Terence MacSwiney
Terence MacSwiney ( Irish Traolach Mac Suibhne , born March 20, 1879 in Cork , † October 25, 1920 in London ) was an Irish politician and writer.
MacSwiney attended the North Monastery Christian Brothers' School and studied at the Royal University of Ireland . An enthusiastic advocate of the Irish language , he was a founding member of the Cork Celtic Literary Society in 1901 , and of the Cork Dramatic Society with Daniel Corkery in 1908 , for which he wrote several plays. MacSwiney was an important figure in the formation of the Irish Volunteers in Cork in 1913. After the Easter Rising in April 1916, he was arrested that same month and was not released until December of that year. He was arrested again from February to June 1917 and arrested again in November; MacSwiney had been caught wearing an IRA uniform. He was released after a three-day hunger strike. In 1918 he was elected to the First Dail for the Sinn Féin . As the reigning Lord Mayor of Cork (in March 1920 Lord Mayor of Cork ) Tomás Mac Curtain was murdered, MacSwiney was elected the new mayor. MacCurtain had also been a member of the Irish Volunteers and the Sinn Féin. In addition to MacSwiney's work as Lord Mayor of Cork, he was also in command of the First Cork Brigade of the Irish Volunteers.
On August 12, 1920, MacSwiney was arrested for possession of seditious writings and an encryption key used by the Royal Irish Constabulary to encode messages. Four days later he was tried and sentenced to two years in prison and detained in Brixton Prison in London. After his conviction, MacSwiney soon went on hunger strike with nine other prisoners . The ongoing hunger strike attracted worldwide attention. Many important personalities, including Pope Benedict XV. and New York City Mayor, John F. Hylan , campaigned for the strikers to be released. However, the British authorities could not be changed. On October 17th, Michael Fitzgerald, the first striker, died. Joseph Murray followed him a few hours later. MacSwiney died on the 74th day of the strike as a result of increasing exhaustion. In his honor there were parades in several US cities and commemorative events in Paris , Montreal and Belfast . MacSwiney's body was transferred to Cork and buried next to MacCurtain in Saint Finbarr's Cemetery . The funeral took place on November 1st with nationwide sympathy and drew a large crowd.
The remaining prisoners who were still alive continued their hunger strike for another 20 days before finally ending it after 94 days at the request of Arthur Griffith . At that point, they were so weak that they could only survive with medical help. The hunger strike organized by MacSwiney and his fellow prisoners is the longest documented case of this kind in history.
In addition to his political activities, MacSwiney was also considered a talented writer. Among other things, he wrote the drama "The Revolutionist", several volumes of poetry and a volume of essays entitled "The Principles of Freedom". The latter was published posthumously in New York City in 1921.
His sister Mary and his brother Seán were elected to the Dáil Éireann after the death of their brother in 1921.
Web links
- Entry on the Cork City page
- Entry on the University College Dublin website
- Newspaper article about Terence MacSwiney in the press kit 20th Century of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/terence-macswiney/ ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Famous Fasts in History Terence Macswiney , Report on the Hunger Strike
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | MacSwiney, Terence |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Mac Suibhne, Traolach |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Irish politician and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 20, 1879 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cork |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 25, 1920 |
| Place of death | London |