A Gaoth Dobhair man has revealed how his late father worked at Bletchley Park – Britain’s World War decoding centre.
Details of the fascinating life of John James Doherty are contained in a letter in today’s Irish Times.
The following is the letter:
Not Alone at Bletchley Park
Sir, – Alan Turing, the computer pioneer, was not alone at Bletchley Park (Britain’s top secret second World War decoding centre) in being of Irish descent (Phil Maguire, An Irishman’s Diary, June 23rd).
My late father, John James Doherty, attended Knockastolar National School, St Eunan’s College Letterkenny and Birmingham University before spending the war at Bletchley Park as a cryptanalyst and translator.
While his languages – German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Russian, Latin, Greek – were fully utilised, he never disclosed whether his knowledge of Irish helped in Hitler’s defeat. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Cnoc an Stollaire,
Gaoth Dobhair, Co Donegal.
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