The Internment of Cahir Healy M.P., Brixton Prison July 1941-December 1942

The arrest and internment in Brixton prison of the leading NorthernIreland nationalist politician and Stormont MP, Cahir Healy,in 1941 has long remained something of an historical enigma.Contemporaneous accounts that his arrest amounted to littlemore than an unwarranted act of anti-nationalist persecutionor was the result of his alleged involvement in ‘actsprejudicial’ during time of war both benefited from theblanket of secrecy that surrounded the case. This article castslight on this affair. It offers an insight into the strategicconsiderations of Northern nationalist politicians at a timewhen British victory in the war was uncertain. It argues thatsome senior nationalist activists, including Healy, did envisagea situation in which British defeat and German victory couldbring closer the prospect of Irish unity, did contemplate apolicy of cooperation with Germany and did take steps to makethis known to the German Legation in Dublin. The article alsoexamines Healy's relationship with fellow internees in Brixtonprison and his continued post-war association with figures onthe British far-right, particularly Sir Oswald Mosley.