British Spies and Irish Rebels: British Intelligence and Ireland, 1916-1945One of the Irish Times' Books of the Year, 2008 Rebellion, partition and a messy peace settlement ensured that Ireland was a constant thorn in Britain's side after 1916. Britain was confronted by the bombs and bullets of militant republicans, the clandestine intrigues of foreign powers and the strategic dangers of Ireland's wartime neutrality - a final, irrevocable step in the country's difficult transition to independence. Using newly-opened archives, this book reveals for the first time how the British intelligence system responded to these threats. It lifts the lid on the underground activities of Britain's secret agencies - MI5, MI6/SIS and the Special Branch. It puts secret intelligence in the context of the government's other sources of information and explores how deep-rooted cultural stereotypes distorted intelligence and shaped perceptions. And it shows how, for decades, British intelligence struggled to cope with Ireland but then rose to the challenge after 1940, largely because the Dublin government began to share its secrets. The author casts light on characters long kept in the shadows - IRA gunrunners, Bolshevik agitators, Nazi agents, Irish loyalists who acted as British spies. His compelling book fills a gap in the history of the British intelligence community and helps explain the twists and turns of Anglo-Irish relations during a time of momentous change. PAUL MCMAHON gained his PhD from Cambridge University. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Losing Southern Ireland | 12 |
Alarms Excursions and Civil War | 55 |
An International Conspiracy | 97 |
Security and Sectarianism in Northern Ireland | 134 |
British Images of Ireland | 162 |
The Cosgrave Years | 175 |
The de Valera Challenge | 215 |
Operational Intelligence | 328 |
Debunking the Fifth Column | 343 |
Opinion and Propaganda | 370 |
Leakage of Information | 392 |
Coming to Terms with Irish Independence | 426 |
Notes | 439 |
Bibliography | 485 |
496 | |
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British Spies and Irish Rebels: British Intelligence and Ireland, 1916-1945 Paul McMahon No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
Abwehr agents Anglo-Irish relations arms attack Belfast Britain British army British government British intelligence community British intelligence system British policy campaign Cecil Liddell Chief Churchill civil Clan na Gael co-operation Colonel Craig D/FA defence Defending Ireland Diary Dominions Office Dublin Castle Éamon de Valera Eire espionage Fianna Fáil fifth column forces Garda German invasion German legation gunrunning Guy Liddell intel intelligence officers Irish affairs Irish authorities Irish Free Irish government Irish neutrality Irish Republican Irish section history leaders ligence London loyalists Macready Maffey major McGarrity Memo ment MI5 Irish section military intelligence Minister movement naval Northern Ireland O'Halpin operations organisation police political PRONI propaganda Provisional Government Pryce revolutionary Second World secret service Sinn Féin SIS network SIS report southern Soviet Special Branch threat tion treaty Ulster unionist USNA Valera