Gerard Slevin (1 November 1919 – 18 January 1997) was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Slevin was assistant to

Edward McLysaght Edgeworth Lysaght, later Edward Anthony Edgeworth Lysaght, and from 1920 Edward MacLysaght ( ga, Éamonn Mac Giolla Iasachta; 6 November 1887 – 4 March 1986) was a genealogist of twentieth century Ireland. His numerous books on Irish surnames ...

, the

Chief Herald of Ireland The Genealogical Office is an office of the Government of Ireland containing genealogical records. It includes the Office of the Chief Herald of Ireland ( ga, Príomh Aralt na hÉireann), the authority in Ireland for heraldry. The Chief Herald ...

, from 1944 to 1954, at which time he succeeded McLysaght. He held this position for 27 years until he retired in 1981.

Career

During his time as Chief Herald, Slevin inaugurated a genealogy advisory service, to assist in requests for help from people of Irish ancestry. Slevin granted the

Kennedy family The Kennedy family is an American political family that has long been prominent in American politics, public service, entertainment, and business. In 1884, 35 years after the family's arrival from Ireland, Patrick Joseph "P. J." Kennedy be ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

their coat of arms in 1961. Slevin was also heavily involved in the design of the

European flag The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...

, a circle of 12 golden stars on a deep blue background, and in recognition of this was made a member of the

Académie Internationale d'Héraldique L'Académie Internationale d'Héraldique (known in English as the International Academy Of Heraldry) was founded in Paris in 1949 to bring together experts in heraldry representing the various areas of the world. Admission is by election, and the ...

. His exact role in the design is uncertain (and may continue to remain so). According to some sources (such as archivist and biographer Dr. Susan Hood), he was the actual designer of the flag; others (such as Tom McCarthy, president of the

Genealogical Society of Ireland The Genealogical Society of Ireland ( ga, Cumann Geinealais na hÉireann) is a voluntary non-governmental organisation promoting the study of genealogy, heraldry, vexillology and social history in Ireland and amongst the Irish diaspora as open a ...

) suggest a more peripheral role. The story that the flag's design was solely that of Slevin continues, however.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slevin, Gerard Irish officers of arms 1919 births 1997 deaths Flag designers People from County Cork