Irish Republican Hungerstrikes 1917-1981 – Pádraic MacCoitir
Growing up my parents encouraged me to read books and when I was about nine or ten I joined the local library in Andersonstown. Some of the books that were in the house didn’t excite me although I had a bit of an interest in history books. I was always fascinated by hunger strikes and little did I know that when I got older I would get to know some men who would die on hunger strike in 1981.
My father, Pat McCotter, didn’t speak a lot about his time in prison but I remember him telling me about the 45 days he was on hunger strike in Crumlin Road gaol, Belfast. Hunger strikes had been a weapon of resistance used by Irish republican prisoners in previous campaigns as they fought for political status. The British always tried to criminalise our struggle and when men and women found themselves imprisoned different forms of protest took place – either by refusing to do prison work or wear prison clothes. The first prisoner to pay the ultimate price was Thomas Ashe who died after being force-fed in September 1917. His funeral in Dublin was the biggest seen since that of O’Donovan Rossa in August 1915 and it was a turning point in mobilising the Irish Volunteers and more importantly the IRB who were still intent on continuing the struggle to rid Ireland of the British empire.
In the 1920s more men were to die on hunger strike, some of whom died whilst imprisoned by the Free Staters. ( Michael Fitzgerald, Terence McSwiney, Joseph Murphy, Joe Witty, Dennis Barry, Andy O’Sullivan.)
My father was a comrade of Seán McCaughey having been imprisoned with him in Arbor Hill prison in Dublin. After their release they reported back to the IRA and they maintained regular contact. The last time they would have met was 1940 shortly before my father’s capture in South Armagh. McCaughey himself was captured in 1941 after the informer, Stephen Hayes, escaped from the IRA and ran to a local garda station in Ballsbridge Dublin. Hayes was the Chief-of Staff of the IRA but some of his comrades suspected him of being an informer and they arrested him. After a number of weeks he escaped and when the special branch, known as the ‘Broy Harriers’, went to the house a gun battle ensued and a number of men were shot and captured. They appeared in front of a military tribunal and were sentenced to life imprisonment. Whilst in Portlaoise they refused to do prison work or wear a uniform so they embarked on a blanket protest. McCaughey went on hunger and thirst strike and died in May 1946 after 23 days. My father told me morale in Crumlin Road gaol was as low as it had been when Tom Williams was executed in September 1942. Others who died in the 1940s were Tony Darcy and Jack McNeela
As I got older I went to many protests, some of which were held in support of hunger strikers here and in England. One such protest that had a profound effect on me was in Andersonstown and some people on the platform were doing a reenactment of force feeding. This was in response to prisoners being force-fed when they were on hunger strike demanding they be transferred to prisons in Ireland. One of those prisoners, Michael Gaughan, died in March 1974 in Parkhurst prison. His comrade and fellow Mayo man Frank Stagg died in Wakefield gaol in February 1976. Later that year I was imprisoned in Crumlin Road and it was there I met Bobby Sands, Raymond McCreesh and Joe McDonnell. The following year we ended up on the blanket protest and we saw each other every Sunday at mass. Like other generations of political prisoners we were on protest because we were never going to accept being treated as criminals. Conditions were very bad and they were to get worse when we embarked on a no-wash protest. There was no end in sight and it was inevitable the next step would be a hunger strike.
Shortly before my release in July 1979 we were asked by the camp staff to discuss our next move. It was very difficult for me to give my opinion because I knew I would be due for release before any decision taken by the men would be enacted. And therefore I did not take part in the decision to go on hunger strike because I knew I wouldn’t be there.
When I was out a hunger strike began in October 1980. I knew some of the men on it and whenever I attended protests I was asked to speak publicly but I was reluctant to do so as I didn’t wish to draw attention to myself. That hunger strike ended after 53 days and when news came through we were ecstatic because we believed a resolution to the protest had been reached. However, within days we were told the British government had reneged on an agreement.
The following March Bobby Sands embarked on another hunger strike and unfortunately he died on May 5th. Another nine were to die, Francis Hughes, Raymond McCreesh, Patsy O’Hara, Joe McDonnell, Martin Hurson, Kevin Lynch, Kieran Doherty, Tom McIlwee and Micky Devine, in the H-Blocks.
Much has been written about those turbulent days and how much they have impacted on the struggle. Without a doubt it was one of the most pivotal events in our long history of struggle against Britain imperialism. It led to many people getting involved in politics and I would argue it changed the course of history. Republicanism was at its strongest in generations and in my opinion it was the closest we got to achieving a Socialist Republic.
