In 1943 Martin Quigley was one of three intelligence agents sent to Ireland to evaluate Ireland's neutrality during World War II, or "the Emergency" as it was euphemistically termed by the Irish. The only agent to retain his cover (as a representative of the U.S. film industry), his mission was to confirm or deny the widely-held view that Ireland was unhelpful to the Allies and even pro-German, a sentiment that still obtains in the former Allied countries today.

Quigley's reports from Ireland, finally declassified in 1997 and reproduced in this volume, should once and for all dispel the myths that surround Irish neutrality, and his surprising conclusions will change how historians have traditionally viewed the role of Ireland during World War II. A U.S. Spy in Ireland also provides fascinating insights into the Ireland of 1943-its film business, politicians, church leaders, and social landscape.