Hugh McAteer

Last updated • 3 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Hugh McAteer
Aodh Mac an tSaoir
Hugh McAteer.jpg
Chief of Staff of the IRA
In office
19 July 1942 12 October 1942
Rank
UnitDerry Battalion
Battles/wars Northern Campaign

Hugh McAteer (Irish : Aodh Mac an tSaoir; 13 August 1916 – 24 June 1970) was a volunteer in, and leader of, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during their Northern Campaign, and later in 1950 and 1964 unsuccessfully contested for a seat in the British Parliament.

Contents

Biography

Hugh McAteer's family came from northern Donegal, they suffered greatly during the Great Famine (Ireland). During the famine, McAteer's grandfather was the only survivor among six children. As a young boy McAteer joined Fianna Éireann, an Irish nationalist youth organization. He remembered that in 1928 his group was meeting in a field when the police surrounded the field and fired shots over the heads of the boys. [1] At age 15 McAteer joined the Gaelic League and at age 16 the IRA . By 1935, Hugh McAteer was the Officer Commanding of the IRA's Derry Battalion. [2] In July 1936 five members of the McAteer family were arrested in Derry on weapons and explosive charges. In order to save his family members from prosecution Hugh took full responsibility for all charges. He was tried and sentenced to 7 years imprisonment. While in jail he studied the Irish language and guerilla warfare techniques. He was released in 1941. [3]

A bookkeeper by profession, McAteer was from Derry. He served as IRA Chief of Staff (COS) from 19 July until 12 October 1942. With his appointment as COS the leadership of the IRA shifted from being Dublin based to leaders from the north of Ireland: McAteer, Seán McCaughey, Pearse Kelly and Eoin McNamee. [4] In late 1942 McAtee was captured by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. He was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on the charge of treason. [5] On 15 January 1943 (along with three senior IRA men Patrick Donnelly, Ned Maguire and Jimmy Steele), he escaped over the wall from Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast. [6] A reward of 3,000 pounds was announced for the capture of any or all of the four escapees (Maguire and Donnelly were never recaptured). [7]

On Easter Saturday, 24 April 1943, he participated in the Broadway Cinema operation on the Falls Road, Belfast when armed IRA men took over the cinema, stopped the film, and went on stage and read a statement from the IRA Army Council and the Proclamation of the 1916 Easter Rising. [8] The statement denounced the British military presence in Northern Ireland as an "invasion of our rights" and warned that they will be targeted in "a resumption of hostilities between the Irish Republic and Great Britain". [9]

McAteer was subsequently rearrested on 21 November 1943, returned to Crumlin Road Gaol and participated in the ongoing hunger strike there. With the loss of McAteer and increased pressure from the police, the Belfast IRA was no longer a significant fighting force. [10] Rearrested in July 1945 for recruiting for the IRA, he was released in 1950 along with other IRA prisoners.

In 1950, McAteer ran as a Sinn Féin candidate for the Londonderry constituency in the British general election on an independent republican abstentionist ticket. He polled 21,880 votes or 37.41%. (Other Republican candidates included Jimmy Steele (for West Belfast) and Liam Burke (for Mid Ulster). The three candidates polled 23,362 votes together but were not elected. He also contested the 1964 British general election for the same constituency and on the same ticket, polling 21,123 votes (35.91%). [11] He ran for office again in 1964 for the same constituency, this time polling 36% of the vote. [12]

Family

McAteer was the third son of Hugh McAteer, a labourer, and Bridget Doherty. [13] He was a brother of Eddie McAteer, leader of the Nationalist Party and Stormont MP.

Hugh McAteer's son, Aidan, was a personal assistant to Gerry Adams and onetime staff officer of the IRA's Belfast Brigade. [14]

His many interests included Irish Traditional singing and he even provided the notes for an album entitled "Ireland Her Own" (Topic Records, 1967), recorded by two former IRA volunteers - Paddy Tunney and Arthur Kearney - who had been imprisoned with him in the Crumlin Road Gaol in the 1940s.

Death

McAleer died suddenly in Belfast on 24 June 1970. He is buried in Miltown Cemetery, Belfast. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Séanna Walsh</span> Irish republican politician and former militant

Séanna Walsh or Séanna Breathnach is a Sinn Féin member of Belfast City Council and a former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HM Prison Belfast</span> Former prison in Belfast, Northern Ireland

HM Prison Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1996 it is the only remaining Victorian era former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known as the Crum.

Thomas Joseph Williams was a volunteer in C Company, 2nd Battalion of the Belfast Brigade in the Irish Republican Army from the Bombay Street area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was hanged in the Crumlin Road Gaol for his involvement in the killing of Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officer Patrick Murphy during the Northern Campaign.

The Northern campaign was a series of attacks by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) Northern Command between September 1942 and December 1944 against the security forces in Northern Ireland. The action taken by the Northern Irish and the Irish governments as a result of these attacks shattered the IRA and resulted in the former being free from IRA activity by the end of World War II. In December 1956 the IRA began its Border Campaign which lasted until February 1962.

