Decoding the IRA

by Tom Mahon

  George visited Ireland at Christmas and met Twomey in Dublin on 29 December (after his release from prison). Twomey told him ‘to remain [in London] for the present and until you hear from me’.113 George promptly returned but Twomey ‘was unwell at home for three weeks after Xmas’ and failed to send George his monthly allowance.114 Twomey finally wrote towards the end of January: ‘I am rather disappointed I have not had any communication from you for some time … Let me know when writing if you require cash urgently and if so how much.’115 A frustrated George replied: ‘Not having received an acknowledgement of recent communications I thought it better to wait until such time as I knew that you were receiving them.’ He added that the Soviets had not made a decision about the relationship but in the interim had given him £150.116

  Finally George wrote to Twomey: ‘I wonder if you know that a communication from your Dept. was sent to me on the 8th of December 1926, instructing me to finish up, to get rid of any whole-time men, offices etc, and to send to Dublin all the books, papers etc relating to me [sic] work here and that I was at liberty to leave when ready to do so. For that month I received no money from GHQ for any purpose, and GHQ did not seem to trouble about any liabilities which I may have had to meet. As a result I had to give notice all round, but as you will understand, this is not a business that you can bring to an end in a few days and I was trying to bring things to a finish when I received your [letter in January] … asking me why I had not reported on certain things. Now the whole thing is so complicated, unbusiness-like and unsatisfactory that I cannot see my way to continue any longer.’117

  Twomey reminded him that they had met in Dublin subsequent to the letter and that he had also been ill in January, but he was also fed up with George: ‘From the attitude you have taken up I am quite agreeable if you wish to square up everything [in London].’118 However, George got over his anger and continued his work.

  In the meantime Twomey asked the IRA’s finance and accounts officer to investigate George’s finances, writing: ‘These accounts appear to be very mixed up.’119 Confusion was caused by the way George transferred money between his accounts, one he called the General Army account, another the D/I [Department of Intelligence] account.120 Finally Twomey asked him to ‘make out the full [D/I] account’ from its inception twelve months previously, and in his quietly persistent way added: ‘You need not unduly rush yourself in doing this.’121

  George was very careful with his personal security and made sure that anyone wishing to contact him should go to the appropriate meeting place or contact address. In February he wrote to Twomey: ‘A lady called at my office in … [word deleted from the text] enquiring for me and called again on the following day and told the liftboy that she was from Ireland and wanted to see me. Can you give me an idea as to who she was?’122 Another time Twomey told Seán MacBride to call on George, but George felt that the address he gave him shouldn’t have been given to MacBride: ‘Only one, the Dr [Andy Cooney] can be trusted, all the others are very talkative but ye seem to think differently. It is useless taking precautions if ye insist in doing things like this.’123

  On 12 May 1927 Scotland Yard raided the All-Russian Cooperative Society, Ltd. (Arcos) headquarters in London, which was the centre for Soviet espionage in Britain. With follow-up police raids occurring across the city, George reported that ‘things are bad here’ and that he had destroyed incriminating supplies in his possession.124

  In October Twomey wrote to George that Andy Cooney was going to move temporarily to London to complete his medical studies: ‘Mr Smith [Andy Cooney] intends going to London to complete his studies. [He] will probably cross [over] this weekend. He wants you to think of one or two suitable places where he might stay, he will call to Number 8, perhaps he could stay there. Fix nothing definite about digs until he sees you.’125 George was unhappy with Cooney’s presence and felt that headquarters had sent him to oversee his work; in addition, there could already have been animosity between the two arising from the previous letter sent to George telling him to close up his London operation.

