"Have you heard of Sean Russell?" O'Brien asked.

"Sure," I said, not seeing any reason to hide the fact. The former IRA chief of staff was a famous guy in certain parts of South Boston.

"In 1939 he toured America, speaking to Clan na Gael gatherings, raising funds for the bombing campaign. From there he went on to Italy, and then secretly to Germany. He met with the German foreign minister about recruiting Irish nationals captured fighting for the British Army into an Irish Brigade, to fight against the British in Northern Ireland. He underwent demolition training with the Abwehr, and after three months was outfitted with a radio, funds, and explosives, and sent off on a U-boat that would land him back in Ireland."

"But he died," I said, vaguely remembering reports of his death.

"Yes, on the U-boat. We believe from a burst gastric ulcer. The mission was scrapped."

"You're lucky he mucked that one up by dying," I said to Cosgrove.

"Indeed. But it gave us cause to watch the IRA even more closely. Both sides have tried to draw neutral Ireland into the war. Or all three sides, I should say." He counted them off on his fingers. "First, Churchill offered Dublin all of Ulster if the Republic of Ireland entered the war allied with England. Prime Minister de Valera turned him down. Second, the IRA sent an emissary to Berlin in 1940 with Plan Kathleen, their military plan for a German invasion of Ireland. If the German invasion succeeded, the IRA would assume control of the entire island and enter the war as an Axis partner."

I focused on item number one, unsure I'd heard correctly. "Churchill would've given up Northern Ireland?"

"Absolutely. He offered exactly what the Irish Republican movement had always wanted: a united Ireland, free of British control. But apparently there was little enthusiasm among the Irish for another war, and Eamon de Valera missed his chance."