Seamróg agus Swastica (Shamrock and Swastika) The IRA and the Third Reich Irish Republican 'War News' November 1940 "Oh, here's to Adolf Hitler, Who made the Britons squeal, Sure before the fight is ended They will dance an Irish reel." If we can believe British and American intelligence agencies contact between the Irish Republican Army and Germany was as early as 1934. The Auslands-organization was formed and led by Dr. Adolf Mahr in Dublin around the same time. Mahr was an adviser on Ireland to the German government and a supporter of Irish nationalism. Joseph "Jupp" Hoven lived and worked in Ireland, he was one of the first German agents to make contact with representatives of the IRA. Jupp Hoven was a friend of the legendary IRA guerrilla leader General Tom Barry, who was instrumental in winning Ireland's partial freedom in the War of Independence. In 1937 while Tom Barry was on the run he paid a visit to Germany accompanied by Hoven. The purpose of the visit was to build cooperation between Germany and the IRA and make plans for a German funded guerrilla war against England and to target British military installations in the northern part of Ireland. Tom Barry was treated as a distinguished visitor by the German administration. The Special Branch in Ireland had Hoven under close watch and concluded that he was engaged in espionage after he was observed marching with the IRA at the Wolfe Tone commemoration in 1938. Back in Ireland, Barry had several meetings with Helmut Clissman, who on the outbreak of the war returned to Germany to join the army and ended up in the ranks of the elite 'Brandenburg Regiment' along with Jupp Hoven. Clissman was in Ireland attending Trinity College Dublin when he met and married Elisabeth Mulchay who came from a staunch republican family, her father was a judge in the Sinn Fein courts during the War of Independence. Clissman encouraged contact with senior IRA personnel, he and Hoven also met former IRA chief of staff Moss Twomey offering to fund the IRA through Clann na nGael in the USA. Although Ireland was a neutral state during the war, thousands of Irishmen joined the British army. 37,000 joined from Northern Ireland, of those many were Catholics and considered themselves Irish and not British, in the Irish Free State officially 38,544 joined and a considerable number of Irish living in Britain joined, the exact number is not known. Ulster Loyalists/Unionists bleat on about how they fought and died for King and Country in WWI and WWII and how we Irish stood by and did nothing and use it as a stick to beat us with ever since. First off, both of the wars were not caused by us and secondly in both of these wars more Irish fought than Loyalist/Unionist who do consider themselves British. The shining light in De Valera's career was that he kept Ireland out of the Second World War, other wise many more would have perished in the deserts of north Africa, the jungles of Asia and the European battle fields. The German government representative in Ireland, Eduard Hempel and Henning Thomsen, who was an officer in the SS, also met with Tom Barry and Dan Breen. German minister Hempel was followed to Barry's home on one particular day by Special Branch, after the two hour meeting between the two men Barry and his wife later had dinner with Hempel at his hotel. Tom Barry regarded Hempel as "... a real friend of Ireland." Hempel was also friends with IRA legend Ernie O'Malley and his wife Helen and attended the baptism of their son Cormac in Dublin in August 1942. Todd Andrews a former IRA man and a future Irish government minister was also a frequent visitor to the legation. The IRA also offered protection to the German legation in the event of a British invasion. Dan Breen had earned his stripes in the War of Independence and is credited with firing some of the first shots in that war. He was a frequent visitor to the German Legation in Dublin and was not afraid to show his pro-German nationalist and anti-Jewish tendencies before and after the war , he was believed to have been on the German payroll. The 'Weekly Review' of the German news agency had a list of 3,000 subscribers the names were supplied by Breen.The list contained government ministers, Irish army officers and civil servants. When the German agent Hermen Goertz was buried in 1947 crowds thronged (some gave 'Nazi ' or Fascist salutes) the route to the graveyard the coffin was draped with a Swastika flag, Dan Breen and Jim O'Donovan and other members of the IRA were in attendance. After the war Dan Breen was active in the "Save the German Children Society" and was openly critical of the Jews and his Jewish Fianna Fail colleague Robert Briscoe. German publications always reported favourably about the IRA, an editorial in the Frankfurter Zeitungin January 1939 sympathized with the Irish people in their "... fight for freedom ... against the British" and praised the "Irish spirit of rebellion." In 1942, Tom Williams, a 19 year old member of the IRA, was executed in Belfast, a report in a German newspapers read, "German public opinion has reacted very keenly to the tragic news of the Belfast execution yesterday, and the stripping reports of anti-British and anti-American demonstrations all over Ireland which came in today. Horror and indignation at this newest act of British terrorism have given room to a sincere feeling of admiration for the indomitable Irish spirit which revealed itself in these acts of protest and rebellion." Tom Williams was in charge of an IRA unit that took part in an attack on British forces in Ireland and a result a policeman