Maria Duce (Latin for "[with] Mary [as our] Leader") was a small ultra-conservative Catholic group in Ireland, founded in 1945 by Fr Denis Fahey. The group's principal aim was to embed Catholic doctrine in the legal structure of the Irish state, including recognition of the Catholic Church as the established church of Ireland, as it had been in Spain until 1931. This latter step had been contemplated during the drafting of Éamon de Valera's 1937 Constitution of Ireland, but it was ultimately rejected in recognition of the obstacle posed by Ireland's relatively large Protestant minority. It did emphasise the "special position" of the church, with no specific legal entitlements.