The Irish in Britain during the Second World War occupied an anomalous and much misunderstood position, being in Bronwen Walter’s apposite analysis, “outsiders inside,” a large minority of nationals of a neutral country residing in a belligerent one. Simultaneously invisible, due to their whiteness and cultural similarities, and hyper-visible as aliens of a neutral country, they were strictly regulated with new forms of identification and police checks. Along with citizens of enemy countries such as Germans and Italians, the Irish “also attracted hostility and suspicion as Fifth Columnists and spies.” The Irish community was not, in fact, demonstrably disloyal to the Allies, but instances such as those reported by Cardinal Hinsley of Westminster to Archbishop Downey of Liverpool of priests and nuns carrying letters from Britain to Ireland to avoid censorship would have stoked fears if they had become public.