Documents on Irish Foreign Policy: v. 5: 1937-1939 Volume V, 1937-1939

by Fanning, Ronan; Crowe, Catriona; Keogh, Dermot; Kennedy, Michael; O'Halpin, Eunan

• ISBN13: 9781904890218
• ISBN10: 1904890210
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-11-27
• Publisher: Royal Irish Academy

Summary

The Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series is the history of Irish foreign policy reproduced from the text of selected original documents from the files of the Department of Foreign Affairs now held in the National Archives of Ireland. Much of this material has never before been seen by historians. The series also includes important documents from papers of significant individuals, in particular from the private papers of Eamon de Valera. Volume V chronicles Irish foreign policy in the last years of peace leading up to the outbreak of World War Two. It shows how Ireland moved from supporting the League of Nations to a policy of wartime neutrality. The volume also explains in unrivaled details the important developments in Anglo-Irish relations leading to the 1938 Anglo-Irish Agreement over trade, finance, and defense, which allowed Ireland to remain neutral in World War Two and includes full texts of the negotiations leading to the Agreements. The volume is essential for anyone interested in Irish history and Irish foreign policy, and, in a wider context, the response of small states to the clash between democracy and fascism that led to the Second World War. The volume contains confidential reports and deciphered code telegrams from the Irish legations in Washington, London, Paris, Geneva, Berlin, and the Holy See to Dublin, including newly declassified material. It includes a comprehensive account of Ireland's policy towards Spain during the Spanish Civil War, including the question of whether to recognize Franco's government before the end of the civil war and how to safeguard the life of Irishman Frank Ryan, an IRA man fighting with the International Brigade, captured, jailed, and sentenced to death in Spain by the Nationalists.

Author Biography

Ronan Fanning MRIA was Professor of Modern History at University College Dublin. He was an editor of the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series and a founder-member of the Royal Irish Academy's National Committee for the Study of International Affairs. 

Catriona Crowe is a member of the Royal Irish Academy. She was Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland. She was Manager of the Irish Census Online Project, which has placed the 1901 and 1911 censuses online free of charge over the last 5 years. She was an Editor of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy.

Dermot Keogh MRIA is Professor of History at University College Cork and an editor of the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series.

Dr Michael Kennedy has been the executive editor of the RIA's Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series and head of the DIFP series since 1997.

Eunan O'Halpin MRIA is the Professor of Contemporary Irish History at Trinity College, Dublin. He is also an editor of the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series.