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Michael Gaughan (Irish republican hunger striker)
Encyclopedia
Michael Gaughan was a Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) hunger strike
r who died in 1974 in Parkhurst Prison
on the Isle of Wight
, England.
, County Mayo
, in 1949. Gaughan grew up at Healy Terrace and was educated at St Muredach's College
, Ballina, and after finishing his schooling, he emigrated from Ireland to England in search of work.
Whilst in London, Gaughan became a member of the Official IRA (OIRA) through Official Sinn Féin's English wing Clann na hÉireann and became an IRA volunteer
in a London-based active service unit
. In December 1971, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey
to seven years imprisonment for his part in an IRA fundraising mission to rob a bank in Hornsey
, north London, which yielded just £530, and for the possession of two revolvers.
Gaughan was initially imprisoned at Wormwood Scrubs
, where he spent two years before being transferred to the top security Albany Prison
on the Isle of Wight. Whilst at Albany Prison, Gaughan requested political status; this was refused, and he was then put in solitary confinement. He was later transferred to Parkhurst Prison, where four of the Belfast Ten were on hunger strike for political status.
On 31 March 1974, Gaughan, along with Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly
, Paul Holme, Hugh Feeney
and fellow Mayoman Frank Stagg
, went on hunger strike to support the fight of Dolours
and Marion Price to obtain political status and to be transferred to a jail in Ireland. The prisoners demands were as follows.
hunger strikers. According to the National Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee, "six to eight guards would restrain the prisoner and drag him or her by the hair to the top of the bed, where they would stretch the prisoner’s neck over the metal rail, force a block between his or her teeth and then pass a feeding tube, which extended down the throat, through a hole in the block."
After visiting Michael in jail, his brother John described his condition: "His throat had been badly cut by force feeding and his teeth loosened. His eyes were sunken, his cheeks hollow and his mouth was gaping open. He weighed about six stone."
During his hunger strike, his weight dropped from 160 lb to 84 lb Gaughan was force-fed from 22 April and this occurred 17 times during course of his hunger strike. The last time he was force-fed was the night before his death on Sunday 2 June. After a hunger strike that lasted 64 days, he died on Monday 3 June 1974, aged 24 years old.
The cause of his death was disputed. The British government stated that he died of pneumonia; the Gaughan family stated that he died after prison doctors injured him fatally when food lodged in a lung punctured by a force-feeding tube.
Gaughan's death caused controversy in English medical circles, as some forms of treatment can be classed as assault if given without the express permission of the patient.
The timing of his death came just one week after the British Government had capitulated to the demands of Loyalist
hunger strikers. After Gaughan's death, the British government's policy of force-feeding ended, and the remaining hunger strikers were given assurances that they would be repatriated to Irish prisons. However, these promises were reneged on by the British government.
His death is referenced in the song "Take me Home to Mayo," also known as "The Ballad of Michael Gaughan," composed by Seamus Robinson
and performed and recorded by many Irish musicians including Christy Moore
, the Wolfe Tones
and Derek Warfield
and the Dublin City Ramblers
.
Gaughan's body was initially removed from London and on Friday, 7 June, and on Saturday, 8 June 1974, over 3,000 mourners lined the streets of Kilburn and marched behind his coffin, which was flanked by an IRA honour guard, to a requiem mass
held in the Church of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus in Kilburn.
On Saturday, his body was transported to Dublin, where again it was met by mourners and another IRA guard of honour
who brought it to the Adam and Eve's
Franciscan
church on Merchant's Quay, where thousands filed past as it lay in state
. The following day, his body was removed to Ballina, County Mayo. The funeral mass took place on 9 June, at St. Muredach's Cathedral, Ballina, and the procession then led to Leigue Cemetery, Ballina. Gaughan was given a full republican burial and was laid to rest in the Republican plot
, where Frank Stagg
would also join him after being reburied in November 1976. His funeral was attended by over 50,000 people and was larger than the funeral of former Irish president Éamon de Valera
.
Mayo Republican
Jackie Clarke (Irish name
: Seán Ó Clérigh) presided at the last obsequies, and the oration at his graveside was given by Dáithí Ó Conaill
, who stated that Gaughan had "been tortured in prison by the vampires of a discredited empire who were joined by decrepit politicians who were a disgrace to the name of Irishmen".
