User:Peach2002
From dKosopedia
In 1892, Eoin O’Duffy was born in Laragh, Ireland. He worked as an engineer, architect and auctioneer in Wexford and Monaghan. O’Duffy eventually joined the Irish Republican Army and was made commander of the Monaghan Brigade by the end of WWI. During Ireland’s Civil War, O'Duffy was appointed head of the South Western Command.
In September of 1922 O’Duffy retired from the army to become Chief Commissioner of the Garda Siochana, Ireland’s police force, a post he held until February of 1933 when he was dismissed by Eamon de Valera. After being dismissed, O’Duffy was given command of the Army Comrades Association, also known as the Blue Shirts. During this time, he was very active in the fascist movement. O’Duffy renamed this movement the National Guard and organized marches, salutes, and flags based upon practices of Nazi Germans. O’Duffy’s actions were so controversial that they led to street fights between the National Guard and left-wing groups. As a result, the government banned the National Guard from marching to Leinster lawn in August of 1933.
A month later, O’Duffy helped establish the Fine Gael Party. Although O’Duffy became president of the party, he was forced to resign in August of 1934 because of the controversy he created with his description of the Irish Republican Army, characterizing it as a communist organization.
When the Spanish Civil War broke out, O’Duffy recruited volunteers to go and fight in the war and his efforts were supported by both the Catholic Church in Ireland and the right-wing national newspapers. O’Duffy and his volunteers left Dublin in November of 1936 for Spain with an estimate of 750 Blue shirts fighting with the Nationalist Army during the war. The Irish volunteers became part of the XV Bandera Irlandesa del Terico of the Spanish Foreign Legion and suffered heavy losses at Jarama in February of 1937.
In 1938, O’Duffy returned to Ireland and published his book, 'Crusade in Spain'. Eoin O’Duffy continued to advocate fascist policies and negotiated with politicians in Germany during WWII trying to persuade the Irish Republican Army to undertake a policy of sabotage against Britain. O’Duffy died in 1944 and was given a state funeral.
