James McBrien

Last updated

James McBrien (30 November 1869 [1] - 1958 [2] ) was a Metropolitan Police officer and detective.

Contents

Life

A Roman Catholic born at Gortmore, County Cavan, Ireland, [1] [3] [4] he joined the Metropolitan Police on 27 May 1889, [5] initially spending two years in uniform in the West End and Soho, including a call-out to the anarchist Autonomy or Autonomie Club in a cellar on Great Windmill Street in which he managed to disarm a man threatening others with a knife, get him out of the building and arrest him. [6] Next, his knowledge of French and other languages gained him a transfer to plainclothes work. [6]

He then served in Special Branch under William Melville and Patrick Quinn, including long periods abroad investigating anarchist terrorist networks and as bodyguard to Edward VII in Marienbad and Biarritz and to Queen Alexandra. [6] Whilst in London, he was employed against the suffragette arson and bombing campaign and German spies during the First World War. [6] [7]

In 1918 he succeeded Quinn as head of Special Branch, infiltrating IRA units on mainland Britain and arresting 110 of their members on 11 March 1923 at the height of the Irish Civil War, [4] as well as monitoring workers in the 1926 General Strike and Communists. [6] He remained at the head of Special Branch until retirement to Wimbledon on 30 November 1929 at the rank of Superintendent. [5] He is buried at Gap Road Cemetery.

Honours

He received fourteen decorations, some from monarchies abolished in the post-war period. [6] These included becoming an MBE in the 1923 Birthday Honours and a Member, 5th Class, of the Royal Victorian Order in the 1930 New Year Honours (with effect from 11 December 1929) for his royal work. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Barry (Irish republican)</span> Irish guerrilla leader (1897–1980)

Thomas Bernardine Barry, better known as Tom Barry, was a prominent guerrilla leader in the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. He is best remembered for orchestrating the Kilmichael ambush, in which he and his column wiped out a 18-man patrol of Auxiliaries, killing sixteen men.

PC Stephen Andrew Tibble, was a police officer in London's Metropolitan Police Service. During a chase through West Kensington, the unarmed Tibble was fatally shot by Liam Quinn, an American member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)</span> Anti-Treaty sub-group of the original IRA

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) of 1922–1969 was a sub-group of the original pre-1922 Irish Republican Army, characterised by its opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It existed in various forms until 1969, when the IRA split again into the Provisional IRA and Official IRA.

The Cairo Gang was a group of British military intelligence agents who were sent to Dublin during the Irish War of Independence to identify prominent members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) with, according to information gathered by the IRA Intelligence Department (IRAID), the intention of disrupting the IRA by assassination. Originally commanded by British Army General Gerald Boyd, they were known officially as the Dublin District Special Branch (DDSB) and also as D Branch.

The S-Plan or Sabotage Campaign or England Campaign was a campaign of bombing and sabotage against the civil, economic and military infrastructure of the United Kingdom from 1939 to 1940, conducted by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). It was conceived by Seamus O'Donovan in 1938 at the request of then IRA Chief of Staff Seán Russell. Russell and Joseph McGarrity are thought to have formulated the strategy in 1936. During the campaign there were 300 explosions/acts of sabotage, 10 deaths and 96 injuries.

The Northern campaign was a series of attacks by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) Northern Command between September 1942 and December 1944 against the security forces in Northern Ireland. The action taken by the Northern Irish and the Irish governments as a result of these attacks shattered the IRA and resulted in the former being free from IRA activity by the end of World War II. In December 1956 the IRA began its Border Campaign which lasted until February 1962.

Diarmuid O'Neill, was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). O'Neill was killed in London in 1996 during a police raid on the hotel where he and two other IRA volunteers were staying. Due to the circumstances surrounding the killing, Amnesty International has called for a review of the police investigation into the killing of O'Neill. O'Neill was the only IRA member to be killed by police in Great Britain.

