's State papers, that the president offered his condolences over the death of Hitler suggests both men may merely have been following protocol under the circumstances.
The book detailing the intervention of president Hyde was contained in a batch of documents released by the office to the secretary to the president.
It noted the president had received no direct notification of Hitler's death but had learned of the event from a press report on May 2nd, 1945.
As for the outcome of the secretary's visit to Dr Hempel, the document recorded that the German minister called on the secretary to the president - also on May 3rd.
It further noted that flags remained at full mast over Áras an Uachtaráin on the occasion of Hitler's death - in contrast to the death of US president Franklin D Roosevelt in April 1945, when flags were lowered for four days.
Among the 11 other public figures listed in the book were Pope Pius XI, whose death in February 1939 was marked by messages of sympathy both to Rome and the Apostolic Nuncio in Dublin, as well as half-masting of flags for five days; and Eva Peron, whose death in July 1952 received a more modest reaction.
A telegram was sent to the Argentine president Juan Domingo Peron but flags remained at full mast. "Deceased was only wife of head of state," a note explained.
Joe Humphreys