In Red and Green: The Lives of Frank Ryan

Born in County Limerick in 1902, Frank Ryan joined the Irish Republican Army at the age of sixteen during the War of Independence and fought against the Treaty in 1922 until he was wounded and interned. A fiery and inspirational orator, he became editor of An Phoblacht, and with Peadar O'Donnell and George Gilmore he founded the Republican Congress; a committed socialist, he was a leading opponent of Eoin O'Duffy and the Blue Shirts.On the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War he led the first contingent of Irish volunteers to support the Popular Front government. A brave and inspirational leader, he served with Italian and German Republican divisions, as well as with the Irish and Americans. He was badly wounded at Jarama in February 1937. After recuperating in Ireland he returned to Spain where he was appointed adjutant to General Jose Miaja. He was captured during the Aragon offensive in April 1938 and was sentenced to death, but after representations from Eamon de Valera his sentence was commuted to thirty years.In August 1940 Ryan was transferred to Nazi Germany, where he was reunited with IRA maverick Sean Russell. The two were sent to Ireland in a U-boat, but Russell died on the journey and Ryan returned to Germany where, as unofficial IRA ambassador, he acted in an advisory capacity for German intelligence. He died in a sanatorium near Dresden in July 1944.