died, the attack was meant to be a diversion from an Easter Parade that was taking place elsewhere in the city and the policeman was killed chasing the IRA unit. Tom Williams was buried in the prison grounds up until 2000 when he was reburied in the republican plot in Milltown cemetery in Belfast. In February 1939, Oscar Pfaus arrived in Ireland to establish direct contact with the IRA, he met with its inner circle which included Sean Russell and Jim O'Donovan who said Pfaus made a good impression and they trusted him. The IRA intended to send O'Donovan to Germany as a Republican envoy to the Abwehr. Jim O'Donovan also had a distinguished carrier in the IRA and he fought in the War of Independence and Civil War, he lost three fingers of his right hand making a bomb. At the time of his going to Germany he was the IRA's expert in chemicals and explosives and was perfectly suited to arrange for advisors and arms to be sent to Ireland. In the Spring of 1940 he arrived in Hamburg, the Abwehr did not hesitate to dispatch officers from Berlin to meet him. At the request of the Germans he wrote a detailed report on the IRA. Jim O'Donovan made three trips to Germany and on his last trip he war accompanied by his wife. Jim O'Donovan was arrested by the police in Ireland and interned in the Curragh camp for the duration of the war so this connection was cut. Like Tom Barry before him he was treated with respect by the Germans as a member of the IRA. Late in 1939 the IRA received a transmitter from Germany to be used only for contact with the Abwehr. But they used it chiefly for radio broadcasts. Their transmissions would start with "This is the Irish Republican Broadcasting Station." The broadcasts were mainly anti-British, anti-de Valera but occasionally they were anti-Semitic. The Gardai seized the transmitter and found evidence of coded messages to Germany and arrested four IRA men. Republicans had been accused of anti-Semitism before this. The founder of Sinn Fein, Arthur Griffith supported the anti-Jewish boycott in Limerick in 1904 (see article Limerick Boycott 1904) and frequently wrote his anti-Jewish views in the nationalist newspaper 'United Irishman.' In 1926, Republican news papers printed articles against usury and the scourge of money lenders in Limerick and Dublin, the IRA carried out raids on the houses of the 'money changers' and took the files and payment books and had them burned, it is of no surprise that the majority of homes raided were Jewish. In the early part of the war, anti-Semitic, pro-German pamphlets published by Sinn Fein, began to circulate in Dublin, one of them warning that a coup d'etat might come from Robert Briscoe the only Jew in the government. The newspaper 'War News' was the IRA's main publication and during the war was "pro-Nazi" and anti-Semitic in tone, it referred to the Jews as 'human lice' and wrote about the 'cleansing fire' of the German armies that "would rid Europe of Jews," it also described the British war minister Hore Belisha as a "wealthy Jew" only interested in the profits of the war. The paper was also critical of the arrival of "so-called Jewish refugees" and the "Albanian, Abyssinian, Mongolian and Tartars" that were putting Irish people out of work and exploiting their employers and because of the influx of the Jews, Belfast was "in the hands of international Jewry" and said "like the English when they are strong they bully and rule." War News also said that de Valera's government was dominated by Jews and Freemasons who were becoming the "new owners of Ireland." Comments about Jews and Freemasons were made in the 1930's on many occasions by the Sinn Fein leader J.J. O'Kelly who famously wrote under the name Scelig and attacked the Jews repeatedly in publications because of their influence in Ireland. By 1940 Scelig was praising Hitler for freeing Germany from the "heel of the Jewish white slave traffic." By the same year IRA men, republicans and former Blueshirts put away their differences and mingled at pro-German meetings in Dublin. Republicans also made allegations of Jewish machinations with the Irish and British governments. Abwehr War Diary 29, December 1939 Naval operations has approved Abwehr II's proposal to land a chief agent on the Irish coast with the object of strengthening relations with the Irish Republican Army. Sean McBride was the son of Major John McBride, the leader of one of the Irish Brigades which took the Boer side in the Anglo-Boer War and was executed by the British for the part he took in the 1916 Easter Rising. His mother was one time actress and Irish Nationalist Maude Gonne McBride (she was earlier in a relationship with an anti-semitic French politician called Lucein Millevoyne) and was actively pro-German during the War and helped German agent Herman Goertz contact the IRA. After the War she was active in the "Save the German Children Society." McBride's half sister Iseult Gonnealso helped Goertz and went to prison for the privilege. She was married to ex-IRA man Francis Stuart, who with the help of Hempel, travelled to Germany and passed on messages to the Abwher from the then IRA chief of staff Stephen Hayes and Jim O’Donovan he later made propaganda radio broadcasts back to Ireland from Germany. McBride, a former IRA chief of Staff, made trips to Germany and was a frequent visitor to the home of Edward Hempel, in circumstances which Irish military intelligence suggested was "covert activity" he too was in contact with Jupp Hoven. Con Lehane of the IRA Dublin Brigade said McBride "was the principal behind contact with German Intelligence in 