In Green and Red: The Lives of Frank Ryan

by Hoar

The biography of an important member of the Irish Republican Army who fought in both the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

300 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2004

Reviews

[Martin Mccann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frank Ryan is a controversial figure in Irish Politics. A member of the IRA, he was attracted by the vision of Connolly and socialism, being part of the Republican Congress. However at the time Ireland was in the grip of a "Red Scare" and many in the Republican movement were conservative at heart, causing a split that meant Irish public opinion on the Spanish Civil War was predomainantly firmly behind Franco (to Ireland's eternal shame). Some like Ryan, Peader O'Donnell, Charlie Donnelly, Bob Doyle, Michael O'Riordan and others went to Spain, fought (and many died) like heroes and came back as pariahs. Ryan, captured by the Spanish, was handed to the Nazis who offered to take him back to Ireland, obviously to try and use him in any invasion attempt. However Ryan's compatriot Sean Russell died onboard the submarine which then returne to Germany, where Ryan died, never to see his native shores again.
For many, it was Ryan's supposed collaboration with the Nazi's that tarnished his reputation, for others in the Republican movement it was his socialism, and this book tries to contextualise Ryan's decisions. As well as being a comprehensive biography, it takes a different angle to most previous works in that, while it does not seek to excuse his involvement with Nazi Germany, it places it in the context of pragmatism and adds a lot to the debates over the legacy of Ryan. This work contributes to a revision of Ryan, his ideologies and his action and makes him a real person, not a dogmatic caricature. Anyone interested in understanding the man, would do well to use this as the starting point.