Guest writer Larry Hughes with a review of a book on the life of Jim O’Donovan, (Director of Chemicals) DC on the IRA GHQ Staff during the War of Independence and on the Anti-Treaty side in the Civil War. O'Donovan was also the architect of the S-Plan and IRA German link man during WW2.


  • Mad, bad and dangerous to know? Perhaps Jim O'Donovan was all three. Perhaps he is best understood as a disturbed product of his disturbed times, but there is no doubt he was disturbed. Irish Independent review.


So begins the 29th November 2012 ‘updated’ Independent.ie review of the book by David O’Donaghue on the life of IRA man Jim O’Donovan. The review then proceeds to give an extremely short and somewhat negative and sensationalist account of the Nazi connections which O’Donovan and his WW2 IRA compatriots formulated in an attempt to enlist German aid to reunify Ireland. It is a review which unfortunately in its preoccupation with attacking the subject of the book, actually gets somewhat sidetracked from reviewing the book itself, concentrating on historical facts at the expense of the human story so vividly presented in the book. Rather than giving an objective assessment of what O’Donoghue has produced the review merely gives us a few brief paragraphs on anti IRA Nazi sentiment in what looks like something rescued from the cutting room floor. This does the book and the author a great disservice indeed.

Having lifted O’Donoghue’s book ‘The Devil’s Deal – The IRA, Nazi Germany and the Double Life of Jim O’Donovan’ two days ago, I was unable to put it down until I finished it late last night. The book is an easy to read account of Jim O’Donovan’s life which is full of primary source material both from historical intelligence archives and from first hand interview accounts of former comrades and protagonists alike. An enthralling read for the Irish historical and political enthusiast which gives a first-hand insight into not only the trajectory of the life of Jim O’Donovan but the inner workings and personality clashes within the IRA during the white heat of conflict from which the modern Irish State was forged. It also sadly details the splits and vicious antagonisms of the civil war and how they poisoned human relations beyond that period.

We get a picture of the young Irishman O’Donovan educated by the Jesuits in Scotland and who as a teenager at the onset of WW1 applied like countless others to join the Royal Navy, only for his application to be graciously declined after failing an eye test. His father’s employer relocated him and subsequently the family back to Ireland and Jim enrolled in UCD as a Science (chemistry) student. This happened just in time for the Rising and the War of Independence. The reader gets an intriguing insight into the republican sympathy of many of the UCD professors, who turned a blind eye to chemical experiments of a highly questionable nature taking place after school hours in the labs; a heartwarming revelation for this reader (a revelation which may elevate UCD’s esteem as an institution considerably in some readers’ estimations.) Jim O’Donovan was to quickly go from anti 1916 Rising to becoming the DC (Director of Chemicals) on the IRA GHQ staff after the transformation of feeling in the country post executions. It was a career choice which cost him most of his right hand during the Civil War.

The book because of all the primary source information from comrades, foes and relevant historical data from the time of the events takes us on a journey of a man who once committed never altered his course. He refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Free State and stuck rigidly to the technicality that the second Dail had not reconvened to confer power to the third Dail and therefore the legitimate government of Ireland lay with the IRA. Even as he was interned by the Free State and later remarked that whilst on hunger – strike he ‘outdid Jesus’ by fasting for 41 days, and even whilst watching his brother become a Diplomat and many former comrades carve out successful careers post treaty, he never recanted. The book takes us on O’Donovan’s journey with the likes of Ryan and Russell attempting once again to forge links with England’s enemy, Germany, in a time of war. He visits Germany three times during 1939, twice accompanied by his wife who was a sister of Kevin Barry. During this time he was also the architect, unknown to De Valera and the ESB who employed him, of the S-Plan in which a bombing campaign was unleashed upon England during 1939-1940. It was not as some suggested a German inspired plot, rather an attempt by the IRA to attract German attention to a potential ally.

