De Valera in Downing Street A sheet of notepaper with the crest of No. 10 Downing Street (British Prime Minister's residence), with the autograph signature of Eamon de Valera dated 25 April 1938,...

De Valera in Downing Street A sheet of notepaper with the crest of No. 10 Downing Street (British Prime Minister's residence), with the autograph signature of Eamon de Valera dated 25 April 1938, the date on which he concluded an Agreement with the British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, restoring full Irish control of the port facilities which Britain had retained under the Treaty of 1921. Framed with a contemporary signed photograph of De Valera. A unique memento of one of De Valera's most significant achievements, ending Britain's right of naval access to Cobh and other southern Irish dockyards, which would have made Irish neutrality impossible at the outbreak of World War II. The agreement also ended the 'economic war', buying out the land annuities and removing the penal British duties imposed on Irish exports in 1932. The 1938 agreement is recognised as a diplomatic triumph for De Valera. He took personal charge of the negotiations, and wore down his opponents through a combination of sinuous verbosity and strategic determination. He was helped by some goodwill on the British side, and also by Chamberlain's naïve idea that a friendly agreement with Ireland would improve his chances of making a similar deal with Nazi Germany. The treaty was immediately denounced by Winston Churchill, who said Chamberlain would live to regret it. With a pencil inscription to rear, 'Presented to me by Lord Hartington (Undersecretary for the Dominions), who told me it was the first time de V had signed his name under the Royal Arms. The date (& pen) is that of the Treaty.' [i.e. the 1938 agreement]. The recipient was presumably one of the Irish delegation.

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