Page "St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin" Paragraph 53

The funerals of two Irish presidents, Douglas Hyde and Erskine Hamilton Childers, took place there in 1949 and 1974 respectively.

At President Hyde's funeral, the whole of the Irish government and opposition contingent, bar Noel Browne and Childers, stayed out in the foyer of the church.

This was because at the time of the funeral, the Holy See forbade its members from entering churches that were not Roman Catholic.

Because President Childers died in office, his state funeral was a major state occasion.

The attendance included King Baudouin of the Belgians, the Vice-President of the United States, Spiro T. Agnew ( representing President Nixon ), Earl Mountbatten of Burma ( representing Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ), British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and former prime minister Edward Heath.