  George complained to Twomey that Cooney had told him that: ‘GHQ are in a better position to know what to do than I am, and [he] wanted to know if I wanted to be a dictator in this business. I told him I could bat anytime I liked. He asked if this was a threat and said the work would get on very well without me. I would like a reply to this … as soon as possible, and if your opinions are the same as his the sooner you let me know the better. I told you once I would have nothing more to do with ‘Smith’ and can give many reasons, if you want them. I don’t like to be offensive and will reserve a lot more than I have to say. There is one thing I would like you to know; that I have forgotten more about this work than ‘Smith’ is ever likely to learn.’126 George was foolish to think he could get Twomey to side with him against Cooney. Twomey replied: ‘I have nothing to say to any private quarrel ‘Smith’ and you may have and I am not interfering. You have no right to demand from me what my opinion is on any views expressed by ‘Smith’. No more than on those expressed by any resident in London, say Mr Baldwin [the prime minister]. I am not afraid of dictators as they can be disposed of in a certain way.’ Following this unusually aggressive outburst from Twomey, he ended in a more conciliatory fashion in non-crypted text: ‘I am very sorry for this friction and I feel that it could be avoided if there were a little “give and take” on both sides.’127

  George’s correspondence ends in January 1928 with what is most likely a reference to Andy Cooney or possibly Seán MacBride. Writing to Moss Twomey he comments: ‘Your infallible friend called and gave me your messages. I thought I told you, and I know I told him that he was to get in touch with me through other channels.’128

  The Merchant

  One of the shady characters that George dealt with was an arms dealer named Fitzgerald, whom the IRA referred to as the ‘Merchant’.

  In 1926, the IRA in London ordered an assortment of equipment from the ‘Merchant’ and gave him a total of £598 and 4 shillings. This included £200 belonging to ‘James’, for a ‘phone’ – presumable some type of military communications wireless or similar device. Of the £398 belonging to the IRA, £36 was for a dozen adaptors for an army service rifle and £12 and 4 shillings for ammunition. When George returned to London following his visit to Ireland at Christmas, he cancelled the IRA’s order. However, despite ‘continually pressing’ Fitzgerald, he received neither his money back nor the ‘phone’ for the Soviets.129

  In late January 1927 Twomey wrote to George: ‘Did you get back all or any of that £350 [sic]? We are in a desperate way for cash.’130 George replied: ‘When I came back [from Ireland] I approached him and he promised [to] let me have some [of the money] but he has not kept his promise … If I do not get some satisfaction from him soon I will use a little pressure.’131 Twomey urged him on: ‘You must put pressure on your friend for that cash. Tell him plainly you must have it at once. If he refuses what pressure do you propose to put on him?’132

  George was reluctant to act: ‘I don’t think the man will refuse to pay. He seems to be playing for time and told me yesterday that he would fix the whole business up early next week, which I doubt. If he refuses I think it is up to you to decide on what kind of pressure we use.’133 In the interim George was able to sell an ‘instrument’ he had belonging to the ‘Merchant’ and recoup £48 of the debt.134

  Twomey responded: ‘As you know this person and I do not, you would be the best judge as to whether moral pressure would do, or if some physical application would be necessary. Has he any property which could be seized and removed? I would not like for the present to threaten exposure.’135

  George feigned the intention of taking decisive action and wrote in March: ‘Unless he fixes this up before the end of next week we will be compelled to take very drastic action. I take it I am at liberty to use any amount of pressure which I may think suitable.’136

  ‘Yes, you have full permission to take whatever steps
you think necessary to recover the money,’ Twomey replied.137 However, the ‘Merchant’ called their bluff and in April George merely handed over a letter demanding payment: ‘Your attitude at the present moment only confirms our previous suspicions that it has not been your intention at any time to deal with us in an honest and straightforward manner … Our representative [the OC. Britain] appears to have been entirely deceived by your statement that you had paid the money to the manufacturers as soon as it was handed to you … We consider this to have been an extremely despicable action on your part and we would inform you that we will be compelled to take very drastic steps to recover the money.’138

