Eamon Broy

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Colonel Eamon Broy^[1] (or Edward Broy, often called Ned Broy) (1887-1972)^[2] was successively a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the Irish Army, and the Garda Síochána of the Irish Free State. He served as Garda Commissioner from February 1933 to June 1938.^[3]

During the Irish War of Independence (1919–21), Broy was a double agent within the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP), with the rank of Detective Sergeant (DS).^[4] He worked as a clerk inside G Division, the intelligence branch of the DMP. While there he copied sensitive files for IRA leader Michael Collins. On 7 April 1919, Broy smuggled Collins into G Division's archives in Brunswick Street, enabling him to identify "G-Men", six of whom would be killed by the IRA.^[5] Broy supported the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 and joined the Irish Army during the Irish Civil War, reaching the rank of Colonel. In 1925, he left the Army and joined the Garda.^[6]

Broy's elevation to the post of Commissioner came when Fianna Fáil replaced Cumann na nGaedhael as the Government. Other more senior officers were passed over as being too sympathetic to the outgoing party.^[6] In 1934 Broy oversaw the creation of the "The Auxiliary Special Branch" of the Garda. This was formed mainly of hastily-trained "Old IRA" veterans. It was nicknamed the "Broy Harriers" by Broy's opponents;^[7] a pun on the Bray Harriers athletics club.^[2] It was used first against the quasi-Fascist Blueshirts, and later against the diehard holdouts of the IRA, now set against former comrades.^[8] The "Broy Harriers" nickname persisted into the 1940s, though Broy himself was no longer in command, and for the bodies targeted by the unit was a highly-abusive term, still applied by radical Irish Republicans to the Garda Special Branch (now renamed the Special Detective Unit).

Broy was President of the Olympic Council of Ireland from 1935 to 1950.^[9]

[edit] Film fictionalisation

Neil Jordan's film Michael Collins (1996) inaccurately depicts Broy (played by actor Stephen Rea) as having been discovered, tortured and killed by the British. In addition, G Division was based not in Dublin Castle (as shown in the film) but in Marlborough Street. Collins had a different agent in the Castle, David Neligan.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Notes and references

^ Spelt Eamon, not Eamonn: see for example STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS. 1937. No. 192. DUBLIN TAXIMETER AREA FARE BYE-LAWS. Government of Ireland (1937). Retrieved on January 4, 2007. “I, Eamon Broy, Commissioner of the Gárda Síochána”
^ ^a ^b (1992) "1942–1948: In and Out of Prison", in Edward Halim: The Letters of Brendan Behan. McGill-Queen's University Press, 14. ISBN 0773508880.
^ List of Garda Commissioners since 1922. Garda Síochána. Retrieved on January 4, 2007.
^ Cottrell, Peter (2006). The Anglo-Irish War: The Troubles of 1913-1922. Osprey Publishing, 66. ISBN 1846030234.
^ Cottrell, op. cit., pg 53.
^ ^a ^b O'Halpin, Eunan (2000). Defending Ireland: The Irish State and Its Enemies Since 1922. Oxford University Press, 114. ISBN 0199242690.
^ McGarry, Fearghal (2005). Eoin O'Duffy: A Self-Made Hero. Oxford University Press, 261-2. ISBN 0199276552.
^ Bell, J. Bowyer (1997). The secret army: the IRA By J. Bowyer Bell, 3, Transaction, 139. ISBN 1560009012.
^ International Olympic Committee (September-October 1973). Ireland and Olympism (PDF). Olympic Review (70-71): 443. ISSN 0251-3498. Retrieved on 2007-01-04.