The Irishman who made Churchill great.

(From Irish Independent)

Winston Churchill could never be regarded as one of Ireland's greatest friends. His first memories were as a young child in Dublin, walking in the Phoenix Parkwhere his nanny whispered dark warnings about murderous Fenians. The memories musthave made an impression because as late as 1940 he was proposing that Irish ports should be retaken by force to serve the British war effort. Suspicion of all things Irish lingered throughout his life.

Yet it was an Irishman who turned out to be Churchill's greatest friend, who rescued him from disaster and who made it possible for him to become Prime Minister of Britain.

Brendan Bracken was a most unlikely saviour. A rogue, a fantasist, an outrageous socialscrounger - and a man who often claimed to be Churchill's illegitimate son. He rose tobe Churchill's chief parliamentary aide and Minister of Information in his wartimegovernment and then on to become First Lord of the Admiralty and a viscount, too. Not bad for a boy from Tipperary who spent his early years as tearaway in Dublin after hisfather died when he was just three.

Bracken's passions and guile were inherited from his father, Joseph, a stonemason from Templemore. He was a member of the banned Republican Brotherhood and a friend ofJohn Stuart Parnell and Michael Davitt. Joseph's lawlessness got him excommunicated,but it did nothing to dim his ingenuity. At night he would prowl the darkness to blow upbuildings owned by the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, and in the morning knock on what was left of the door and get paid for rebuilding them.

His son Brendan adopted even more disguises. Determined to break into English society, at the age of 19 he presented himself at the doors of Sedbergh, one of England's finest public schools, claiming to be a 15-year-old orphan from Australia and demandingadmission. When the headmaster showed himself to be less than enthusiastic, Bracken drew out a chequebook and signed a cheque for the first term's fees. He was on his way.

His ambition was extraordinary. He briefly became a school teacher and when parentscomplained about his authoritarian methods, threatened to sue them for defamation. He studied the great families of England and would pretend some distant connection withthem.