1939-40". "I wanted to show from the beginning that I had come to Ulster as a German officer in order to fight there with and for the Irish against the British ... I was to make it clear to the Irish that Germany was interested in a united independent Ireland. I could best prove the credibility of this assertion by myself actually fighting for this united Ireland ... I was told that if the Irish really wanted to fight for the freedom of Northern Ireland this battle would be welcome and supported." - Herman Goertz. IRA Volunteer Jim O'Hannlon was in Mountjoy Prison when he met captured German Agent, Gunter Schutz, who he offered to help escape. Schutz escaped over the prison wall dressed as a woman and quickly made his way to O'Hanlons parents house a short distance from the prison. Soon after Schutz was taken to the home of Republican activist Caitlin Brugha, the widow of Cathal Brugha. He was badly injured in the South Dublin Union during the Easter Rising and left for dead. Moments later with his back propped against a wall with a gun in his hand he drove back an attack by British Troops. After the Rising due to his injuries the British expected him to die and released him. His comrades would say he had so much lead inside him he rattled when he walked. He was killed six years later in a hail of gunfire in a Dublin street during the Irish Civil War. Caitlin was active in the IRA and her daughters carried messages around Dublin. She also helped Herman Goertz while he was on the run and was negotiating an arms shipment and money for the IRA with Goertz and later with Schutz. Schutz was arrested in the Brugha home, Caitlin and her daughter Noinin were imprisoned for helping the German agent. Like most IRA men at the time, Sean Russell was a veteran of the Easter Rising, War of Independence, and the Civil War. He was heavily involved in the IRA / German connection. Dedicated to Nationalism he had no regard for democracy if it stood in the way of Irish freedom. Politically right-wing, he was a pious devout Catholic who was not afraid to use physical force for his "Faith and Fatherland." While in America in April 1939, visiting Joseph McGarrity, he was arrested and put in prison. Joseph McGarrity was a leading figure in Clann na nGael for more than 40 years, he was friend and confidant of P.H. Pearse, Major John McBride, Roger Casement, Sean McDermott, Tom Clarke, all murdered after the Easter Rising of 1916, as well as Michael Collins, Harry Boland, Liam Mellows and Sean Russell to name a few. In 1939, McGarrity travelled to Germany and left for America via Sweden just before the war started. Due to Irish-American political pressure he was released. On his release he had meetings with Robert Monteith whose Nationalist credentials went back many years. Monteith trained the Irish Volunteers before going to Germany with Roger Casement to raise an Irish Brigade in the German Army. At the time of his meetings with Russell , Monteith was the director of Fr. Coughlin's 'Union of Social Justice' and was the Clann na nGael liaison with Harry Bennett, the head of personnel for the famous Henry Ford. Ford played an important role in the American Isolationist Movement. "The theory that gold is sacred, gold is wealth, gold is more precious than men and the homes in which they live, is the theory of the European Jew." "America has been led to a crossroads. One leads to Communism, the other to Fascism. I take the road to Fascism." - Fr. Charles Coughlin Sean Russell was stranded in the USA but through Joseph McGarritys connections in the German consulate he stowed away on a ship bound for Europe helped by an Irish Nationalist called John McCarthy, who was the German / IRA connection in the USA, from county Cork, who during the war was in the German merchant marine on the SS Truenefels. On his arrival in Genoa he was met by German representatives and brought to Berlin, where as the IRA chief of staff he was given an Aide de Camp. The National Socialist government of Germany considered him a high ranking officer in of a dissident army and treated him accordingly. He was put in a large villa in Grunewald near Berlin which contained an excellent library and special war maps so he could keep abreast of German victories. Although his presence in Germany was top secret he insisted on attending Mass accompanied by his Austrian bodyguard / interpreter called Planer who also went with him on his drives around the German countryside and Berlin in his chauffeur driven car. "The spirit of Irish freedom has lived during the generations. It has passed to us through Tone, Emmet, Mitchel, Clarke and Pearse. In our generation we are its trustees and it is our duty at least to enkindle it in the coming generations, as Pearse would have it." - Sean Russell
