Family and Childhood
Hugh Gerard Sweetman was born on 10 June 1908 to a comfortably well-off Dublin family. His father James Sweetman was a practicing barrister, and the family's return for the 1911 census shows that they enjoyed the presence of three servants at their Lower Baggot Street home.
The Sweetmans were no strangers to Irish politics. James' brother, Roger Sweetman, was elected to the First Dáil representing Wexford North, and was one of the first TDs to publicly call for a negotiated settlement to the Irish War of Independence.
Gerard was educated at the Beaumont School in Britain, which may go some way towards describing his particularly un-Kildare accent. He completed his studies at Trinity College, Dublin and went on to qualify as a solicitor in 1930.
Read more about this topic: Gerard Sweetman
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