Related Directory Categories
- Spanish Civil War (45)
- Durruti, Buenaventura (9)
- Anarchist Revolution (8)
- Nin, Andres (5)
- Franco, Francisco (4)
- Spanish Civil War, The (1)
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Irish Brigade (Spanish Civil War)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Irish Brigade, also known as la bandera Irlandesa, fought on the Nationalist side of Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The unit was formed by the politician Eoin O'Duffy, who had previously organised the banned quasi-fascist Blueshirts and Greenshirts in Ireland.
Despite the declaration by the Irish Government that participation in the war was illegal, 700 of O'Duffy's followers went to Spain. The Irish contingent originally refused Franco's order to fight against the separatist Basques of the Republican side, seeing parallels between their recent struggle and Basque aspirations. General O'Duffy later remarked that they "have as much right to partition from Spain as the six counties of Ulster do from Ireland." They saw their primary role in Spain as fighting for Catholicism, seeing many religious and historical ties in the two country's respective pasts, and to keep down communism and socialism.
The Irish Brigade saw little fighting, however. Advancing towards the front line at the Battle of Jarama in February 1937, they were mistaken by Nationalist regulares for Republican foreign volunteers. A fire fight ensued, during which several men were killed and injured on either side. Thereafter, the Brigade were deliberately kept out of the front lines. Franco requested that they return to Ireland not long afterwards.
An Irish republican contingent, known as the Connolly Column, also fought in Spain, on the leftist Republican side in the International Brigades.