Abwehr War Diary 20th May. "The Irish leader Russell is being instructed by the laboratory in the use of sabotage materials, this training is taking place at the request of the special commission of the Foreign Office for Ireland, Dr. Edmund Vessenmyer.'' In Berlin he was trained by members of the Brandenburg Regiment in the use of the latest techniques in sabotage, plastic explosives, and the latest time delay detonators . He also had a meeting with Joachim Von Ribbentrop. Dr Vessenmyer said Russell was "... strait forward, strait-laced traditionalist who wanted what was good for Ireland." Admiral Canaris once commented on Russell that "this little music maker" was the most remarkable conspirator who had ever crossed his path. After the fall of France Russell urged the German high command to make use of the IRA to strike at British forces in occupied Ulster. The Germans accepted his plans and later incorporated them into Operation Sea Lion. Abwehr War Diary 23rd May 'Russell's operative plans in Ireland and possibilities of activities against England were the subject of a meeting. Sean Russell will be transported by submarine, he will be brought ashore at a suitable spot where he can hide his sabotage material, wireless equipment etc.' In the 1930s the IRA had bitter in-fighting about policies that were seen as Communistic and proposed policies that conflicted with the Catholic Church. By the mid-1930s ideas about social credit and distributism, which included strong anti-Semitic elements and Sinn Fein's Christian social policies had many supporters. Sympathy was expressed for Fr. Charles Coughlin and Huey Long in the USA. Frank Ryan had severed all links with the IRA in 1934 years before he went to fight in the Spanish Civil War on the Communist side and those IRA members who went to Spain did so in defiance of the IRA leadership and were expelled from their ranks. With him he brought the dregs of Irish politics Socialists, Anarchists drunkards, scum and near-do-wells. There was a strong pro-Franco element in the IRA with a number of younger officers being openly right-wing and IRA heroes such as Peader O'Flaherty and Jim O'Donovan being called Fascists. Towards the end of the Spanish Civil War, Ryan was captured by Italian Nationalists and handed to the Spanish and sentenced to death for crimes committed against Spanish civilians. But contrary to popular belief, his sentence was commuted to a prison term due to campaigns in Ireland and the USA. It was no coincidence that his lawyer Jamile Michel de Champourlin had connections with the Abwehr was a friend of Admiral Canaris and General Franco. De Champourlin and Ryan had mutual friends in Helmut and Elizabeth Clissmann. Ryan was released into the protection of the Germans on the Spanish / French border in a terrible physical condition and was already hard of hearing. "Almost without exception, the intellectual leaders, if not the foot and hand leaders, of Marxist atheism in Germany were Jews." Abwehr War Diary July 13th 1940. "The representative at the German embassy in Madrid reports that Frank Ryan whom it is planed to employ for Irish operations will be handed over at the Spanish frontier on July 14th or 15th under arrangements made by the Abwehr." As Ryan recovered what was left of his health he was treated with the utmost respect and they considered and treated him as a diplomat. Sean Russell would meet Ryan in the German capital. Ryan’s leftist philosophy was an anathema to Sean and most of the mainstream IRA and Republican movement, they had a job to do and Sean would not let anything get in the way. Their mission Operation Dove was to coincide with Operation Sea Lion which was the planned invasion of Britain by the Germans (Moss Wormy, Padraig MacLogan, Sean McBride and Con Lehane had already formed an IRA executive in the event of an invasion of Britain to support the Germans). Sean Russell and Ryan were to be dropped by U-Boat in Ireland and if Britain attacked Ireland during Operation Sea Lion they both had the task of uniting Irish resistance and bringing together the De Valera government and the IRA. On the personal orders of Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz, Operation Dove was entrusted to one of the most experienced U-boat captains, Commander von Stockhausen with orders to comply as far as possible with the wishes of the two Irishmen as regards to a landing place. Writer Peter Fleming said that they were "… taking with them a few adherents whom they recruited from among Irishmen in prisoner of war camps." Codenamed Richard I and II they left Germany on submarine U-65, shortly after their departure from Willemshaven Sean Russell fell ill and with no doctor on board he was treated by a young medical orderly, his condition worsened. Sean was in agony, he passed away after six days at sea. One hundred miles off the west coast of Ireland, Sean Russell—a volunteer officer in the Irish Republican Army—was buried at sea wrapped in a German battle flag with full military honours. Ryan didn't have full knowledge of the mission or the transmission codes (Sean didn't fully trust Ryan, and Hermin Goertz was later to find out that the IRA had no real wish for Ryan's return to Ireland under any circumstances, and this attitude was based on his Communist views), so U-65 returned to base with Ryan on board. On 14th August, a transmission was received in Germany which read "U-65 reports the death on board of General Russell." In the years which followed the end of the war some tried to play down the role of Sean Russell’s connection with the Germans and some would also say that he was murdered by the self same Germans before he left the Fatherland. Another theory for his death was that Frank Ryan poisoned him because of old political rivalries. However his brother Patrick confirmed that Sean had been suffering with pre-existing stomach pains which grew worse over the years and as a consequence did not drink alcohol. Sean Russell died of a burst gastric ulcer. Sean Russell's death was investigated by the Germans, the official reports from the U-boat commander his second in command the medical orderly and Ryan's were put before two medical specialists, one from the famous Charite Hospital in Berlin and the other was a senior member of the SS. Both reported independently of each other and concluded that Sean Russell's death was caused due to a burst gastric ulcer. Kurt Haller stated