  With nothing happening, Twomey wrote: ‘If Fitzgerald has not paid up, can you kidnap him or have him fired at, without wounding him at first? His business place could easily be entered over [the] gate or wall. Have you looked up if any legal action could be taken and a writ issued against him?’139 Twomey must have had great faith in the British justice system if he thought the IRA could sue an arms dealer who had defrauded them over a highly illegal transaction! George replied: ‘Have noted your suggestions’,140 but Twomey continued to prod him: ‘There must be no squeamishness in dealing with that man.’141 George meekly replied: ‘[The ‘Merchant’] stated that at the moment he could not pay back the money. There is, so he says, a lot of money due to him, and as soon as it comes in, he will let us have the amount due, which I doubt very much.’142 Twomey kept pushing George to physically threaten the ‘Merchant’, but George may have had no stomach for the job or feared being exposed to the police: ‘How do you think I can tackle this business alone?143 Here I am without a job and money, borrowing all over the place, and having no one to assist in helping me do anything. I know that I am personally responsible, but, please do not expect [me] to do the impossible.’144 Twomey answered: ‘You will recollect when I was speaking to you I stated I realised the difficulty, and offered to send Agents to do so. You replied that you would be able to do so there, and actually mentioned the Agents you would employ to do so. I am prepared to risk expense rather than let him get away with it. If you prepare the business and let me know I am still prepared to do this. I never expected that you yourself should do all the work.’145

  Whether the ‘Merchant’ ever paid up or not is not known; however, the issue certainly wasn’t settled by October 1927 when Twomey again asked George to ‘insist’ on Fitzgerald making an immediate payment, and George replied that he had met with him several times to ask for the money.146

  An interesting question is: who was the ‘Merchant’? And the answer leads us on a trail back to the Free State cabinet or Executive Council. What we do know from the documents was that the ‘Merchant’s’ last name was Fitzgerald. And coincidentally there was an arms dealer in London at the time, Francis FitzGerald – with a history of dishonesty – who was known to have dealt with the Free State army and to have had contact with the IRA.147 Francis W. FitzGerald was also the brother of Desmond FitzGerald, an influential member of the Free State’s Executive Council and the Minister for External Affairs.

  Francis lived in London where he owned a company, Senior Crozier & Co., which ‘professed to be engaged in the sale of chemicals’. Through the business he supplied munitions and explosives, including potassium chloride to the Free State’s national army during the Civil War (1922–3). In 1925 the Free State’s Committee of Public Accounts reported serious irregularities in these transactions to the Dáil. The committee alleged that FitzGerald sold thirty-two tons of potassium chloride to the army for £56 per ton, even though the deliveries took place over the course of several months when the market price of the chemical fell to only £28 a ton. Additionally, when the explosives were received they were not of the promised quality and were described as ‘useless’.

  The army also gave him a deposit of £2,250 towards the purchase of 10,000 rifles, which ‘disappeared’. FitzGerald claimed that he gave the money to the arms manufacturer Horace Soley as a deposit. However, the weapons were never delivered and the government didn’t get the deposit back. FitzGerald was unable to produce a verifiable receipt and prove that he ever handed the money over to Horace Soley. In an interesting parallel, the ‘Merchant’ had told the IRA that he had handed their money over to an arms manufacturer and was unable to get it back.

  FitzGerald additionally agreed to purchase five Hotchkiss machine guns for the army at £750 apiece, but in fact he charged £1,000 each, which the government paid. On top of this there was no record of the machine guns having ever been received. The Public Accounts Committee raised questions about the army’s order of 2,500 revolvers. FitzGerald had initially quoted a price of £2 each, but in the end charged £3 5 shillings each.

  Eventually the army took legal action against FitzGerald. However, despite the Free State’s strong case, the government settled with him on extremely favourable terms. They paid him the £2,250 he claimed to have deposited with Horace Soley for the rifles, and in the event that he recovered the money they agreed to pay his legal costs and let him keep half of the remaining sum. This was despite the fact that they were under no obligation to assume liability. In all FitzGerald received £19,700 from the government. No wonder Tom Johnson, the leader of the parliamentary Labour party, called this ‘the most extraordinary settlement that I can conceive’ and added: ‘Before this settlement took place, there should have been, at least, one resignation from the Executive Council.’

