Douglas Hyde was born at Castlerea, County Roscommon and was educated in Trinity College Dublin. An excellent scholar, he won prizes for English verse and prose as well as gaining fluency in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, German and Irish. The Irish language and the folklore of the west of Ireland captivated him and he penned many books of collected verses and folk-tales, such as Beside the Fire (1889) and Love Songs of Connacht (1893). Hyde was a major founder-member of The Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaeilge) and became its first president in 1893. By 1915, however, when Hyde saw that the Irish language movement was becoming inseparable from republican political ambitions, he resigned the presidency and pursued his literary interests. In his academic life, he became the first professor of Modern Irish in University College Dublin in 1909 and held the chair until his retirement in 1932. He ended his distinguished career in characteristic style by being elected first President of Ireland in 1938 and remained in office until his term was finished in 1945.