that Russell had to have medical treatment because of his stomach troubles and was put on a strict diet. On the north-side of Dublin City in Fairview Park stands a statue of Sean Russell. Early in 2004 members of both Anti-Fascist Action and Red Action threw paint over the statue in the middle of the night and at Christmas time 2004 the same Communist scum smashed the head and hand from the statue. Sean Russell is a true son of Ireland, a real Irish patriot and a working-class Irish hero. The statue had previously been vandalized in the 1950s as the original statue erected by Sinn Fein after the Second World War was raised in a 'Nazi' style salute. Sean Russell did more for Ireland's cause at home and abroad than any of the Communist human trash that desecrated this national monument. We would have all have faced the fate of eastern Europe under Communism if it were not for brave men like Sean Russell, who took the fight to his enemies with a sword in his hand instead of the paint brush in the middle of the night. The middle class scum, masquerading as working-class patriots, who carried out this cowardly act care more about international no hope trendy causes and dragging Ireland into a fake Socialist multi-racial, multi-cultural sodomistic abyss than they do about the problems facing the Irish working-classes, they make excuses for the bloody crimes of Lenin, Stalin, Trotsky, Kaganovich, Ehrenburg, Chairman Mao, and Pol Pot and try to cover up the accepted and proven fact that over 100 million people have died at the hands of Communism, Marxism, Zionism, and Socialism. Rather than help with the problems of the working-class Whites, they feed off them to further their own political careers rather than solve them, to these leftist scum Ireland is a piece of geography not a homeland and is a stepping stone in their quest for a Communist utopia. Long live the memory of Sean Russell! The story doesn't end there, Irish newspapers published a statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Paris which describes itself as a Jewish human rights group, the funny thing is that it forgets to mention it has been involved in the kidnap and murder of German citizens and other innocents on trumped up charges of alleged war crimes and is involved in the slander of countless ordinary people and nationalists all over the world who dare speak out about, the alleged holocaust or should I say 'holohoax.' What about the human rights of the Palestinian people who are murdered in their homes, schools, hospitals and work places by the 'human rights' police/army of Israel while they occupy part of the land of the sovereign nation and people of Palestine, what about the chemical warfare testing (they don't have weapons of mass destruction do they?) on captured PLO fighters, what about the rights of Irish soldiers killed by Israeli backed militia while on peace keeping duties in Lebanon. Lets not forget that Israeli intelligence has armed Loyalist and Unionist terrorists via deals made with the pro-Zionist South African intelligence. The Mossad has also trained and armed Ulster Loyalists in the past, Rev. Ian Paisley (Reverend? yeah right) and Peter Robinson went to Israel to organize the arms shipment and have advised the RUC in tactics against the IRA. One other thing that they always forget to mention is that Simon Weisenthal himself was a guard in a work camp and frequently ratted out his own people to save his own yellow Jewish neck. Israel is a nation that hails the mass murderers of the Irgun and Stern Gun terrorist organizations as heroes. Shimon Samuels, director of international affairs wants the statue to be left as is as a symbol of Ireland's "shame" and the statue "to be left there as a lesson of what Irish neutrality was all about." Who do these Jew boys think they are? telling the Irish people what to do. The Jews never did a thing for a better Ireland or the welfare of our people. The Jews murdered the lamb of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, on their altar to Satan, an altar which is drenched with the blood of millions of Christians, to satisfy their own blood lust. Money and power are their gods. We look forward to the day when a cleansing wave of Divine retribution sweeps them from the earth and washes the un-holy stench of death that has followed them from nation to nation for millennial and may God rid us of this murderous stinking pestilence. We ask the Irish people, and Christians world wide, to reject the lies and half truths of these anti-Christian dogs and stand up to the enemies of our Race our Blood and our Nations. On a happier note, on the 20th of September 2005, Simon Wiesenthal died. Ryan's work was not yet done. Still afforded the privileges of a foreign diplomat in the Reich he had a comfortable existence and dined and socialised with German army officers and with what was left of the Irish community including Francis Stuart, former IRA man. Ryan also went to various P.O.W. camps in an effort to recruit Irishmen into the German armed forces and later he gave advice to Stuart on radio scripts to be transmitted to Ireland and Britain. Dr. Vessenmyer, who was also a General in the SS, sought another way to help the cause of Irish freedom and was given the go ahead from Himmler to set up a specially trained SS troop that was to consist of around 120 /150 men. In January 1943, Helmut Clissman went to Berlin to screen SS volunteers from the 1st SS service troop for their suitability. The mission planned for the elite assault team was, in the event of an allied threat to Ireland's neutrality or allied