About this episode

This episode explores the complex alliances formed by Irish republicans during the War of Independence, including controversial connections with European settlers and fascists.

Irish republicans had many natural allies during the War of Independence. Irish communities in the United States offered vital support, while revolutionaries in India and Egypt were also fighting for freedom from the British Empire. But the search for allies also led Irish republicans into far more complicated territory. Across the British Empire, they courted support not from colonised peoples, but from European settlers and their descendants in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and South Africa, many of them with Irish roots. In Europe, they looked to the Vatican, despite the Catholic Church’s long-standing suspicion of republicanism and revolution. Most controversially, Irish republicans also sought contact with Benito Mussolini, who was on his way to becoming Europe’s first fascist dictator In this final episode of Brothers in Pain, Dr Brian Hanley explores the uncomfortable history of Irish republican alliances abroad. From South Africa to the Papacy and fascist Italy, this episode asks why Irish revolutionaries sought support in such unlikely places, what they gained, and what these choices reveal about the Irish Revolution, empire and the wider world after the First World…

People in this episode

Host: Fin Dwyer

Guest: Dr Brian Hanley

Topics covered

• Irish republicanism
• alliances
• British Empire
• fascism
• War of Independence
• global history

Keywords

• Irish republicans
• alliances
• fascism
• British Empire
• War of Independence
• Benito Mussolini
• Vatican
• global history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Vatican

Books & works: Brothers in Pain

Places: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, British Empire

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• Living on the Wrong Side of History: My Family Secrets · July 7, 2026 · 38 min
• The Irish Crown Jewels Robbery: Ireland’s Crime of the Century? · June 23, 2026 · 47 min

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