Leopold H. Kerney

Who is Leopold H. Kerney?

Leopold H. Kerney 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. The most publicised events of his career during his period in Spain concern his contacts with German agents between 1940 and 1942.