invasion they would parachute into Ireland and provide tactical support and training to the IRA and the Irish army so that they might better resist the allies. Ryan was to drop with the SS troops and further Irish Republican and German interests. The SS paratroops were to go to Brest in France on standby for their deployment to Ireland. In the end the mission didn't take place, the SS unit was renamed SS Parachute Battalion 500 and participated in the assault on Titos headquarters in 1944. Another plan was put in place codenamed operation "Sea Eagle." Ryan and Clissman would fly Lough Key in County Roscommon in a sea-plane with $50,000 for the IRA and try to persuade de Valera to release the IRA men in prison camps and let them join the German war effort. Canaris canceled the operation. Ryan would not be forgotten. Dr. Vessenmyer who was the de-facto leader of Hungary still had time to send him gifts of bottles of whiskey and wine. Ryan's health was deteriorating and he left the continuous air raids in Berlin for the city of Dresden. In 1944, he suffered a stroke and received treatment in a hospital reserved for high ranking German officials and army officers where he later died. Beyond a shadow of a doubt is the fact that Frank Ryan, a hero to Irish Marxists and Communists, was a paid agent of the German State and assisted them on many aspects in regard to Ireland. Ryan's supporters deny his collaboration with, and on the payroll of, the Third Reich - "the Nazis." Frank Ryan exchanged the shouts of "Viva la quinte brigada" for "Heil Hitler." Another prominant Irish collaborator with Nazi Germany was General Eoin O'Duffy. In 1917, O'Duffy joined the Irish Republican Army and took an active part in the War of Independence. In February 1920, he (along with Ernie O'Malley) was involved in the first capture of a Royal Irish Constabulary barracks by the IRA in Ballytrain, in his native Monaghan. He was imprisoned several times but became director of the army in 1921. In May 1921, he was returned as a Sinn Féin TD for the Monaghan constituency to the Second Dáil. In January of the following year he became IRA Chief of Staff, replacing Richard Mulcahy. O'Duffy and de Valera had been on opposing sides during the struggle which even today (if in attenuated form) continues to delineate the elemental split of Irish politics - the short but bloody internecine conflict over the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921. The former was a protege of Michael Collins, and one of his most trusted colleagues at the time of the famous leader's death. De Valera organised republican resistance to the Treaty, suffering imprisonment and risking excommunication by the Catholic hierarchy, whilst in contrast, O'Duffy enjoyed the material and moral fruits of victory. O'Duffy was the youngest general in Europe until Francisco Franco was promoted to that rank. After the war, O'Duffy became Commissioner of An Garda Síochána (the Civic Guard) when the Irish Free State was established in 1922. Here he again showed remarkable ability in the establishment of Ireland's first national police force, and was Chief Marshall at the Catholic Emancipation Centenary celebrations in 1929 and again at the Eucharist Congress of 1932. However, he then incurred the disfavour of the new Taoiseach, Eamon De Valera, and was dismissed from his post on 22nd February 1933. In July 1933, O'Duffy became leader of the Army Comrades Association, which had been ostensibly set up to protect Cumann na nGaedheal public meetings from disruptions by the anti-treaty IRA who regarded Cumann na nGaedheal as 'traitors' for accepting the Anglo-Irish Treaty. O'Duffy and many other conservative elements within the Irish Free State began to embrace Fascist ideology. He immediately changed the name of this new movement to the National Guard. O'Duffy was an admirer of the Italian leader Benito Mussolini and his organisation, 100,000 strong, adopted outward symbols of European Fascism, such as the straight-arm Roman salute and a distinctive blue uniform equivalent to Adolf Hitler's Brownshirts and Benito Mussolini's Blackshirts. It was not long before they became known as the Blueshirts. This organisation echoed Hitler's SA movement and based on their own adherence to a radical Right-wing ideology as well as their paramilitary-style uniforms, use of the Roman salute (members shouted "Hail O'Duffy!" at rallies), militant Catholicism and anti-Communism and a belief in Corporatism. O'Duffy once proclaimed himself the "third most important man in Europe" after Adolf Hitler and fellow Fascist Benito Mussolini. In August 1933, O'Duffy announced a march past Glasnevin Cemetery and on to the Dáil, nominally to commemorate the martyrs of the pro-treaty cause (Michael Collins, Arthur Griffith, and Kevin O'Higgins), but in government there was a real fear he might try and stage a coup by emulating Mussolini's 1922 March on Rome. De Valera moved quickly to snuff out the possibility of insurrection by banning both the march and the Blueshirts outright. To circumvent this ban the movement once again adopted a new name, this time styling itself the Young Ireland Association. In September 1933, O'Duffy became the leader of the Fine Gael Party which developed from Cumann na nGaedheal, the National Centre Party, and the Blueshirts, and was thus leader of the political opposition to de Valera's Fianna Fail party. A year later in September 1934, he was ousted from the leadership when he proposed an invasion of Northern Ireland. Fine Gael saw itself strongly in the mainstream of European fascism and this can clearly