  The army’s intended use for the rifles in 1922 was also rather murky; it appears that they planned to supply them to joint pro- and anti-Treaty IRA units engaged in a cross-border campaign against the new state of Northern Ireland. This failed campaign was organised in the lead-up to the Civil War with the connivance of Michael Collins, partially with a view to help preserve IRA unity and so prevent Civil War. Ernest Blythe, the Minister for Finance, euphemistically commented: ‘After the Treaty not one of these purchases should have taken place’, but that at the time ‘many people took up an equivocal position’.148

  In London FitzGerald didn’t exactly keep a low profile. P. A. Murray stated that when he was OC. Britain he was ‘in touch with Desmond FitzGerald’s brother’ in London.149 Later, in January 1925 FitzGerald’s gun dealer’s licence was revoked and he gave the court an undertaking to return revolvers in his possession to the Free State’s high commissioner in Britain.150 Finally, in 1933 he was described as a works manager from Kensington and was charged with the possession of two automatic pistols, three revolvers and ammunition. He got off rather lightly, being fined £5, and the magistrate ordered the confiscation of the weapons.151 Based on this evidence it seems highly probable that the ‘Fitzgerald’ who defrauded the IRA in 1927 was Francis FitzGerald, the brother of Desmond FitzGerald, the Free State minister.152

  The IRA in Liverpool

  The great port city of Liverpool was home to such a large Irish population that in the early years of the twentieth century the city elected its own Irish Home Rule member of parliament, T. P. O’Connor. In the nineteenth century the IRB organised in the city and established an important arms smuggling route to Ireland. This route was reactivated and developed during the Anglo-Irish War when there was a significant flow of weapons and explosives across the Irish Sea. During the Anglo-Irish War the Liverpool company of the IRA was the most active IRA unit in Britain.

  In November 1920 the company successfully mounted a co-ordinated arson attack on warehouses along the docks, but after the subsequent arrests and increased police activity the organisation was ‘for all intents and purposes dead’; however, the following year it resumed activity. 153 Between November 1920 and June 1921 the police had such good intelligence that they were able to arrest four successive captains of the company.154

  Like the other English units it went into a marked decline following the Civil War. In November 1924 the IRA’s adjutant general (AG) inspected the company and reported: ‘Nobody was working there … the whole situation was hopeless.’ The veterans of the Ang
lo-Irish War or ‘the old workers’, were ‘not inclined to work’. On their release from jail these ‘old timers’ were no longer remaining active and, according to the AG, ‘only 5 men are left in Liverpool.’ He appointed one of the Fleming brothers – Denis or Patrick – as OC, hoping that he would be able to unify the various factions.

  The OC found himself in a frustrating position. The company was badly split between the ‘old timers’ and the recent IRA immigrants from Ireland, with the former not wishing to associate with the newer arrivals. He also had to spend most of his free time running dances to raise funds for the unit, while there was little help from the other volunteers. The dances were organised in collaboration with the Thomas Ashe Sinn Féin club at the ‘[Irish National] Forrester’s Hall’, and the proceeds split 50:50, the other Sinn Féin clubs in the area having refused to help out. The OC spent three nights a week, from 8 to 11 p.m., working at the dances. One dance ended in a free for all after a group of rowdy immigrants from the west of Ireland had to be cautioned over their use of foul language and their ‘interruptions’. Finally, in October 1926 he resigned as ‘he intended to settle down and get married’.155

  The company’s adjutant suggested another method of fundraising and asked for ‘specially printed cards, issued and signed by GHQ’ to be sent over so that the company could approach ‘friends of the movement who are resident here, with a view to raising funds’.156