Confidential report from Art O'Brien to Joseph P. Walshe (Dublin)
(P 19/34) (Confidential)

New American Minister to Ireland

Further to recent correspondence re the above, the American Ambassador in Paris came in to have an aperitif with me this morning and we had a very long chat about a variety of matters, some others of which I will deal with in separate minutes.

In the course of our chat, Mr. Bullitt¹ referred to Mr. Cudahy who has been nominated as American Minister to Ireland. Mr. Cudahy and Mr. Bullitt are very old and intimate friends. At the time that I first wrote to you about the above, I assumed, from the fact that Mr. Cudahy was going as Minister to Ireland, that he was at present Minister in Poland. I find, however, that this is not the fact and that Mr. Cudahy is actually Ambassador in Poland. He has, however, always expressed his desire to be appointed as Minister in Ireland. Mr. Bullitt was in the United States at the time that the recent appointment was made. Mr. Bullitt was then spending a fortnight with the President and he saw the cables which passed in the matter. The President offered Mr. Cudahy a choice between two other Embassies by way of promotion in position, leaving the choice to Mr. Cudahy who, however, replied that rather than be appointed as Ambassador elsewhere, he would still prefer to be nominated as Minister to Ireland and that if the President wished to do him a favour he would be glad that this should be taken into consideration. Mr. Cudahy, therefore, in order to fulfil his ambition as being Minister to Ireland, is taking the very unusual course of going back in rank from Ambassador to Minister. I think Mr. Bullitt was anxious that I should let our Minister of External Affairs know this in order that it might be appreciated how great a desire Mr. Cudahy had to go to Ireland.

Mr. Bullitt said that the Minister will find Mr. Cudahy a very charming man and he is quite certain that he will be very much in his element in Ireland. I understand that Mr. Cudahy is not actually of Irish birth but is of Irish descent in the first generation.