Historians and the Garda Siochana are attempting to trace relatives of more than 2,600 German and Austro-Hungarian citizens who were interned in Ireland during World War I. The move is part of a major campaign to mark the centenary of Ireland’s connections to the 1914-18 war.
The internment of German and Austro-Hungarian citizens on the outbreak of the war is one of the long forgotten aspects of Ireland’s involvement in the Great War. But while 300 people were effectively imprisoned for no other reason than their nationality, Ireland’s major involvement came when 2,300 captured German and Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war (POW) were shipped to Tipperary and Meath.
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