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Chief US spy in Ireland during World War II has died

Pretended to be a commercial film representative

By
CATHY HAYES,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Monday, February 14, 2011, 7:50 AM
Updated Monday, February 14, 2011, 7:50 AM

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Read more: Revealed: Irish soldier saved Adolf Hitler’s life

Martin S. Quigley, a film rep and spy sent to gather intelligence on Ireland during World War II, died, at the age of 93, of a heart ailment on February 5 in his West Hartford, Conn. Home, according to the Boston Globe.
 
Mr. Quiqley wrote two books about his years as a secret agent in Europe during World War II, in which he worked for the Office of Strategic Services and its director Major General William “Wild Bill’’ Donovan. An executive with movie-trade publications, he used his ties to the film world as his cover for espionage.
 
In 1943, Donovan sent Quigley, a devoted Catholic, to Ireland to gather intelligence on the state of Ireland’s official neutrality and the local sentiments about the Allied and Axis powers.
 
Quigley, who was an executive with movie-industry trade publications, said his cover as a commercial film rep was effective.
 
“It was a passport to be able to communicate with all kinds of people at every conceivable level,’’  Quigley later told the Irish Emigrant. “I traveled around the country and would go to a provincial city and see the bishop, the newspaper editor, the cinema owner, and the man on the street. People opened up. It was an ideal cover.’’
 
He added that his espionage work often overlapped with his movie work.
 
“I used to sit next to [Irish film censor] Richard Hayes and I would argue with him, trying to get him not to cut scenes where background ‘Buy War Bonds’ posters were included,’’ Mr. Quigley told the Irish Emigrant newsletter. “He was adamant that anything visual alluding to the war would be cut.’’
 
Mr. Quigley reported to Donovan that he thought the Irish, despite their conflicts with the English, were supportive of eventual Allied victory. He also noted that the Irish were too economically entwined with England to risk a German alliance.

Read more: Revealed: Irish soldier saved Adolf Hitler’s life

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7 Comments

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DanOLoingsigh | Feb 17, 2011, 09:35 AM EST
Sirpete – not sure you’ve thought this through…An Irish spy in Washington would have been certain to hear lots of pro British statements, they were allies after all, and attempting to break legs would have blown his cover, as well as offending against free speech. BTW, there is no reference to neutrality anywhere in Bunreacht na Héireann.

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sirpeter | Feb 16, 2011, 10:06 PM EST
Dano..Break their legs..Irish neutrality was not up for discussion.

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DanOLoingsigh | Feb 14, 2011, 03:03 PM EST
@ CitizenWhy - What exactly would your Irish spy do upon hearing Anglophiliac statements in Washington?

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Liamkeyes | Feb 14, 2011, 11:02 AM EST
He would have done better in England considering all the Irish that served in the British Forces at that time. Ireland during the war was akin to a third woreld country.

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cillowen | Feb 14, 2011, 10:31 AM EST
sliced and diced for posterity - cant worry too much about a people going nowhere.

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CitizenWhy | Feb 14, 2011, 10:01 AM EST
What about the Irish spies in Washington checking on who were making Anglophiliac statements?

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slainte9 | Feb 14, 2011, 09:43 AM EST
Like the mythical elite basketball player at UCLA who had a part-time job watching the automicatic sprinklers come on to water the grass at the football field.

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