be seen in the words of John A. Costello who later became leader of Fine Gael and Prime Minister of the Irish Republic. In December 1934, O'Duffy attended an International Fascist Conference in Montreux, Switzerland at which there were representatives from 13 other countries - Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, The Netherlands, Italy, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Switzerland. In June 1935, he launched the unabashedly Fascist, National Corporate Party. In 1936, O'Duffy recruited and formed an Irish Brigade to assist General Franco in the Spanish Civil War. Despite the declaration by the Irish Government that participation in the war was illegal, 700 Irishmen under the command of O'Duffy went to Spain to fight on Franco's side. They contributed to the success of the Catholic leader of Spain and were even blessed by Irish bishops prior to their departure for what was a most unusual expedition, and which has been vividly described by O'Duffy himself in his 1938 book "Crusade in Spain." O'Duffy's men saw little fighting in Spain and were sent home by Franco, returning to Ireland in June 1937. During World War Two (then known in Ireland as "the Emergency") O'Duffy took a great interest in Nazism with which his National Corporate Party was closely aligned. In the Summer of 1939, O'Duffy met with IRA figures and members of the German consulate. The meeting took place in County Donegal and O'Duffy, Seamus Burke, and Theodor Kordt (attached to the German embassy in London) were reportedly responsible for making the arrangements. Another meeting reportedly took place in Louisburgh, County Mayo between Hempel, O'Duffy, and members of the IRA in August 1939. In the summer of 1943, O'Duffy approached the German Legation in Dublin with an offer to organise an Irish Volunteer Legion for use on the Russian Front. He explained his offer to the German ambassador as a wish to "save Europe from Bolshevism." As a Nazi collaborator he spent time in Germany discussing with the Nazis in true Irish Nationalist fashion precisely what he could do to assist in Hitler's campaign against Britain. He requested an aircraft to be sent from Germany so that he could conduct the necessary negotiations in Berlin. He later retired from politics completely. O'Duffy was later elected President of the National Athletic and Cycling Association (NACA), the body controlling Irish athletics. General Eoin O'Duffy—The 'Green Duce'—that had modelled himself on Mussolini and supported Hitler died peacefully on 30th November 1944 and following Requiem Mass in the Pro-Cathedral, on 2nd December 1944, was given a full military funeral and was then laid to rest in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin, alongside his friend and ally, Michael Collins. Hail O'Duffy! After the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbour members its representatives in Ireland were ostracised for the duration of the war and the IRA and its sympathisers would have nothing to do with them. William Joyce is probably one of the most famous non-German characters to come from WWII. William Joyce was born in the USA of Irish parents who took up US citizenship a few years after they arrived in America . The Joyce family moved back to Ireland and settled in Galway. William was against Irish Republicianism in his youth as he had seen a local police officer, whom he knew, shot dead in the street and the story goes that he was a spy for the British and was involved in the murder of a priest, Fr. Griffin, by the murderous Black and Tans. The truth is that William was mistaken for a man named Patrick Joyce who was an informer and was killed by the IRA. Fr. Griffin was later murdered as a reprisal . An investigation was carried out into the rumour in 1976 by Proinsias Mac Aonghusa and he came up with no evidence that William was involved in the murder and that he was considered a pest by the British. But the rumour that was circulated was enough for the young William to flee to England. Later in England he joined the British Union of Fascists (BUF) and was in constant demand to give talks and speeches throughout the country. He was a brilliant speaker and had a good sense of humour. When speaking in the north of England a woman heckler shouted ’You’re a right bastard’ to which he replied ’Thank you mother’ which was greeted with laughter. While in the BUF his views towards Irish nationalism softened due to his contact with working class Irish Catholics who were members. He thought the English should accept the Irish state and reconciliation should be made between Ireland and England and wrote in his book "National Socialism Now" that "What is so welded together in race and tradition is not to be burst asunder … Let the Treaty of 1922 stand." Just before the start of WWII he moved to Germany and took up citizenship in 1940 after his false British passport ran out. He joined the propaganda ministry and made his now famous radio broadcasts , which were hugely popular in both Britain and Ireland. He was give the name "Lord Haw Haw" in the media because of his upper-class English accent. During his time in Germany his views on a united Ireland changed further and he was very much in favour of a 32 county Irish Republic. After the war William went into hiding and was captured and later hanged in London as a traitor to the British Crown. Ludovic Kennedy wrote in 1975 that "The man who was born American, lived a German, and died British traitor will at the end become what he really was all along, an Irishman from Connemara." William's daughter was allowed