Patrick Hillery Biography

Deathplace: Dublin, Ireland

Patrick Hillery was the President of Ireland from 1976 to 1990. He graduated from the University College Dublin with a medical degree, but became a politician in 1951, serving as Ireland’s education minister. Hillery became Ireland’s foreign minister in 1969 when violence in Northern Ireland was high. As foreign minister, he helped Ireland gain entry into the European Economic Community in 1973. During his presidency, he played a crucial part in negotiating peace with Northern Ireland, even though the Good Friday Agreement was not reached until 1998—eight years after he left office.