His coffin was draped in the same Tricolour
that was used for Terence McSwiney's funeral 54 years earlier, the same flag would later be used in the funeral of James McDade
who was a IRA member killed in a premature explosion in Coventry.
The funeral had embarrassed the anti-Republican Fine Gael
/Labour
coalition government
in Ireland at the time and its then-Taoiseach
, Liam Cosgrave
. Paddy Cooney, Minister for Justice at the time, has said that the IRA intimidated businesses in the towns that the funeral procession passed through, forcing them to close.
and Sinn Féin
which includes a march from the Humbert monument
in Ballina to Leigue Cemetery. The Republican Sinn Féin Cumann in Mayo is named the McNeela-Gaughan-Stagg Cumann.
On 12 February 2006, a mural
, dedicated to Stagg and Gaughan, was unveiled on the Falls Road in Belfast
.
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) 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...
r who died in 1974 in Parkhurst Prison
Parkhurst (HM Prison)
HMP Isle of Wight - Parkhurst Barracks is a prison situated in Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.Parkhurst prison is one of the three prisons that make up HMP Isle of Wight, the other two being Camp Hill, and Albany...
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, England.
Background
Gaughan, the eldest of six children, was born in BallinaBallina, County Mayo
Ballina is a large town in north County Mayo in Ireland. It lies at the mouth of the River Moy near Killala Bay, in the Moy valley and Parish of Kilmoremoy, with the Ox Mountain range to the east and the Nephin Beg mountains to the west...
, County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
, in 1949. Gaughan grew up at Healy Terrace and was educated at St Muredach's College
St Muredach's College
St Muredach's College is an all-boys secondary school on the banks of the River Moy in Ballina, County Mayo. It was founded in 1906 to provide a Catholic education for boys in the Killala Diocese.- History :...
, Ballina, and after finishing his schooling, he emigrated from Ireland to England in search of work.
Whilst in London, Gaughan became a member of the Official IRA (OIRA) through Official Sinn Féin's English wing Clann na hÉireann and became an IRA volunteer
Volunteer (Irish republican)
Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
in a London-based active service unit
Active Service Unit
An active service unit was a Provisional Irish Republican Army cell of five to eight members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002 the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units....
. In December 1971, he was sentenced at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
to seven years imprisonment for his part in an IRA fundraising mission to rob a bank in Hornsey
Hornsey
Hornsey is a district in London Borough of Haringey in north London in England. Whilst Hornsey was formerly the name of a parish and later a municipal borough of Middlesex, today, the name refers only to the London district. It is an inner-suburban area located north of Charing Cross.-Locale:The ...
, north London, which yielded just £530, and for the possession of two revolvers.
Gaughan was initially imprisoned at Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs
Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs, is an open space located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the Borough, at 80 ha , and one of the largest areas of common land in London...
, where he spent two years before being transferred to the top security Albany Prison
Albany (HM Prison)
HMP Isle of Wight - Albany Barracks is a Category B men's prison, situated on the outskirts of Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....
on the Isle of Wight. Whilst at Albany Prison, Gaughan requested political status; this was refused, and he was then put in solitary confinement. He was later transferred to Parkhurst Prison, where four of the Belfast Ten were on hunger strike for political status.
On 31 March 1974, Gaughan, along with Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly
Gerry Kelly
Gerard "Gerry" Kelly is an Irish republican politician and former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer who played a leading role in the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998...
, Paul Holme, Hugh Feeney
Hugh Feeney
Hugh Feeney was a volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who, together with Dolours Price and Marian Price, organised the car bombings of the Old Bailey and Scotland Yard on March 8, 1973...
and fellow Mayoman Frank Stagg
Frank Stagg
Frank Stagg -Background:Stagg was the seventh child in a family of thirteen children, born at Hollymount near Ballinrobe, County Mayo,...
, went on hunger strike to support the fight of Dolours
Dolours Price
Dolours Price is a former volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army . She is also a politicial activist and critic of Gerry Adams and the current leadership of Sinn Féin.-Early life:...
and Marion Price to obtain political status and to be transferred to a jail in Ireland. The prisoners demands were as follows.
