A Fascist Ireland
The Irisih Blueshirts today are not considered today as a real facsists party. The Blueshirts were founded in 1933 Eoin O'Duffy, former Irish civil servant. Let's say that in TTL, O'Duffy based his Irisih Independence Party on the Italian facisist party. In August of that same year, he planned a march on Dublin, similar to Mussolini's March on Rome.
O'Duffy moves on Dublin, and seizes control of the government, with help from the army. O'Duffy, seen as an incompetent leader, turns out to be an extremley competent, shrewd, and caluclating man. His Blueshirts-now named the grayshirts, and wearing gray shirts-begin prowling the countryside for enemies of the state.
In 1934, Hitler apporached O'Duffy with an alliance. Ireland will become an ally of Germany, and help in her development of tanks and aricraft. In exchange, Ireland will be protected, and naval assistance will be provided. To show has serious he was, Hitler presented O'Duffy with the uncompleted hull of a Deutchland-class panzerschiffe, to be called the Michael Collins.
O'Duffy agreed at once. Ireland began development of new aircraft and tanks for itself and Germany, while work on the Michael Collins was steady. She was commisioned in 1936.
In Spain, the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1937. O'Duffy orgainzed several units of infnatry, armor, and aircraft, along with the Michael Collins. The Michael Collins sunk the Royalist battleship Jamie I off the coast of Spain.
Britian, while all this happened, began to worry. With a pro-German government in Irleand, along with a navy equiped with a pocket battleship (with two more on the way) and a powerful army, Britian feared that Ireland could overrun Northern Ireland.
The Irish Expeditionary Force returned on May 3rd, 1939 after helping Fransico Franco win the Spanish Civil War. The Irish Navy now had two more capital ships (battlecruisers), the Arthur Griffith and the Dublin. The Irish Army was powerful and mechanized, and the Irish Air Force was probally one of the most powerful air arms in the world. And in late 1939, this military capaiblity would be put to the test.