Author Description

This collection gathers new archival research on the multifaceted nature of Irish neutrality during World War Two. The thesis underlying the collection is that even if Ireland was militarily neutrality it was fundamentally impacted by the global conflict. It did not simply lie passively in a secluded 'Plato's cave'. Indeed Ireland materially contributed to the Allied war effort in many covert ways, while steadfastly maintaining an overt neutral stance. The successful prosecution of neutrality required a calibrated approach to meeting the needs of the belligerents to such an extent that Ireland may be viewed by a few commentators as an 'unneutral neutral' in some respects. Irish neutrality was more concerned with retaining its newly won independence, consolidating the state and 'the nation', and international acceptance of its sovereign right to remain neutral. Thus it dramatically differentiated itself from the United Kingdom in terms of public diplomacy. The book is divided into five thematic sessions which address: 1) Irish preparations for war in the late 1930s; 2) Practical complications in dealing with the belligerents including coping with German espionage, Allied and Axis internees and German propaganda; 3) Irish diplomacy at home and abroad; 4) Life, Politics and Society on the Irish 'Home Front'; 5) Aspects of Anglo-Irish relations.