Were Allied Merchant Seamen Interned in Eire in WW2?

[mitch]

Question raised on another Forum about the numbers of servicemen interned in Eire in WW2. I thought the numbers quoted - around 240 mainly Germans and English - seemed extremely low considering the length of the Irish coast's proximity to the Western Approaches and the duration of the Battle of the Atlantic.

Especially when one reads this account of how 164 Kriegsmarine sailors were rescued by the Irish merchantman Kerlogue before being interned at The Curragh for the rest of the war:

http://www.mariner.ie/history/articles/ships/kerlogue

So, was there some arrangement whereby merchant seamen were classed as 'distressed mariners' - and not treated as combatants/ servicemen - and automatically returned to their country of origin rather than being interned? If so, what was that arrangement referred to?

Thanks

[winstonshu]

that's a great story re: the kerlogue, thanks for sharing.

[Admiral John Byng]

I can't answer your question but here is another story about Ireland in the war:

http://www.theworld.org/2011/12/ireland ... -soldiers/