Memo warned against creating civil war martyrs

The Government of 1936 was warned not to make martyrs out of the Irishmen and women who fought and died in the Spanish civil war, State papers show.

Ministers were urged to turn a blind eye to the fact hundreds of people were volunteering to fight both for and against General Franco and the fascists.

In an undated memo for a minister but contained in a file of papers from 1936,advisers said news of the reality of war would soon deter others from enlisting.