Jimmy Steele was an Irish republican militant. He was one of the most prominent Irish Republican Army (IRA) men in Belfast after the Irish Civil War who held practically every senior position in the Northern Command of the IRA. Later in life Steele publicly denounced the leadership of the IRA which was a prelude to the split in the IRA. Steele founded and edited several Irish Republican publications. Steele spent a large portion of his life in jails as a result of his actions against British security forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Derry Gaol</span>

Derry Gaol, also known as Londonderry Gaol, refers to one of several gaols (prisons) constructed consecutively in Derry, Northern Ireland. Derry Gaol is notable as a place of incarceration for Irish Republican Army (IRA) members during the Irish Civil War, and for its numerous executions, seven of which took place between 1820 and 1923. On Christmas day 1939 interned Irish Republican prisoners took control of the jail, protesting their continued imprisonment without charges or trials. On 20 March 1943, 21 Irish Republican prisoners tunneled their way out of Derry Jail with the assistance of Jimmy Steele (republican). This escape was referred to as "The Big Derry Jail Escape".

Seán McCaughey was an Irish militant and Republican activist. He was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) leader in the 1930s and 1940s and hunger striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1969 Northern Ireland riots</span> Sectarian riots starting the Troubles

During 12–16 August 1969, there was an outbreak of political and sectarian violence throughout Northern Ireland, which is often seen as the beginning of the thirty-year conflict known as the Troubles. There had been sporadic violence throughout the year arising out of the Northern Ireland civil rights campaign, which demanded an end to discrimination against Catholics and Irish nationalists. Civil rights marches had been attacked by Protestant loyalists, and protesters often clashed with the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the overwhelmingly Protestant police force.

Billy McKee was an Irish republican and a founding member and leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Meehan (Irish republican)</span> Irish politician (1945–2007)

Martin Meehan was a Sinn Féin politician and former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Meehan was the first person to be convicted of membership of the Provisional IRA, and he spent eighteen years in prison during the Troubles.

Marian Donnelly is a former president of the Workers' Party and was a member of the former District Policing Partnership for the Magherafelt district of Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seán McCool</span> Irish Republican

Seán McCool was a prominent Irish Republican and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army. Imprisoned on numerous occasions, both North and South of the border, he embarked on a number of hunger strikes in order to secure release. During the 1930s, McCool was one of the few socialists to remain in the IRA after the Republican Congress's decision to split. He stood as a candidate for the Irish Republican party Clann na Poblachta before leaving them as a result of their decision to go into government with Fine Gael.

Eamon Donnelly was an Irish politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proinsias Mac Airt</span> Irish republican activist

Proinsias Mac Airt was an Irish republican activist and long-serving member of the Irish Republican Army.

Joe B. O'Hagan, aka J.B. O'Hagan was a Provisional IRA member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eoin McNamee (Irish republican)</span> Irish republican

Eoin McNamee was an Irish Republican and Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army.

Hugh Christopher Corvin was an Irish republican leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry White (Irish republican)</span> Irish republican paramilitary

Harry White was an Irish republican paramilitary. Between 1935 and 1941 White was arrested multiple times and imprisoned in Crumlin Road Jail, Mountjoy Jail, Arbour Hill Prison and the Curragh Camp.

Patrick Donnelly was an Irish Republican Army volunteer, perhaps best known for his part in the Crumlin Road Gaol breakout of 1943.

Ned Maguire was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer from Belfast, Quartermaster of the IRA Northern Command and perhaps best known for his part in the Crumlin Road Gaol breakout of 1943.

References

  1. Coogan, Tim (2002). The IRA. New York: St. Martins Press. p. 163. ISBN   0-312-29416-6.
  2. Thorne, Kathleen (2019). Echoes of Their Footsteps Volume Three. Oregon: Generation Organization. pp. 291, 292. ISBN   978-0-692-04283-0.
  3. English, Richard (2005). Armed Struggle The History of the IRA. Oxford University Press. p. 69. ISBN   0195177533.
  4. Thorne, Pg. 295
  5. MacDowell, Vincent (22 January 1998). "Colonel-Commandant John Graham". republican-news.org. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  6. Thorne, Pg. 292
  7. Coogan, pg. 184-185
  8. Anderson, Brendan (2002). Joe Cahill: A Life in the IRA. Dublin: The O'Brien Press. p. 93. ISBN   0-86278-674-6.
  9. "Uncle Joe". 12 May 2006. Archived from the original on 12 May 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. Coogan, pg 190.
  11. "ElectionsIreland.org: Hugh McAteer". electionsireland.org.
  12. Thorne, Pg. 293
  13. "General Registrar's Office" (PDF). IrishGenealogy.ie. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  14. "Newshound: Daily Northern Ireland news catalog - Sunday Tribune/Ed Moloney article". www.nuzhound.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 4 May 2006.
  15. Lynn, Brendan (October 2009). "McAteer, Hugh". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 17 April 2024.