ABSTRACT
This article traces the ideological development of Fianna Fáil from its foundation in 1926 to the present day. It looks at its origins as an anti-system party formed to dismantle the Anglo-Irish treaty and how it established itself and its attitude towards the state thereafter. It identifies two distinct ideological periods, the first dominated by the outlook of Eamon de Valera, which was frugal, autarkic, culturally Gaelic and socially conservative. The second developed under the leadership of his successor Seán Lemass, was based on free trade, neo-corporatism and was culturally Anglophone and has endured with only minor changes.
