Retirement and Death
O'Duffy returned to Ireland from Spain in disarray. He retired from politics completely, apart from a low-level dalliance with Nazism. He is thought to have met with IRA figures and members of the German consulate in the summer of 1939. (See main article.) In the summer of 1943 O'Duffy approached the German Legation in Dublin with an offer to organise an Irish Volunteer Legion for use on the Russian Front. He explained his offer to the German ambassador as a wish to "save Europe from Bolshevism". He requested an aircraft to be sent from Germany so that he could conduct the necessary negotiations in Berlin. The offer was "not taken seriously". By this time his health had begun to seriously deteriorate and he died on 30 November 1944, aged 52. He was afforded a state funeral by the government. Following requiem mass in the Pro-Cathedral he was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Read more about this topic: Eoin O'Duffy
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