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U.ö. 6 National University of Ireland Maynooth Colonel Dan Bryan and the evolution of Irish Military Intelligence, 1919 -1945. By Darragh Biddlecombe B.A. THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF M.A. DEPARTMENT OF MODERN HISTORY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND MAYNOOTH HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: PROFESSOR R.V. COMERFORD SUPERVISOR OF RESEARCH: DR. DENISE DUNNE JULY 1999 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements. ii Abbreviations. iii Introduction. iv-xii Chapter 1. The birth of Irish Military Intelligence 1917-21. 1-28 Chapter 2. The Civil War, a catalyst for Intelligence Development 29 - 56 Chapter 3. The Intelligence Department and the Army Mutiny. 57- 91 Chapter 4. The 1920’s and the scramble for intelligence dominance. 92-119 Chapters. War and Friendly Neutrality. 120-155 Chapter 6. Bryan’s leadership and an intelligence renaissance 156-189 Conclusion 190-196 Appendices: 197-199 Bibliography 200-203 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are a number of people whom I wish to thank who generously gave up their time to aid me in my efforts to write this thesis. None more so than Dr. Denise Dunne, without whose supervision, guidance and corrections of drafts this thesis would not have been possible. Similarly I would also like to acknowledge the assistance I received from the UCD Archives and in particular from Seamus Hefferty for his patience in answering my queries. The help and instruction from Victor Lang and particularly Peter Young concerning all facets of the Military Archives and their first hand knowledge of Dan Bryan was also vitally important to my study. I am deeply grateful to Bartley Bryan and his family who gave up their time on a minutes notice to answer my questions. I would also like to thank the staff at the print section in the Public Record Office in Kew Gardens who were most helpful. Finally I would like to thank my parents family and friends for all their support, advice and general forbearance. ABBREVIATIONS ASU Active Service Unit B1H MI5’s Irish Section BOAC British Overseas Air Corporation BTNI British Troops Northern Ireland CID Criminal Investigation Department D/I Director of Intelligence G2 Irish Military Intelligence (post 1936) IRA Irish Republican Army MI5 British Intelligence Concerned with State Security MI6 British Intelligence Concerned with Espionage MI9 British Intelligence Concerned with organising escape attempts. NID Naval Intelligence Division (British) OSS Office of Strategic Services (American) SIS Supplementary Intelligence Service (Irish) SOE Special Operations Executive(British) INTRODUCTION Colonel Dan Bryan and the evolution of Irish Military Intelligence, 1919 -1945. In the context of contemporary Irish History Colonel Dan Bryan has played a significant, but controversial role in a period which has been well documented but where he has largely gone unnoticed. The aim of this thesis is twofold; to examine the life and career of Colonel Dan Bryan and in the process to give the reader an accurate depiction of the Irish Military Intelligence organisation from it’s foundation up to 1945. The aims are compatible and lend themselves to each other. An in depth analysis of Dan Bryan’s character and the role he played within the intelligence organisation serves to illuminate much about the organisation itself. Dan Bryan was bom on 9th May 1900 in Dunbell a small rural townland near Gowran in County Kilkenny. He lived there with his widowed Grandmother Bridget and his parents John and Margaret. Dan Bryan was the first bom of a large family. He had fourteen younger brothers and sisters. These included Walter, Richard, James, John, Mary, Maggie, Thomas, Patrick, Ellen, Michael, Bridget, Paddy, Steven and Nelly. His father John inherited the large five hundred acre family farm which Dan worked on occasionally with his brothers and sisters. At the turn of the century the Bryan family were financially secure. Dan Bryan’s grandfather, after whom he was named, died aged forty eight in 1879. This left the running of the farm to his wife Bridget which she did with great resolve.1 By 1901 the Bryan’s could afford to keep three farm hands and one 1 According to Dan Bryan’s nephew Bartley Bryan, Bridget Bryan ran the farm with an Iron hand. Interview with author 20-09-98, Dunbell Co. Kilkenny. domestic servant. This changed significantly as Bridget left the running of the farm to her son John. From 1901 to 1911 the number of children in the family had increased from just Dan to seven more brothers and sisters. John was a strong believer in education and insisted that all his children should receive schooling. This created a large financial burden on the family income and meant that by 1911 the Bryans could only afford one farm hand but were putting four children through school.2 Many of the Bryan children were very bright. Dan