The Spy in the Castle - Softcover

David Neligan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0953569705 ISBN 13: 9780953569700

Publisher: Prendeville, 1999

Synopsis

The Spy in the Castle explores an important dimension of the Irish War of Independence and it is a significant historical document. Irish history for many years after independence shied away from the bloody reality of guerilla warfare, prefering to focus on the almost-glamorous exploits of the men of the Flying Columns or those who took part in the set-piece battles with Black and Tans or Auxiliaries. David Neligan's account tells of back-street shootings, ambushes and assassinations. When he wrote it in the late 1960s few could have anticipated that the same sordid script would shortly be played out again in Northern Ireland. The Spy in the Castle refers to events more than 70 years ago. But in a way, it is also a contemporary tale of Ireland.

About this title

About the Author

DAVID NELIGAN It was David Neligan who gave himself the soubriquet "The Spy in the Castle". When his account of his work for Michael Collins was published in 1968 it was greeted as a significant contribution to the history of the troubled 1916-1921 period in Ireland. But the story which it told is only a part of his life, spanning just a few years of the decade and a half over which he was centrally involved in the evolution of a new Ireland. The great pity is that he did not publish a second and perhaps even a third book, offering his account of his participation in the Civil War and the turbulent years in which he was head of the security and intelligence service of the Irish Free State.

He was born in Templeglantine, Co Limerick in 1899, where his parents were national school teachers. At 18 years of age he decided to become a policeman, taking a path which was customary for many a young Irish countryman with the foundations of a good education and a bit of ambition. His career began in the Dublin Metropolitan Police, patrolling the streets of the capital, unarmed, in the days before the Irish War of Independence. He graduated relatively quickly to the detective branch and it was in his role as a member of "G" Division (the DMP's uniformed divisions ran from "A" to "F") that he found himself uniquely placed to play a key role in Collins's intelligence war against the British.

His exploits in assisting Collins are the subject of this book. It tells an extraordinary tale of nerve and bluff. From within the centre of the British security machine he fed information to Collins, enabling the IRA to stay ahead of its enemies in intelligence matters at virtually all times throughout the conflict. Neligan was one of a number of Irish-born members of the detective branch operating for Collins over this period. The two others best known, Eamonn "Ned" Broy and James McNamara, also come into this narrative. McNamara was to die tragically at a young age. Broy, on the other hand, was to become Neligan's nemesis later in their careers. In his epic film Michael Collins, director Neil Jordan conflated the personalities and exploits of all three detectives into one "Ned Broy" character.

When the War of Independence ended the Civil War began. The Irish Free State had to quickly raise a regular army and David Neligan, his role as a double agent never having been uncovered by the British, transferred to the National Army with the rank of colonel.

He was a tough soldier, assigned to Kerry where the fighting against anti-Treaty forces was bloody and dirty. Men under his command were involved in actions - reprisals perhaps - which led to the deaths of helpless prisoners. Anti-Treaty forces had rigged roadblocks with booby-trapped mines which killed several Free State soldiers as they endeavoured to clear them. The Free State forces henceforth decided that prisoners would be used to clear barricades. In two incidents, at Ballyseedy and Countess Bridge, mines exploded killing and maiming prisoners.

Neligan's name was invariably linked to these incidents in anti-Treaty accounts of the Kerry fighting. The extent to which he might or might not have been involved has never been publicly documented. But it is certain that his subsequent career gave every incentive to the opponents of the Treaty to blacken his reputation. He led the men of Oriel House, an ad hoc assemblage of gunmen operating as a secret police on behalf of the Provisional Government. After Kerry he served as Director of Intelligence until the end of 1923. He then returned to the Dublin Metropolitan Police, not as a constable but as a chief superintendent. A new unarmed police force, the Garda Siochana, was formed in 1922 and was given responsibility for law and order outside the Dublin Metropolitan Area. When it was amalgamated with the DMP in 1925 Neligan was transferred, still with the rank of chief superintendent to take command of a new, State-wide, armed detective branch. Broy, who had also resumed his police career, became chief superintendent of the newly-designated Dublin Metropolitan Division. Neligan was given the task of pacifying those elements throughout the State which still refused to come to terms with the new order.

It was not an easy task. He established the Special Branch (it was known universally as the S-Branch) throughout the State. Small groups of two and three detectives, often ex-IRA men, were dotted here and there. They were armed and mobile whereas the uniformed Garda Siochana was unarmed and without efficient transport or communications systems. The S-Branch met with vigorous resistance from unreconstructed republicans who resolved to continue the struggle against the Free State or, in some instances, by opportunists from both sides who had simply turned to crime. Some S-Branch men died. Many were wounded or injured. But Neligan's men gradually got the upper-hand, albeit with the aid of stern emergency powers and a not-too-scrupulous approach to the policeman's powers at law.

They were turbulent years. Neligan was seldom directly involved in operations. He directed his network from the Crime Branch at Garda Headquarters at the Phoenix Park Depot. He reported to Commissioner Eoin O'Duffy but had direct access to the Minister for Justice and, as necessary, to the head of the Government, William T Cosgrave. His influence was considerable. His estimation of the public mood and of the state of crime and subversion formed the basis of the Government's day to day security policy. He was responsible for preparing, at intervals, the exotically-entitled "Confidential Report to the Government on Organisations and Persons Inimical to the State".

In 1927 members of the IRA assassinated the Minister for Justice, Kevin O'Higgins. It was a hammer-blow to the security forces and it was a serious reverse for Neligan's reputation. Some who knew him said that after the death of O'Higgins he never fully regained the self-confidence and assertiveness of his earlier years.

By the early 1930s, Neligan could look at the map on the wall of his office at the Phoenix Park Garda headquarters and reassure himself that only a few rural districts, principally in the west, the south and along the border, still presented overt problems to his detective force. But the outer appearances of tranquillity concealed continuing, deep resistance to the Treaty and gathering political hostility to the government which had overseen its installation as the basis of governance. In 1932 the Cosgrave government was swept from power and a new Fianna Fail administration, under Eamon de Valera came to office. Among the earliest casualties, in career terms, were the Commissioner, Eoin O'Duffy and Neligan himself. Neligan was relegated to an obscure post in another Government department and worked out his service there. His replacement at the Special Branch was Eamon Broy who was shortly afterwards appointed Commissioner in succession to O'Duffy.

In 1973 while researching for a post-graduate thesis, I called and introduced myself to David Neligan, then in his '70s and living quietly in retirement at Booterstown, on the south Dublin coastline. He received me courteously and we spent a succession of evenings drinking tea in his drawing room while I probed him on the security policy of the Free State Government. As our meetings progressed he became more relaxed and forthright in his recollections and I believe I can say we got on well.

CONOR BRADY Conor Brady is editor of "The Irish Times". He is author of "Guardians of the Peace", (1974, Gill and Macmillan) and a number of papers on the security policy of the Irish Free State 1922-32

Edition details

• Publisher: Prendeville
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0953569705
• ISBN 13: 9780953569700
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 189