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Between 1939 and 1945, over two hundred German and forty-five Allied servicemen were interned at the Curragh military camp in neutral Ireland, after crashing or washing ashore on Irish territory. Their presence in Ireland caused the de Valera government a series of very challenging problems; Dublin was bound by international law to intern belligerent personnel who crossed Irish borders, but was also very mindful of its sometimes fractious relationship with Britain and the United States. De Valera chose a difficult and sometimes contradictory path, choosing to sometimes ignore and sometime implement international law, disregarding some of Ireland's obligations as a neutral, while consistently leaning towards the Allies in his operation of the belligerent internment system. At the same time, Dublin had to navigate an intricate relationship with prisoners of war held abroad – in Europe, Asia and Northern Ireland – which, at times, stretched Irish neutrality to breaking point.
