Charles John 'Nomad' McGuinness (6 March 1893 – 7 December 1947) was an Irish adventurer supposed to have been involved with a myriad of acts of patriotism and nomadic impulses.

In a 1934 autobiography, McGuinness summarised himself as an "Irish Sailor, Soldier, Pearl-fisher, Pirate, Gun-runner, Rum-runner, Rebel and Antarctic Explorer".

Writing for the Irish Independent, Irish historian Breandán Mac Suibhne remarked that "bush-fighter, big-game hunter, hobo, jail-breaker, radio broadcaster, set-maker in Hollywood, construction worker on Long Island, journalist, author of children's literature and internee" could also be reasonably added to that list.

His mother, Margaret Hernan was of Irish descent from Donegal, and his father, John McGuinness, was a ship captain born in the United States.

By August 1914 he had joined the Royal Navy where he served as part of Admiral Reginald Bacon's Dover patrol off the coast of Cameroon.

As the story goes, he was aboard the S.S. Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese steamer, when the shipwrecked and sank at the mouth of shark-infested waters.

Although McGuinness was viewed as an eccentric, having brought a monkey back from Africa to Derry,[3] he was made the commander of the 3rd Battalion of the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) Northern Capacity, and in that capacity, he assisted in the escape of Frank Carty, the commander of the Sligo IRA, from Derry Gaol in February 1921.

[3][5] Following a failed bank raid in the Glenties in County Donegal, McGuinness was captured by British forces in June 1921 and charged with the murder of Inspector Robert Johnson in Glasgow, Scotland which had occurred the previous month.

Before a sympathetic German court, McGuinness' gun-running against the British Empire was deemed to be a minor offence and he was charged a token fine of 2,000 Deutschmarks.

In November 1921, McGuinness jokingly claimed to have established the first-ever "Irish navy" after he successfully purchased a tugboat named "Frieda" in Hamburg, Germany with funds supplied by Robert Briscoe,[7] which he again used to run guns.

Crewed by German sailors and laden full of Gewehr 98 rifles, and Mauser C96 pistols,[7] the Frieda originally sailed for Helvick, County Waterford but, as the ship was nine days late on its rendezvous due to bad weather, there was no one there to greet it, and the ship was forced by fog to offload near Waterford City.

McGuinness went ashore himself and was able to bring back a group of IRA men led by Vincent White, Lord Mayor of Waterford, to unload the cargo.

[3] Sources differ on what became of the Frieda following her successful gun-running in November 1921, but what is not disputed is that McGuinness and Robert Briscoe continued to work together.

For two years in c. 1932, McGuinness claimed to have gone to Soviet Russia to experience a communist-run country, where he worked as a harbour master in the port city of Murmansk.

[3] In late 1936, McGuinness arrived in Spain to fight in the International Brigades on behalf of the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.

[3] By 1942, McGuinness had converted his considerable maritime experience into becoming a chief petty officer with the Irish Naval Service at their base in Haulbowline, County Cork.

[1][12] McGuinness is believed to have died on 4 December 1947 when he drowned alongside four other crew members of the schooner Isaalt that he was piloting off on Ballymoney Strand near Gorey in County Wexford.

[1] "Behind the Red Curtain", published in the United Kingdom in 1936 is a chronicle of McGuinness' time in Russia where he worked as a harbour master for the Port of St. Petersburg.

The introduction titled, "True Story That Will Thrill You," depicts McGuinness's account of his adventures at the time of the Spanish Civil War.

These featured articles depict Charles "Nomad" McGuinness's adventures at the time of the Spanish Civil War.

His first wife, Klara Zuckerkandel (referred to as "Claire" in Ireland) was German, whom he married in Vienna then moved to New York where they had their son, Patrick Joseph.