Joseph "Joe" Fenton was an estate agent from Belfast, Northern Ireland, killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) for acting as an informer for RUC Special Branch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downing Street mortar attack</span> 1991 IRA assassination attempt in London, England

The Downing Street mortar attack was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) on 7 February 1991. The IRA launched three homemade mortar shells at 10 Downing Street, London, the headquarters of the British government, in an attempt to assassinate Prime Minister John Major and his war cabinet, who were meeting to discuss the Gulf War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fenian dynamite campaign</span> Bombing campaign by Irish republicans from 1881 to 1885

The Fenian dynamite campaign was a campaign of political violence orchestrated by Irish republican paramilitary groups in Great Britain from 1881 to 1885. It involved attacks using explosives such as dynamite on British government and civilian targets and was carried out by the Irish Republican Brotherhood, United Irishmen of America and Clan na Gael with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in Ireland. Infrastructure was attacked along with government targets as part of the campaign, which killed 4 people, including a young boy, and wounded 86. The campaign met with widespread backlash in Britain and a mixed response in Ireland, and led to the establishment of the Special Irish Branch by the Metropolitan Police to counter the campaign. By 1885, the campaign petered out, though Irish republicans would continue to carry out attacks in Great Britain well into the 20th century.

G (detective) Division was a plainclothes divisional office of the Dublin Metropolitan Police concerned with detective police work. Divisions A to F of the DMP were uniformed sections responsible for particular districts of the city.

George Plant was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) who was executed by the Irish Government in 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest Radcliffe Bond</span> British police commissioner

Ernest Radcliffe Bond, OBE, QPM, also called Commander X, was a British soldier, and later policeman famous for his service in the Metropolitan Police Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balcombe Street siege</span> 1975 hostage incident

The Balcombe Street siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and London's Metropolitan Police lasting from 6 to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA members and the release of their two hostages. The events were televised and watched by millions.

On 14 November 1992, 3.2 tonnes of explosives was discovered during a routine check on a lorry travelling on Stoke Newington Road, part of the A10, one of the main routes between London and the north. The Volvo lorry was stopped by police around 1 am; the occupants fled. Constable Raymond Hall - a former Royal Engineer soldier and Falklands War veteran - chased the suspects to a residential street, Belgrade Road no.7 where he was shot twice by one of them. Shortly afterwards police arrested one man, Irish lorry driver Patrick Kelly, a member of the Provisional IRA, who was alleged to have been driving the lorry.

Thomas Harte was the first of seven Irish Republican Army (IRA) members executed by Irish forces in Mountjoy Prison and Portlaoise Prison prisons between 1940 and 1944.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talbot Arms pub bombing</span> 1974 bombing in England

The Talbot Arms pub bombing took place on 30 November 1974, and was carried out by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Eight people were injured in the attack, which involved the IRA throwing homemade bombs through the pub's window. Only one of the devices exploded; the other was taken as evidence and used to discover how the unit assembled its devices.

Patrick MacGrath was born into an old Dublin republican family and took part in the 1916 Rising, as did two of his brothers. He was sent to Frongoch Internment Camp after the 1916 Rising and served his time there. He was a senior member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), hunger striker, IRA Director of Operations and Training during its major bombing/sabotage in England and was the first of six IRA men executed by the Irish Government between 1940–1944. After participating in the Easter Rebellion, MacGrath remained in the IRA, rising in rank and becoming a major leader within the organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Special Branch (Metropolitan Police)</span> UK police unit

Special Branch was a unit in the Metropolitan Police in London, formed as a counter-terrorism unit in 1883 and merged with another unit to form Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) in 2006. It maintained contact with the Security Service (MI5) and had responsibility for, among other things, personal protection of (non-royal) VIPs and performing the role of examining officer at designated ports and airports, as prescribed by the Terrorism Act 2000.

References

  1. 1 2 "Retirement from Metropolitan Police: James McBrien (MEPO 21/15/5012)". The National Archives.
  2. Death registrations, England and Wales, December 1958, Volume 5g, Page 539
  3. 1 2 "Et Caetera". The Tablet. 4 January 1930. p. 22.
  4. 1 2 Joseph McKenna, The IRA Bombing Campaign Against Britain, 1939-1940 (McFarland: 2016), page 9
  5. 1 2 "MEPO 4/348 - MEPO 4. No. 13 - Register of leavers from the Metropolitan Police". The National Archives.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Unique Career - Forty Years of Thrills - Early Days at Scotland Yard". Northern Star. 3 August 1929. p. 5.
  7. Hiley, Nicholas (1986). "Counter-espionage and security in Great Britain during the First World War" (PDF). English Historical Review. pp. 635–661.
Police appointments
Preceded by Head of Special Branch, Metropolitan Police
19181929
Succeeded by
Edward Parker