Seán McCaughey
Seán McCaughey , Irish : Seán Mac Eóchaidh (born June 8, 1915 in Aughnacloy , County Tyrone , Northern Ireland ; † May 11, 1946 in Port Laoise , County Laois , Republic of Ireland ), was a metal worker. He joined the Irish Republican Army (IRA) at the age of 18 , and claims he was a lieutenant general there . He was the last of the IRA's twelve hunger strikers to die in the 1940s.
Seán McCaughey came to Belfast with his parents when he was five . He taught Irish in the Glens of Antrim during the summer . He was briefly imprisoned in the late 1930s.
Believing that the leader of the IRA, Stephen Hayes , was a spy, he and others have apprehended and interrogated him. While Hayes was still in IRA custody, McCaughey was arrested and when Hayes escaped he later testified in military tribunal. This resulted in McCaughey being sentenced to death, enforceable by firing squad. This sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
In September 1941 he was taken to Port Laoise prison , where he was isolated under inhumane conditions in a solitary cell that he was not allowed to leave. In Portlaoise Prison , McCaughey refused to wear prison clothing and was given blankets for five years. McCaughey was not allowed to see sunlight or move in the fresh air while in prison. He started his hunger strike on April 19, 1946. After 16 days he stopped drinking and died on May 11, 1946, the 23rd day of his protest.
He was buried in his family's grave, administered by the National Graves Association in Belfast, in Milltown Cemetery on the Republican Plot .
In his memory and commemoration there are songs about his life and suffering and annual memorial days by Republican organizations of Ireland on the occasion of his death.
Web links
- McCaughey's Doom . Time Magazine dated September 29, 1941
- National Graves Association
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mairtin Og Meehan: Finely Tempered Steel: McCaughey and the IRA . Republican Publications, 2006, ISBN 0-05429463-7 , p. 63.
- ↑ a b c Sean McCaughey Anniversary of May 11, 2009 . Retrieved December 15, 2010
- ↑ Sean Mc Caughey: Irish Songs Lyrics With Guitar Chords By Martin Dardis at www.martindardis.com . Retrieved December 15, 2010
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | McCaughey, Seán |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mac Eóchaidh, Seán (Irish) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Irish resistance fighter and hunger striker |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 8, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Aughnacloy , County Tyrone |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 11, 1946 |
| Place of death | Portlaoise , County Laois |