Fighting For Freedom

Perhaps there is some truth to the pugilist reputation help by the Irish. Up until independence the Irish were a mainstay in the British Army, and even afterward kept fighting amongst themselves for a long time. One of the more obscure Irish military operations, at least beyond the borders of Eire, is the Irish participation in the Spanish Civil War. About 250 Irish men from both sides of the partition line volunteered to join the 15th International Brigade and support the Republican fight against General Franco and the Spanish fascists. Today the Belfast Telegraph reports that the last surviving Irish volunteer died in London. (Another 700 Blueshirts, Ireland's Fascist group, went to fight for Franco, but upon arriving in Spain realized they didn't agree with France when they were order to fight the Basques. Recognizing the similarities between the Basques and the Irish, the Blueshirts refused to fight and Franco sent them back to Ireland.)

Staunch advocates of the rights of small nations (Spain wasn't necessarily small in area, but was definitely a weak player in the international scene) and all to familiar with an unwanted and oppressive government, in many ways it's unsurprising that Irish men joined in this fight. Even the participation of the Irish Blueshirts demonstrates the inability of the Irish to escape their colonial past, regardless of political ideology. Irish balladeer Christy Moore immortalized the Irish volunteers in the song "Viva La Quinte Brigada," the lyrics of which were largely culled from a memoir written by one of the leaders of the Irish contingent.