to have her father's body re-buried in Ireland in 1975. Interestingly enough, Oswald Mosely, the founder of the British Union of Fascists (BUF), supported Irish nationalism and a united Ireland. In later years, Mosely made no secret of his support for Irish Nationalism and his admiration of General Michael Collins who he often spoke of with respect and regard, writing that "... the Irish had learnt much about guerrilla fighting under the brilliant leadership of Michael Collins." Mosley was visably shocked when he heard about the killing of 14 British intelligence agents, known as the Murder Gang , one sunny Sunday morning in November 21st 1920 and had this to say "The large majority of the Irish guerrillas on the other side were idealists in the highest degree and few among them were there for any advantage of plunder or ignobel motive of revenge ... the men who did this ... spent the previous evening praying together in a chapel like medieval knights on a vigil before battle." The day was later to be known as Bloody Sunday when, as an act of cold blooded murder and slaughter, Auxilaries surrounded Croke Park in Dublin city and fired into the crowd gathered to watch a football match killing and maiming scores of men, women, and children. Some years later a high ranking officer of the Auxiliaries divulged that they could not make up their minds weather to burn and sack O'Connell Street or raid the football match, with a toss of the King's shilling Croke Park Lost. When news of the Treaty between the Irish and British governments reached Mosley he was overjoyed it was the peace that he had waited for. What he said later speaks for itself: "May those who fought a lonely battle for this great cause in the early days of contumely and vilification be inspired by the fresh vindication of their principles, to march forward in the service of humanity and peace to yet greater victories of the future." During the Second World War, Mosley and his Blackshirts were considered enemies and traitors by the British despite many of them joining the army to fight for king and country. Under a new law 18B anybody considered a threat to the British state were interned in prison camps around the country, many Blackshirts , IRA men and Irish Nationalists were interned together and got along famously during their time spent in British gaols. The BUF also brought out a Union Movement Policy Pamphlet titled "Irelands Right To Unite." In 1970 Mosley said, "The division of Ireland is wrong. It should end as soon as possible ... It is bad for Catholics in the north as they are denied full civil rights and social justice by the controlling Protestants." Helmut Clissman was captured after the war and put in a prison camp but when it was discovered who he was he was handed over to the British. While in their hands he was savagely tortured by to reveal his Irish / IRA contacts. After his release his political contacts in Ireland gained him Irish citizenship and he moved to Ireland where he lectured in German in Trinity College and later became a successful businessman. He died in Dublin in November 1997. After the war Otto Skorzeny was annoyed that his comrades of the SS the 'Nur Soldaten,' Joachim Pieiper, Sepp Detrich, Kurt Meyer, etc. where still in prison and as 1952 was an election year he saw his opportunity to help his friends. Skorzeny had evidence that Churchill was in contact with Mussolini up until April 1945 and he was going to release the information to the newspapers. Skorzeny arranged to meet Churchill in Venice, an eyewitness, Paul Foerster said that Churchill "... received some wartime items he wanted very badly and in return we received hope that some of our comrades in prison might obtain an early release." A year later Churchill and his party won the election, Franz Alfred Six, Kurt Meyer and Skorzeny's close friend Dr. Edmund Vessenmayer where released. It is likely and evidence suggests that Dr. Vessenmayer gave Skorzeny the names and contacts he had in the IRA and suggested he came to live in Ireland. In 1959, Skorzeny bought a farm in County Kildare where he lived for a time. Among some of the things Skorzeny was supposed to have done since the war was that he trained the IRA in their fight against the British in Ireland. Irish Nationalists did not forget their roots and maintained contact with European nationalist organizations. Dutch, French, German, Italian, Croatian, Flemish and Polish Nationalists along with Spanish Falangists have shown support for Irish Nationalism and Irish unity. One such contact was with the Welsh patriots of the Free Wales Army. FWA legend Cayo Evans built up many contacts and friends within the Irish Republican Movement and the IRA as both nationalist groups wanted to break the connection with England. If the truth be known, the IRA trained and armed the FWA and a strong bond built up between both armies. In 1966 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, Sinn Fein sent FWA an invitation to attend its parade in Dublin and in response a contingent of 80 uniformed FWA men marched behind Denis Coslett, who carried the Welsh Dragon flag, which was greeted with cheers and applause by the countless thousands of people who lined the streets to remember Ireland's fight for freedom. Nationalists from other European countries also attended, Breton, Cornish, Scottish, Manx, Flemish, French, Spanish, Irish Americans and French Canadians to name a few. Cayo Evans years later said that taking part was "... one of the proudest moments of my life." From Dylan at the Ard Rí na hÉireann (High King of Ireland) FB group.