John Graham (republican)

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John S.S. Graham (1915 in Belfast, Northern Ireland–29 December 1997) was an important I.R.A. activist in the 1940s who, rather unusually, was a Protestant.

He was raised a Protestant, and he was one of a group of Protestants who joined the IRA in the 1940s, and for a time they formed a company of the IRA in Belfast. He rose to become Belfast Commander and Northern Director of Intelligence. Graham was sentenced to prison for an extensive amount of time during the IRA "Border Campaign" in the 1950s and '60s. Whilst in prison, he learned Irish, and started one of the first Irish language newspapers in Belfast (which is now discontinued.) In the late 70's, a book was written about Graham, in which the author used a code name, John Gray, instead of John Graham.

[edit] Personal life

At age 14, John became heavily involved in the world of golf, and went professional. He quickly rose the steps in the Irish pro golf circit, but abandoned the game when he met wife, the noted Irish actress Sheila McGibbon. The two had seven children in the Belfast area, and lived during The Troubles, a time in Northern Ireland when Belfast was wrought with violence.