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"On April 16th, 1918, a U Boat
was sighted in Dublin Bay and during the same night Robert
and James Cotter, one of whom was de Valera's brother-in-law,
were intercepted in a small sailing boat. It could not be
proved that they were in communication with the submarine and
they were convicted only of convening Admiralty Regulations.
On the west coast "one of Casement's men", a
Connaught Ranger named Dowling, landed from a German
submarine and was arrested.
Joseph Patrick Dowling
coming ashore from a German 'U' Boat
| The Government were
satisfied "that a design existed on the part of Germany,
in combination with the Sinn Fein extremists and Irish
revolutionaries in America, to land arms in Ireland and bring
about another Irish Insurrection and thus divert British
troops from the front in France." German aims were to
follow up the anticipated success of their great offensive by
further embarrassing the British in Ireland. British
Intelligence agents, who had earlier warned the authorities
to expect Dowling, now reported that on April 26th, at
Cuxhaven, rifles and machine-guns had been transferred from
closed railway cars to large submarines. "These
consignments did not arrive in Ireland," Ministers were
informed." |
Click here to read the
Full
Story
as researched by Joseph Patrick's great
nephew
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Source:
Page 87f of Ireland's Civil War by Calton Younger, Fontana
Press 1968. (ISBN 0-00-686098-2).
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