Adolf Mahr

Adolf Mahr (7 May 1887 – 27 May 1951) was an Austrian archaeologist, who served as director of the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin in the 1930s, and is credited with advancing the work of the museum substantially.

Mahr became a highly controversial figure in twentieth-century Irish history owing to his early leadership of the Dublin Nazi chapter, and propaganda broadcasting from Germany, and was not allowed to return to his role after the Second World War.

Life Early life Mahr was born in May 1887 in Trent in the southern reaches of the Habsburg Empire. His father, Gustav Johann Mahr (1858–1930), and grandfather, Franz Anton Mahr (1830–1891), were military bandmasters and well-known composers. His mother, Maria Antonia Schroll, like his father, was a German from the Sudetenland. Mahr was brought up as a Roman Catholic, later becoming an atheist, and later still (at least nominally) Protestant. Mahr implemented the recommendations of Professor Nils Lithberg on reorganisation of the collections, and otherwise worked to bring order to the museum's holdings. One of his key achievements was the production of a card index of excavations and finds, and he also drove a return to active archaeological dig work, after an interval of decades.

In 1934 Éamon de Valera appointed Mahr as the director of the museum, for which he built an international reputation through creativity and dedication. De Valera was so impressed with his commitment that he wrote him a personal cheque for one excavation project, in Drimnagh, Dublin, for what was then a considerable sum. Notwithstanding his leadership of the local Nazi organisation, Mahr worked with wealthy Jewish donor, Albert Bender of San Francisco, and they exchanged letters over several years. During his time as Nazi leader he recruited roughly 23 Germans.

In January 1946 Mahr was arrested and accused of being a Nazi spy, with a claim that he used his position as Director of the National Museum to plan Hitler's invasion of Ireland. No formal charges were brought.