The book takes the reader on an emotional journey which goes from youthful adventure and amusement through the pain of falling out with comrades and an ugly civil war. He called Collins and Mulcahy traitors at meetings to their faces and refused to withdraw the accusation. He supported Dev tacitly in 1932 only to feel betrayed again when the FF government did not reinvigorate the IRA as he had hoped. Ultimately it is the story of a man who would make a deal with any power if he thought it would bring about the 32 county free Ireland he wished and fought for. It paints a story of a man so rigid in his politics that he brings problems upon himself unnecessarily and which might be better avoided. In truth there seems to be an underlying feeling that former comrades, friends and foes alike now in government positions, did as much as possible to smooth his path rather than make his self-imposed difficulties any greater. This is the humanity which shines through in the book for those able to detect it.

At the end of the book one is left with that familiar, sinking and almost inevitably melancholy feeling for someone who was true to the project they undertook in the beginning only to be left behind by his inability to see that things do change with time and events. Such is life. It is impossible not to admire Jim O’Donovan’s commitment to the Irish Republic but it is ultimately a book that whilst impossible to put down leaves the reader feeling a little sad, but definitely the happier for having read it. A wonderfully detailed and enlightening read and if you want to cut beyond the hype and see what it was like from the inside of the IRA from the War of Independence through to WW2 espionage intrigues, then this book by David O’Donoghue is one you will not want to bypass.

David O’Donaghue, 2010, The Devil’s Deal – The IRA, Nazi Germany and the Double Life of Jim O’Donovan. New Island Books: Dublin. ISBN 978-1848400801

The Devil’s Deal – The IRA, Nazi Germany and the Double Life of Jim O’Donovan”.

Guest writer Larry Hughes with a review of a book on the life of Jim O’Donovan, (Director of Chemicals) DC on the IRA GHQ Staff during the War of Independence and on the Anti-Treaty side in the Civil War. O'Donovan was also the architect of the S-Plan and IRA German link man during WW2.


  • Mad, bad and dangerous to know? Perhaps Jim O'Donovan was all three. Perhaps he is best understood as a disturbed product of his disturbed times, but there is no doubt he was disturbed. Irish Independent review.


So begins the 29th November 2012 ‘updated’ Independent.ie review of the book by David O’Donaghue on the life of IRA man Jim O’Donovan. The review then proceeds to give an extremely short and somewhat negative and sensationalist account of the Nazi connections which O’Donovan and his WW2 IRA compatriots formulated in an attempt to enlist German aid to reunify Ireland. It is a review which unfortunately in its preoccupation with attacking the subject of the book, actually gets somewhat sidetracked from reviewing the book itself, concentrating on historical facts at the expense of the human story so vividly presented in the book. Rather than giving an objective assessment of what O’Donoghue has produced the review merely gives us a few brief paragraphs on anti IRA Nazi sentiment in what looks like something rescued from the cutting room floor. This does the book and the author a great disservice indeed.

Having lifted O’Donoghue’s book ‘The Devil’s Deal – The IRA, Nazi Germany and the Double Life of Jim O’Donovan’ two days ago, I was unable to put it down until I finished it late last night. The book is an easy to read account of Jim O’Donovan’s life which is full of primary source material both from historical intelligence archives and from first hand interview accounts of former comrades and protagonists alike. An enthralling read for the Irish historical and political enthusiast which gives a first-hand insight into not only the trajectory of the life of Jim O’Donovan but the inner workings and personality clashes within the IRA during the white heat of conflict from which the modern Irish State was forged. It also sadly details the splits and vicious antagonisms of the civil war and how they poisoned human relations beyond that period.

We get a picture of the young Irishman O’Donovan educated by the Jesuits in Scotland and who as a teenager at the onset of WW1 applied like countless others to join the Royal Navy, only for his application to be graciously declined after failing an eye test. His father’s employer relocated him and subsequently the family back to Ireland and Jim enrolled in UCD as a Science (chemistry) student. This happened just in time for the Rising and the War of Independence. The reader gets an intriguing insight into the republican sympathy of many of the UCD professors, who turned a blind eye to chemical experiments of a highly questionable nature taking place after school hours in the labs; a heartwarming revelation for this reader (a revelation which may elevate UCD’s esteem as an institution considerably in some readers’ estimations.) Jim O’Donovan was to quickly go from anti 1916 Rising to becoming the DC (Director of Chemicals) on the IRA GHQ staff after the transformation of feeling in the country post executions. It was a career choice which cost him most of his right hand during the Civil War.

