POLLARD, Captain H.B.C. The Secret Societies of Ireland. Their Rise and Progress.

London: Philip Allan & Co, 1922. Large post octavo. pp. xii, 324. Title-page printed in red and black. Modern red buckram, title in gilt on spine. A very good copy with some minor foxing in a repaired dust-jacket.

A fascinating exploration of Ireland's secretive organisations, published in 1922. The book delves into the history, structure, and influence of groups such as the Fenians, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), and other clandestine movements that played pivotal roles in Ireland's struggle for independence. Pollard provides detailed accounts of their activities, ideologies, and the sociopolitical contexts in which they operated. Combining historical analysis with firsthand insights, the book offers readers a unique perspective on the hidden forces that shaped modern Irish history, making it a valuable resource for scholars and enthusiasts.

Major Hugh Bertie Campbell Pollard (1888-1966) was an author, firearms expert, and a British SOE (Special Operations Executive) officer. He is chiefly known for his intelligence work during the Irish War of Independence and for the events of July 1936, when he and his SOE colleague Cecil Bebb flew General Francisco Franco from the Canary Islands to Morocco, thereby helping to trigger the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. During the War of Independence (1919-1921), Pollard was Press Officer of the Information Section of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Together with the Section secretary, Captain William Darling, he produced the Weekly Summary, an official synopsis of the war in Ireland. The crudeness of this paper and its obvious intent at deceiving the journalists for whom it was produced “resulted in much negative publicity for the Crown forces and the Irish Administration.” He was also directly involved in two particularly bungled attempts at ‘black propaganda’. One was the attempt to produce and distribute a fake version of the Irish Bulletin, the gazette of the Irish Republicans. The fraud was quickly exposed and the reliability of information emanating from Crown sources in Ireland severely damaged. A second incident involved the bizarre attempt to fake a military engagement in County Kerry (reported as the ‘Battle of Tralee’). The press-release included photographs of the purported scene of the battle. These were republished in a number of Irish and English papers before the actual location was identified as Vico Road in Dalkey. The entire event had been staged by Pollard and Captain Garro-Jones, a colleague of Major Cecil Street, and was without foundation. In December 1920 in the House of Commons, the Government was forced to admit that the photographs and a contemporary newsreel were fake. Following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, Pollard recorded his interpretation of the history of Irish nationalist organisations in this work, which included a defence of sectarian violence and a repetition of some blatant misinformation. One such was the allegation that the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tomás Mac Curtain, had been assassinated by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, rather than Crown forces.

[L2 7B]