Author Archives: Ian Adamson

On 15 January, 1943, Frank Ryan was laid low by an apoplectic fit. Francis Stuart visited him in the Charite and found him with his eyes half closed and his right arm paralysed. Ryan recovered, but one complication followed another. … Continue reading →

Whilst the invasion armies of the Allies were massing in the United Kingdom, particularly in a Northern Ireland and Queen’s University in particular, now cleared of German spies, the German front was losing ground to the Russians and Germany was being subjected … Continue reading →

Among the people of Northern Ireland, reactions tended to blame the mediocre Ulster Unionist government for inadequate precautions. Tommy Henderson, the great Shankill working-class hero, an Independent Unionist MP in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland, summed up their feelings when … Continue reading →

The first deliberate raid took place on the night of 7 April. (Some authors count this as the second raid of four). It targeted the docks but neighbouring residential areas were also hit. William Joyce (known as “Lord Haw-Haw”), whose … Continue reading →

There had been little preparation for the conflict with Germany. Craigavon had said: “Ulster is ready when we get the word and always will be.” And when asked in the N.I. parliament: “if the government realized ‘that these fast bombers … Continue reading →

To quote Clissmann: “In order to obtain suitable people for the Abwehr’s special tasks Ryan and I visited the camp dressed as civilians. We were both very sceptical as to whether our mission could have any possible success. As a … Continue reading →

In October 1938 Ryan was visited in Burgos Prison by the Irish ambassador in Madrid, Leopold Kerney. Kerney hired a lawyer for Ryan, (Jaime Michel de Champourcin, one of the best lawyers to be found in Spain, paid for by … Continue reading →

The great Ulster intellectual Emyr Estyn Evans (1905-1989), in his article on the Celtic Racialist and Nazi Spymaster in Dublin before the Second World War, Adolph Mahr, wrote of another of his aquaintance: “Suspicion fell too on another German, a certain … Continue reading →

The German Intelligence Services (Abwehr) in Northern Ireland were very effective before the last World War and played a large part in the Belfast Blitz. Why were they so effective?. The answer lies with their top spy in Ireland just before the … Continue reading →

Saint Valentine (in Latin Valentinus) is the name of several (14 in all ) martyred saints of Ancient Rome. The name “Valentine”, derived from valens (worthy, strong, powerful), was popular in Late Antiquity. Of the Saint Valentine whose feast is … Continue reading →