The book because of all the primary source information from comrades, foes and relevant historical data from the time of the events takes us on a journey of a man who once committed never altered his course. He refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Free State and stuck rigidly to the technicality that the second Dail had not reconvened to confer power to the third Dail and therefore the legitimate government of Ireland lay with the IRA. Even as he was interned by the Free State and later remarked that whilst on hunger – strike he ‘outdid Jesus’ by fasting for 41 days, and even whilst watching his brother become a Diplomat and many former comrades carve out successful careers post treaty, he never recanted. The book takes us on O’Donovan’s journey with the likes of Ryan and Russell attempting once again to forge links with England’s enemy, Germany, in a time of war. He visits Germany three times during 1939, twice accompanied by his wife who was a sister of Kevin Barry. During this time he was also the architect, unknown to De Valera and the ESB who employed him, of the S-Plan in which a bombing campaign was unleashed upon England during 1939-1940. It was not as some suggested a German inspired plot, rather an attempt by the IRA to attract German attention to a potential ally.

The book takes the reader on an emotional journey which goes from youthful adventure and amusement through the pain of falling out with comrades and an ugly civil war. He called Collins and Mulcahy traitors at meetings to their faces and refused to withdraw the accusation. He supported Dev tacitly in 1932 only to feel betrayed again when the FF government did not reinvigorate the IRA as he had hoped. Ultimately it is the story of a man who would make a deal with any power if he thought it would bring about the 32 county free Ireland he wished and fought for. It paints a story of a man so rigid in his politics that he brings problems upon himself unnecessarily and which might be better avoided. In truth there seems to be an underlying feeling that former comrades, friends and foes alike now in government positions, did as much as possible to smooth his path rather than make his self-imposed difficulties any greater. This is the humanity which shines through in the book for those able to detect it.

At the end of the book one is left with that familiar, sinking and almost inevitably melancholy feeling for someone who was true to the project they undertook in the beginning only to be left behind by his inability to see that things do change with time and events. Such is life. It is impossible not to admire Jim O’Donovan’s commitment to the Irish Republic but it is ultimately a book that whilst impossible to put down leaves the reader feeling a little sad, but definitely the happier for having read it. A wonderfully detailed and enlightening read and if you want to cut beyond the hype and see what it was like from the inside of the IRA from the War of Independence through to WW2 espionage intrigues, then this book by David O’Donoghue is one you will not want to bypass.

David O’Donaghue, 2010, The Devil’s Deal – The IRA, Nazi Germany and the Double Life of Jim O’Donovan. New Island Books: Dublin. ISBN 978-1848400801

17 comments:

  1. Excellent ,excellent review Larry a cara I,ll certainly be looking for this book, its amazing how quickly your old head recovers, the grey matter is still 50 shades but hey its working , ten outa ten a cara .

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  2. Larry

    I enjoyed your review and will now read the book, although you failed to mention O'Donovans politics beyond his republicanism. As you know Ryan was on the left and the last man who would have chosen to wash up in Nazi Germany if there was a viable alternative. Russell was a no politics physical force republican. Where did O'Donovan stand?

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  3. Mick a cara "where did O'Donovan stand?" I,d say he stood his ground ..

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  4. Interesting review Lar, I'd be interested in picking that up if I ever come across it. Those who kept on a straight path eh... Can think of a few people right now being subject to the most heinous attack on their good character for doing just that. And it is truly sickening

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  5. Organised Rage

    To my shame I never heard of O'Donavan until I lifted the book. I think he would have supped with the devil to get the 32 Republic. He seemed to be pro Republican in the Spanish Civil war with his Ireland to-Day magazine in the 1930s but had no hesitation in embracing the Nazis if they would have pushed the Brits out of Ireland. Knowing what we know now, that is a scary thought, inviting the Nazis here. But, the Independent reviewer runs the risk of forgetting the English didn't have a glorious history here either.
    Hard to figure O'Donovan out, apart from his intransigence regarding the Irish Republic.

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  6. Marty,

    the important thing is there are a multitude of 'takes' on historical events, look at the difference between my review (empathetic) and the 'hatchet job' of the Independent. Says all that needs to be said for freedom of expression. No?

