AllMovie

Seamróg and Swastica (The Shamrock and Swastika) is a documentary produced by TG4, Ireland's Gaelic-language television broadcaster. As the title suggests, it explores Ireland's relationship with Nazi Germany during the Second World War. In this first installment, the focus is on events leading up to the global conflict: how German officials planned an attack on England via Ireland, how they enlisted hundreds of tourists to draw maps of the Irish countryside, how they mobilized scores of intellectuals and exchange students to penetrate Irish republican groups. Also, the nationalist roots of the Irish republican movement and Irish mythology are compared to the forces that shaped German fascism, suggesting a common ideology. The lives of two Irish radicals, Sean Russell and Frank Ryan, are presented within the context of rising Nazi power. This first installment ends with the departure of Irish Fascists and anti-Fascists to the Spanish Civil War.