although the oldest son, because of his intellect and the financial situation at home, was encouraged by his father to pursue a career in medicine. At the age of sixteen Dan Bryan matriculated from the local Christian Brother school in Kilkenny through the National University of Ireland. He entered U.C.D. in October 1916 to study medicine, although he wanted to study law.3 He moved from the family home in Kilkenny to a series of rented rooms on the South Circular Road and eventually settled on the Rathmines Road in Dublin. While studying he was meticulous with his money and kept a daily cashbook of all his expenditure which included his return train fare to Kilkenny once a month.4 Bryan was a student in a Dublin with a changing atmosphere. Dublin was experiencing the aftermath of the Easter Rising and change of heart of the Dublin public following the executions of the rebel leaders.5 Coupled with this, Universities were proving to be a hotbed for the seeds of new underground societies. New cultural revolution societies and some older militant societies such as the Gaelic League, the Irish 2 See 1901 and 1911 Census for County Kilkenny, Barony of Gowran, Dunbell. National Archives Dublin; henceforth referenced as N.A. Dublin. 3 Dan wanted to study law rather than medicine according to his nephew Bartley Bryan. Interview with author 20-09-98. 4 Student cashbook (UCD Archives, Bryan papers, P71/1, P71/2). 5 According to the Old Kilkenny Review which published an obituary of Dan Bryan who had been one of their contributors, he was present in College in Dublin during Easter week which would suggest he studied and sat the matrick exams in Dublin before he entered UCD in October 1916. Ellen Prendergast, “Obituary Colonel Daniel Bryan” in Old Kilkenny Review, v3, no. 2 (second series 1985) p. 227. Republican Brotherhood (I.R.B.) and now the newly reorganised Irish Volunteers were enjoying new leases of life in student surroundings. Despite Bryan’s middle class land owning and catholic background it was not surprising that during his student years in Dublin he was involved in the political and militant struggle for Irish independence. As a seventeen year old in 1917 he joined the Irish Volunteers. Although Dan Bryan did not come from a military family, like most of the leading intelligence staff he fought in the War of Independence (1919-21). It was during this period, whilst serving in the Dublin Brigade, that he was introduced to the world of espionage and intelligence gathering. His unit at one stage worked in collaboration with Michael Collins infamous “Squad”. This thesis examines the birth of Irish Military Intelligence during the War of Independence, together with Bryan’s own promotion through the ranks and his early involvement with the intelligence department. After the signing of the treaty, Bryan enlisted as an officer in the new Free State Army. He played a significant role in the civil war years, leading to his promotion at the age of only twenty three, in February 1924, to the rank of Captain. As the civil war ensued he found himself working directly in military intelligence (The Second Bureau) which was one of many official intelligence agencies at the time. As the new Free State emerged from the civil war, psychologically scathed and resting on shaky foundations, Dan Bryan exerted a calming influence. He established a uniform defence policy for the state and helped prevent the destabilising affects of the Army Mutiny in 1924. Although the scaling down of the army and the dissatisfaction of army officers with the Army Council were the main causes of the affair, the mutineers were greatly encouraged by the support of a faction of the Cumann Na nGaedhael government. The Army Mutiny topic has been covered in detail before, however this thesis shall examine the intelligence war which took place between the mutineers and the intelligence department. Dan Bryan was deeply involved with monitoring the actions of the mutineers and was closely associated with the members of the Army Council who resigned as a result of the affair. Despite his close affiliation Bryan managed to survive the Army Mutiny and went on to become a formidable driving force behind the Second Bureau Military Intelligence Department in it’s infancy. Throughout the early 1920’s Military Intelligence managed to establish itself as the premier agency for gathering information. Dan Bryan and the network of informers and agents he built up made it very difficult for the defeated republican IRA to survive. Military Intelligence due to it’s success during the Civil War period (1922-23) not only managed to maintain its jurisdiction over external foreign secret affairs but also internal civil affairs. This brought the organisation in contact with the republican IRA and placed it in direct competition with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the secret civil police force at the time.

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