- The right to political statusSpecial Category StatusIn July 1972, William Whitelaw, the British government's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, granted Special Category Status to all prisoners convicted of Troubles-related offences...
, - The right to wear their own clothes,
- A guarantee that he would not be returned to solitary confinementSolitary confinementSolitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
, - The right to educational facilities and not engage in penal labour,
- The setting of a reasonable date for a transfer to an Irish prison,
Force-feeding
British policy at this time was to force feedForce-feeding
Force-feeding is the practice of feeding a person or an animal against their will. "Gavage" is supplying a nutritional substance by means of a small plastic tube passed through the nose or mouth into the stomach, not explicitly 'forcibly'....
hunger strikers. According to the National Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee, "six to eight guards would restrain the prisoner and drag him or her by the hair to the top of the bed, where they would stretch the prisoner’s neck over the metal rail, force a block between his or her teeth and then pass a feeding tube, which extended down the throat, through a hole in the block."
After visiting Michael in jail, his brother John described his condition: "His throat had been badly cut by force feeding and his teeth loosened. His eyes were sunken, his cheeks hollow and his mouth was gaping open. He weighed about six stone."
During his hunger strike, his weight dropped from 160 lb to 84 lb Gaughan was force-fed from 22 April and this occurred 17 times during course of his hunger strike. The last time he was force-fed was the night before his death on Sunday 2 June. After a hunger strike that lasted 64 days, he died on Monday 3 June 1974, aged 24 years old.
The cause of his death was disputed. The British government stated that he died of pneumonia; the Gaughan family stated that he died after prison doctors injured him fatally when food lodged in a lung punctured by a force-feeding tube.
Gaughan's death caused controversy in English medical circles, as some forms of treatment can be classed as assault if given without the express permission of the patient.
The timing of his death came just one week after the British Government had capitulated to the demands of Loyalist
Loyalist
In general, a loyalist is someone who maintains loyalty to an established government, political party, or sovereign, especially during war or revolutionary change. In modern English usage, the most common application is to loyalty to the British Crown....
hunger strikers. After Gaughan's death, the British government's policy of force-feeding ended, and the remaining hunger strikers were given assurances that they would be repatriated to Irish prisons. However, these promises were reneged on by the British government.
Final message
Michael Gaughan left a final message:His death is referenced in the song "Take me Home to Mayo," also known as "The Ballad of Michael Gaughan," composed by Seamus Robinson
Seamus Robinson (songwriter)
Seamus Robinson was an Irish composer born in the Carrick Hill area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Working in the English or Irish language, he composed many patriotic ballads and folk-songs....
and performed and recorded by many Irish musicians including Christy Moore
Christy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...
, the Wolfe Tones
Wolfe Tones
The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band who incorporate elements of Irish traditional music in their songs. They are named after the Irish rebel and patriot Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double entendre that a wolf tone is a spurious sound...
and Derek Warfield
Derek Warfield
Derek Warfield is an Irish singer, songwriter, historian, and a founding member of the musical group Wolfe Tones.-Personal life:Warfield was born the eldest of four in Inchicore, Dublin in 1943 and he was educated at Synge Street CBS. He was apprenticed as a tailor until becoming a folk musician....
and the Dublin City Ramblers
Dublin City Ramblers
-History:The Dublin City Ramblers began life in the mid 60's as the Jolly Tinkers, but due to the existence of ballad groups with same name, they decided to change their name to the Quare Fellas. At this time the line up consisted of Patsy Watchorn, brothers Sean and Matt McGuiness and Pat Cummins...
.
Funeral
Requiem
A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead , is a Mass celebrated for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal...
held in the Church of the Sacred Heart
Church of the Sacred Heart
Church of the Sacred Heart may refer to:*Church of the Sacred Heart, Hove, East Sussex, England*Church of the Sacred Heart, Singapore*Sacred Heart Cathedral of Guangzhou...
of Jesus in Kilburn.
On Saturday, his body was transported to Dublin, where again it was met by mourners and another IRA guard of honour
Guard of honour
A guard of honour is a ceremonial event practice in military and sports as a mark of respect.-Military:In the military a guard of honour is a ceremonial practice to honour visiting foreign dignitaries, or the fallen in war, or a ceremony for public figures who have died.The commander is three paces...
who brought it to the Adam and Eve's
Church of the Immaculate Conception, Dublin
Church of the Immaculate Conception also known as Adam and Eve's is a Roman Catholic church run by the Franciscans and it is located on Merchants Quay, Dublin.-History:...
Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
church on Merchant's Quay, where thousands filed past as it lay in state
Lying in state
Lying in state is a term used to describe the tradition in which a coffin is placed on view to allow the public at large to pay their respects to the deceased. It traditionally takes place in the principal government building of a country or city...
. The following day, his body was removed to Ballina, County Mayo. The funeral mass took place on 9 June, at St. Muredach's Cathedral, Ballina, and the procession then led to Leigue Cemetery, Ballina. Gaughan was given a full republican burial and was laid to rest in the Republican plot
Republican plot
In Ireland, a republican plot is a cemetery plot where combatants or members of various Irish republican organisations are buried in a common grave, as opposed to being buried with family members. These plots may often also hold the bodies of casualties of earlier 19th and 20th-century campaigns by...
, where Frank Stagg
Frank Stagg
Frank Stagg -Background:Stagg was the seventh child in a family of thirteen children, born at Hollymount near Ballinrobe, County Mayo,...
would also join him after being reburied in November 1976. His funeral was attended by over 50,000 people and was larger than the funeral of former Irish president Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera
Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...
.
Mayo Republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
Jackie Clarke (Irish name
Irish name
A formal Irish-language name consists of a given name and a surname. Surnames in Irish are generally patronymic in etymology, although they are no longer literal patronyms, as Icelandic names are...
: Seán Ó Clérigh) presided at the last obsequies, and the oration at his graveside was given by Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill
Dáithí Ó Conaill was an Irish republican, a member of the IRA Army Council, vice-president of Sinn Féin and Republican Sinn Féin. He was also the first chief of staff of the Continuity IRA.-Joins IRA:...
, who stated that Gaughan had "been tortured in prison by the vampires of a discredited empire who were joined by decrepit politicians who were a disgrace to the name of Irishmen".
His coffin was draped in the same Tricolour
Flag of Ireland
The national flag of Ireland is a vertical tricolour of green , white, and orange. It is also known as the Irish tricolour. The flag proportion is 1:2...
that was used for Terence McSwiney's funeral 54 years earlier, the same flag would later be used in the funeral of James McDade
James McDade
James Patrick McDade was a volunteer and a lieutenant in the Birmingham Battalion of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who was killed in a premature explosion while planting a bomb at the Coventry telephone exchange in 1974.- Early life :Born in Oakfield Street in the Ardoyne area of north...
who was a IRA member killed in a premature explosion in Coventry.
The funeral had embarrassed the anti-Republican Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
/Labour
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
coalition government
Government of the 20th Dáil
The 20th Dáil was elected at the 1973 general election on 28 February 1973 and first met on 14 March when the 14th Government of Ireland was appointed...
in Ireland at the time and its then-Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
, Liam Cosgrave
Liam Cosgrave
Liam Cosgrave is an Irish Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach and as Leader of Fine Gael . He was a Teachta Dála from 1943 to 1981....
. Paddy Cooney, Minister for Justice at the time, has said that the IRA intimidated businesses in the towns that the funeral procession passed through, forcing them to close.
Commemoration
There is an annual lecture and commemoration in honour of Gaughan, Frank Stagg and Sean McNeela at the Republican plot in Ballina by Republican Sinn FéinRepublican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin or RSF is an unregisteredAlthough an active movement, RSF is not registered as a political party in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. minor political party operating in Ireland. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin...
and Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
which includes a march from the Humbert monument
Jean Joseph Amable Humbert
General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert was a French soldier, a participant in the French Revolution, who led a failed invasion of Ireland to assist Irish rebels in 1798....
in Ballina to Leigue Cemetery. The Republican Sinn Féin Cumann in Mayo is named the McNeela-Gaughan-Stagg Cumann.
On 12 February 2006, a mural
Northern Irish murals
Murals in Northern Ireland have become symbols of Northern Ireland, depicting the region's past and present political and religious divisions.Northern Ireland contains arguably the most famous political murals. Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern Ireland since the 1970s...
, dedicated to Stagg and Gaughan, was unveiled on the Falls Road in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
.