28 Jul - 11 Aug 2011 CASTLEKNOCK GAZETTE 7
HISTORY An Irish diplomat’s family life in wartime Rome
The newly-wed couple moved to London after their marriage
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‘The radio documentary covers the Kiernans’ journey as diplomats from Ireland to Rome, leaving neutral Ireland from Foynes in a seaplane, crossing Germancontrolled France, over neutral Portugal and Spain and finally into fascist Italy. ‘In Rome, the Irish diplomatic mission was in a unique position amongst English-speaking diplomats, as they were representing a neutral country, and so were not interned, under either the German or Allied occupations.’ One of the most interesting periods in the Kiernans’ diplomatic career was their time spent in the Irish Legation to the Vatican
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‘From the Vatican to the Strawberry Beds’ STRAWBERRY Beds resident Garvan Browne recalls his famous grandmother, Delia Murphy, regarded as a major influence on modern Irish folk music, and recently the subject of a documentary by local radio station, Phoenix FM.
Delia Murphy was a major influence on modern Irish folk music. She was born in 1902 in her beloved County Mayo and grew up on her family farm a t Mo u n t J e n n i n g s House in Hollymount. She attended the local national school. There was a family of travelling tinsmiths, called Maughan, who regularly camped at Featherbed Lane, just beside her home. In the long summer evenings, Delia used to sit at their camp fire, listening in rapture to their stories and songs. She later attended the Dominican convent, Eccles Street, Dublin.
She studied Commerce, and graduated with a B.Comm. degree at University College G a l w ay, w h e r e h e r songs were very popular amongst the students. This was also where she met her future husband, Dr Thomas J Kiernan. Delia and Dr Kiernan decided to get married in 1924, before they moved to London. They were married in University Church on St Stephen’s Green, Dublin. All of their four children, daughters Blon, Nuala and Orla, and son, Colm, were born in London. One of the most interesting periods in their diplomatic career was
that spent in the Irish Legation to the Vatican, and in Rome from 1941 to 1945. The documentar y focuses on the memories of the Kiernans’ surviving two children, Orla and Nuala, providing an insight into life in Rome, under Mussolini, the Badoglio government, German occupation and finally under the Allied occupation.
Neutral Ireland The documentary covers the Kiernans’ journey from Ireland to Rome, leaving neutral Ireland from Foynes in a seaplane, crossing German controlled France, over neutral Portugal and Spain and finally into fascist Italy. F o l l ow i n g t h i s i s its coverage of the first period of the war
(1941/2), under Mussolini and King Vittorio Emmanuelle. The documentary also covers the Allied bombardment of Rome, and the (presumed) German bombardment of the Vatican. The Irish diplomatic mission was in a unique position amongst English-speaking diplomats, as they were representing a neutral country, and so were not interned, under either the German or Allied occupations. All the Irish Religious Colleges in Rome had summer houses outside Rome, and the Kiernans spent some of their holidays there. Vatican lorries were allowed to travel to the Pope’s summer house in Castelgandolfo for food supplies. The Kiernans had reg-
ular audiences with the Pope and attended midnight Mass every year. Ninteen forty-three saw the fall of Mussolini. By the summer of 1941, Mussolini was urged by members of his party to speak to Hitler about a possible way to exit the war.
Military assistance Mussolini met with Hitler on July 19 and instead asked for military assistance. Hitler agreed, but only if it was under German authority. Italy was now under the control of German forces. The Allies began a series of bombings of Rome. Pope Pius XII left the Vatican, and gave the Last Rites to many dying Italians in the streets. Mussolini had a meeting with King Vitto-
rio Emmanuelle, who encouraged him to step aside. Mussolini offered his resignation, which was accepted. The King then offered Mussolini an armed escort, which he accepted. He did not realise that the escort was actually there to arrest him and bring him to prison. Pietro Badoglio was proclaimed the new Prime Minister. He declared that the war would continue. Hundreds of people were shot as the Badoglio government struggled to gain order. After the fall of the Badoglio government, the German army took control of Rome. During the German control of Rome, the British ambassador, Sir d’Arcy Osborne, was interned.
T he K iernans visited him often and they became good friends. On one occasion he sent an urgent message for Dr Kiernan to call. When he did he was told that Osborne had received word that the area the Kiernans lived in was to be bombed, and that the family should move to a protected house at once. The final part of the documentary is concerned with the Allied occupation, remembered by the Kiernans as the most dangerous time to be a civilian in Rome. During the allied occupation Baron Von Weizaker, the German minister was interned. He had been very helpful to the Irish Legation. Dr Kiernan gave written evidence at his Nuremburg trial.