Eamon de Valera drew-up plans for a bicycle-riding "cavalry" which could help defend Ireland against invasion, according to MI5 files released by the Public Record Office in London today.
The plans were contained in personal papers written during de Valera's imprisonment in Lincoln Jail in May 1918, which were transcribed by MI5. The papers also includes a draft plan for an Irish army for home defence, which de Valera wrote, would be used "if and when Ireland becomes an independent republic".
In de Valera's personal documents, he insists there is no need for a mounted cavalry in Ireland, it is too "expensive and troublesome to train effectively" and he suggests a bicycle-riding cavalry is better suited to Irish conditions.
"Cyclists would replace cavalry and could be used in considerable numbers. Cycling is very common in Ireland, the road mileage is big and the mobility of such troops could be of great use in cases of raids or even invasion," de Valera observes.
One feature of the MI5 files is that de Valera's first name is consistently misspelt and is referred to as "Edward" or "Edmund". The files also include references to de Valera's role during World War Two, but curiously, some newspaper cuttings have been retained by MI5 for "reasons of national security".
On his plans for national defence, de Valera suggests there might be a first line of cadets aged between 13-years-old and 32-years-old, a second line of recruits aged between 32-yearsold and 40-years-old and a third line of 40 years-old and over. The aim was to "make the best possible use of the whole male population up to the age of 40 years".
He even estimated that in any given year the number of men reaching military age can be calculated at 1 per cent of the population, or 43,000. But he is realistic enough that given financial constraints, it is better to revise the figure downward to 25,000.
The plan encouraged praise from an MI5 officer based at the Irish Command in Parkgate. Writing on May 30th, 1918 to the war office in London, he says: "It is interesting and useful as an estimate of Irish manpower made by a man who knows Ireland and who is a mathematical professor and likely to be accurate in his figure." And he also notes: "I do not think that it in any way relates to any army which he hoped at present to raise to assist the Germans."