Leopold H. Kerney (11 December 1881 – 8 June 1962) was the first Irish Minister Plenipotentiary to be appointed to Spain and remained at this post from 1935 until his retirement in 1946. He could be termed a "diplomat by accident" as he began his career in the Irish diplomatic service at the age of 38 when, being primarily interested in promoting direct trade between Ireland and France where he was living at the time, he visited Arthur Griffith in 1919 who appointed him trade representative, then Consul in Paris.[1] The most publicised events of his career during his period in Spain concern his contacts with German agents between 1940 and 1942.[2]

Leopold Harding Kerney
Irish Ambassador to France [fr]
from  Ireland
to  France
In office
19231925
Succeeded byCount Gerald Edward O'Kelly de Gallagh et Tycooly
Irish Ambassador to Spain
from  Ireland
to  Spain
In office
January 1, 1935 – December 31, 1946
Succeeded byJohn Aloysius Belton
Personal details
Born(1881-12-11)11 December 1881
Dublin
Died8 June 1962(1962-06-08) (aged 80)
Dublin
Spouse(s)Raymonde (m. 14 August 1914), daughter of Pierre Elie, cooper, and Eugénie Julie Verdier, of Saint-Caprice, France.
ChildrenJohn/Jean, Micheline, and Eamon.
Parents
  • Philip Joseph Kerney, journalist, sub-editor of the Daily Express (Dublin) and editor of the Weekly Irish Times. (father)
  • Annie Kerney (née Knight). (mother)
Alma materspent some years at Trinity College, Dublin, though he left without graduating.

Details

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References

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  1. ^ "Leopold H Kerney". leopoldhkerney.com. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Leopold H. Kerney, Irish Minister to Spain 1935–1946 – History Ireland". 25 February 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  3. ^ In captured Bilbao, the Irish Free State Minister to Spain, Mr. L. H. Kerney, reported after minute investigation the assassination by- Anarchists, before they evacuated Bilbao, Time Volume 30, 1937, p. 25
  4. ^ Dermot Keogh, Ireland and Europe, 1919–1948, Gill & MacMillan, Limited, 1988, 256 p., p. 253[1][2]
  5. ^ James Patrick Byrne, Philip Coleman, Ireland and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History, p. 257
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