David Neligan

David Neligan (1899–1983), known by his soubriquet "The Spy in the Castle", was an important figure involved in the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and subsequently became Director of Intelligence for the Irish Army after the Irish Civil War (1922–23).

David Neligan was born at Templeglantine, Limerick where his parents, David and Elizabeth Neligan, were primary school teachers. He was an accomplished hurler with his local Templeglantine GAA Club.

Against his father's wishes, Neligan joined the Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) in 1917, and was recruited into the G Division in 1919. In May 1920 Neligan's elder brother Maurice (1895–1920), an Irish Republican Army (IRA) member and friend of Michael Collins, persuaded him to resign from the DMP.

After his resignation Neligan returned to his native County Limerick. Shortly afterward his brother Maurice was killed in a motorcycle accident, near their home in Templeglantine. In the meantime Neligan received word from a family friend that Michael Collins wished to meet with him in Dublin. Collins persuaded Neligan to rejoin the DMP and provide information to the IRA. Along with Eamon Broy and James McNamara, he acted as a valuable agent for Collins and passed on reams of vital information.

In 1921 Collins ordered Neligan to let himself be recruited into MI5. He used this as an opportunity to memorise their passwords and the identities of their agents. All of this was passed on to Collins. After Broy and McNamara were dismissed in 1921, Neligan became Collins' most important mole in Dublin Castle.

On the outbreak of the Civil War in June 1922, Neligan joined the National Army in Islandbridge barracks with the rank of Commandant, and was attached to the Dublin Guard. He was involved in the seaborne assault on Fenit and spent the remainder of the war serving as a local intelligence officer operating between Ballymullen Barracks Tralee & Killarney. He has been accused of involvement in several atrocities including the Ballyseedy Massacre. However, Ernie O'Malley expressed doubts as to the evidence of this. In 1923 Neligan was posted to Dublin, where he was promoted to Colonel and succeeded Diarmuid O'Hegarty as National Army Director of Intelligence.

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