Ireland was one of the four nations that comprised the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Its capital was Dublin, which was the centre of British administration on the island.
Canon appearances[]
"The Adventure of the Cardboard Box"[]
Sherlock Holmes investigates a package containing a human ear sent to Miss Susan Cushing from Belfast, Ireland. Holmes traces the package to James Browner, the estranged husband of Susan's sister Mary. Browner serves as a steward for the May Day, a ship belonging to the Dublin and London Steam Packet Company. The ship was scheduled to dock at Belfast, Dublin, and Waterfold; thus, Belfast would have been the first opportunity for him to post the package after leaving England.
"The Adventure of the Crooked Man"[]
Colonel James Barclay was formerly the commander one of the most famous Irish regiments in the British Army, called the Royal Mallows in some editions and the Royal Munsters in others. Mallow is a town in County Cork; the Royal Munsters were a highly decorated historical regiment based in Tralee in County Kerry.
The Valley of Fear[]
McMurdo is from County Monaghan in northern Ireland. McMurdo's dangerously charming ways are ascribed to his "glib Irish tongue".
"His Last Bow"[]
In the lead-up to World War I, the Germans were stoking Irish separatism to weaken Britain. To infiltrate the German spy operation, Holmes disguised himself as an Irish-American rebel named Altamont. Holmes spent two years on his ruse, entering secret societies in Chicago and Buffalo, New York. They sent him on an unspecified mission to Skibbereen, County Cork, where he caused "serious trouble for the constabulary". His success in the Skibbereen operation brought him to the German spymaster von Bork's attention, and he recruited him to spy against the British. Holmes' act was so convincing that shortly before his arrest von Bork told the German ambassador, Baron von Herling, that the animosity between the Germans and English was nothing compared to the hatred of a "real bitter Irish-American".
Trivia[]
- Ireland was split in two after the First World War and the Irish War of Independence from 1919-1921. The northern part remained part of the United Kingdom, while the southern part was made into the Republic of Ireland.