Michael Fitzgerald (Irish Republican)
Encyclopedia
Michael Fitzgerald was a member of the Irish Republican Army
who died on Hunger strike
at Cork
Jail in October 1920.
A native of Ballyoran, Fermoy
, County Cork
, Fitzgerald was educated at the Christian Brothers
School in the town and subsequently found work as a mill worker in the locality. He joined the Irish Volunteers
in 1914 and played an important role in building the local organisation which was soon to become the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He soon rose to the rank of Battalion Commandant, 1st Battalion, Cork No.2 Brigade.
On Easter Sunday, April 20 1919 Michael Fitzgerald led a small group of IRA volunteers who captured Araglin Royal Irish Constabulary
baracks on the Cork / Tipperary border. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to three months imprisonment at Cork Jail.
Fitzgerald was released from prison in August 1919 and immediately returned to active IRA duty. He was involved in the holding up of a party of British Army
troops at the Wesleyan
Church in Fermoy. The troops were disarmed although one of them was killed.
Michael Fitzgerald was again arrested and jailed on 8 September 1920. Once again in Cork Jail he joined a major hunger strike of IRA prisoners at the jail in 1920 and died at the jail on 17 October 1920 after a sixty-seven day hunger strike which also claimed the life of his comrade Joe Murphy
and Terence McSwiney.
Michael Fitzgerald is buried at Kilcrumper Cemetery, on the outskirts of Fermoy.
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
who died on Hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
at Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
Jail in October 1920.
A native of Ballyoran, Fermoy
Fermoy
Fermoy is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on the River Blackwater in the south of Ireland. Its population is some 5,800 inhabitants, environs included ....
, County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...
, Fitzgerald was educated at the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
School in the town and subsequently found work as a mill worker in the locality. He joined the Irish Volunteers
Irish Volunteers
The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...
in 1914 and played an important role in building the local organisation which was soon to become the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He soon rose to the rank of Battalion Commandant, 1st Battalion, Cork No.2 Brigade.
On Easter Sunday, April 20 1919 Michael Fitzgerald led a small group of IRA volunteers who captured Araglin Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
baracks on the Cork / Tipperary border. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to three months imprisonment at Cork Jail.
Fitzgerald was released from prison in August 1919 and immediately returned to active IRA duty. He was involved in the holding up of a party of British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
troops at the Wesleyan
Wesleyanism
Wesleyanism or Wesleyan theology refers, respectively, to either the eponymous movement of Protestant Christians who have historically sought to follow the methods or theology of the eighteenth-century evangelical reformers, John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, or to the likewise eponymous...
Church in Fermoy. The troops were disarmed although one of them was killed.
Michael Fitzgerald was again arrested and jailed on 8 September 1920. Once again in Cork Jail he joined a major hunger strike of IRA prisoners at the jail in 1920 and died at the jail on 17 October 1920 after a sixty-seven day hunger strike which also claimed the life of his comrade Joe Murphy
Joe Murphy (Irish Republican)
Joseph Murphy...
and Terence McSwiney.
Michael Fitzgerald is buried at Kilcrumper Cemetery, on the outskirts of Fermoy.