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  7. Fascinating stuff Larry, sadly,however the books appears to be filled with the very problems Republicans encounter at every junction.

    I never heard of O Donovan either and that would add an extra appeal to the book, which I hope I can borrow rather than buy lol

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  8. Larry, I bought this book as soon as it was released in 2010 and your review has bumped it up to the top of my reading list. I have an interest in Irish Republican relationships with the Nazis, limited though they were, and have a few books on the subject.

    If you don't mind Larry I'd like to quote from your review a mindset you have voiced before on the quill on a number of occasions which in this case was written beautifully:

    "At the end of the book one is left with that familiar, sinking and almost inevitably melancholy feeling for someone who was true to the project they undertook in the beginning only to be left behind by his inability to see that things do change with time and events. Such is life."

    I think stories such as O'Donovan's or Frank Ryan's prove that the old adage that your enemy's enemy is your friend is not even to be taken as a rule of thumb particularly in the modern age.

    I really enjoyed reading that and I am glad you didn't give too much away.

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  9. Larry says of Jim O'Donovan;

    "I think he would have supped with the devil to get the 32 Republic."

    Looks like Jim O'Donovan and Martin McGuinness have something in common!

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  10. For anyone who's interested, there's fabulous hour long documentary about Frank Ryan on the TG4.tv archive (see documentary).

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  11. Thanks Riocard og

    Ryan doc here http://nasc.tg4.tv/1lAmmTN

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  12. Mac Tire

    I don't think O'Donovan and McGuinness would have had anything in common. I just can't see any situation where O'Donovan would have tried to 'blarney' people that on the back of votes got from dead hunger strikers going to Windsor to dine with and toast the Queen was a good 'tactic' for getting a united Ireland.

    Simon

    I didn't go into too much detail about the content. Just highlighting the fact that there is a great deal of contemporary and family material in it which the Independent review made no attempt to relay. Which made me wonder had the reviewer actually taken time to read it. Bit like those 'roaring' about the Boston College material recently, who haven't even seen it.

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  13. uve made something ive no interest in interesting larry. the germans have us by the balls now anyways, and im not joking but shave hitlers tache and put a wig on him and hes merkel. she is the head of him. exact same eyes and bone structure.

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  14. Never mind a book review 'hatchet-job' check this out from Jim Cussack in the Independent.ie It really isn't getting any better for Gerry Adams and SF. Pat McGeown is named as the murderer of Jean McConville and Madge McConville (no relation) as the abduction organiser. Adams is pictured with both. Must say I'm shocked at the brazenness of the allegations. Looks to me SF have more to worry about closer to home than a few tape recordings in America.

    http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/revealed-photos-link-gerry-adams-to-jean-mcconville-kidnap-gang-30242059.html

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  15. Larry,
    This story was in the Sunday World and that speaks volumes.
    You would not of been here at the time it broke!
    The sad reality people are left with is this. The Sunday World tells so many lies, which means if they do hit on the truth who will believe it?
    I think this is fanciful about Pat. Nothing has been offered that borders on evidence or credence.
    Another IRA source always unnamed, nothing is ever presented to authenticate anything. Never!

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  16. Sunday World...?

    Phew what a rag. The Sunday Guttersnipe' more like. Sure this past weekend there was an article by Paula Mackin. A friend showed it to me. It basically ran the SF tout fest accusation regarding the Boston College historical archive. Then the rant became personal to the effect Mackers was 'paid' 26k per year to research the material. I get the impression Paula Mackin has never undertaken Post Grad research nor tried to run an home, pay bills, travel and accommodation expenses whilst trying to research a historical work. Nope she writes fiction for the Sunday Guttersnipe and will no doubt be awarded the Martin O'Hagan journalist price for writing unsubstantiated junk to garner another wee scoop down the line from SF. I knew Martin O'Hagan personally and had more than a few drinks with him in Fr. Joes in Lurgan and the Railway Bar. Great craic and a good lad, but always seeking out the trashy stories for some reason. Maybe it's easier to spew out and suits the paper. Paula is in the right post.

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