Joe McDonnell
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| Paramilitary organisation | PIRA |
| Date of birth | 14 September, 1951 |
| Place of birth | Falls road, Belfast |
| Hungerstrike started | 9 May, 1981 |
| Died | 8 July, 1981 |
| Days on strike | 61 |
- For other uses, see Joe McDonnell (disambiguation).
Joe McDonnell (Irish name: Seosamh Mac Domhnaill; 14 September 1951 - 8 July 1981) was a Provisional IRA Volunteer, who died in the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike.
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[edit] Early life
McDonnell was born on Slate Street in Lower Falls road of Belfast, and was one of 10 children. He went to a Catholic school which was nearby. In 1970 he married Gorretti, and moved into her sister's house in Lenadoon. There were only two Catholic houses in this predominantly Protestant housing estate, and the house was attacked on numerous occasions.
[edit] IRA Activities
McDonnell was arrested in Operation Demetrius and interned on the Prison ship HMS Maidstone along with Gerry Adams and others. He was later moved to HMP Maze for several months. Upon release he joined the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA. McDonnell met Bobby Sands in the run up to an IRA firebomb attack on the Balmoral Furnishing Company. During the ensuing shootout between the IRA and the British authorities (The RUC and British Army) both men along with Séamas Finucane and Seán Lavery were arrested. McDonnell and the other men were sentenced to 14 years in prison for possession of a firearm. None of the men accepted the jurisdiction of the court.
[edit] Hunger Strike
McDonnell agreed with the Hunger Strikers goals namely: the Right not to wear a prison uniform; the Right not to do prison work; the Right of free association with other prisoners; the Right to organize their own educational and recreational facilities and the Right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week. However, he doubted the need to go on hunger strike, believing that a campaign of disobedience would achieve the objective.
Although McDonnell was not involved in the original Hunger Strike, he joined Bobby Sands and the others in the second hunger strike. During the strike he fought the General Election in the Republic of Ireland, and only narrowly missed election to the Sligo-Leitrim constituency.
He went 61 days without food before dying on the 8th July 1981.
He had two children. His wife Gorretti took an active part in the campaign in support of the hunger strikers. She married again fairly soon after, although she remained proud of her role in the campaign.
[edit] In Popular Culture
Joe McDonnell has had his name reserved his place in popular Irish culture. One of the most popular Irish rebel songs is the song which bears his name, written by Brian Warfield of the Wolfe Tones.
[edit] Allegations
In March 2006, in his book, "The Blanketmen", former prisoner Richard O'Rawe has alleged that three days before McDonnell's death the British Government made a firm offer to the prison leadership substantive enough to end the protest. O'Rawe alleges that while the leadership inside the prison were prepared to go for the deal and end the protest to save the lives of McDonnell and the others who died after him, the leadership outside told them to continue [1].
The PIRA commander inside Long Kesh at the time, Brendan McFarlane (known as "Bik") has publicly disputed this version of events [2].
[edit] References
- ^ The Blanket Meets the Blanketmen Anthony McIntyre speaks with Richard O'Rawe by Anthony McIntyre, The Blanket, 16 May 2006
- ^ Former comrades' war of words over hunger strike by Stephen McCaffrey, Irish News, 12 March 2006, as reproduced on Irelands Own Website
