Joseph McDonnell (14 September 1951 – 8 July 1981) was a

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

in the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...

(IRA) who died during the

1981 Irish hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special C ...

Early life

McDonnell was born on Slate Street in the lower Falls Road of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

as one of 10 children. He attended a nearby

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

school. He married Goretti in 1970, and moved into her sister's house in

Lenadoon Andersonstown is a suburb of west Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the foot of the Black Mountain and Divis Mountain. It contains a mixture of public and private housing and is largely a working-class area with a strong Irish nationalist and Irish ...

. Their house was attacked on numerous occasions.

IRA activity

McDonnell was arrested in

Operation Demetrius Operation Demetrius was a British Army operation in Northern Ireland on 9–10 August 1971, during the Troubles. It involved the mass arrest and internment (imprisonment without trial) of people suspected of being involved with the Irish Republi ...

, and along with Gerry Adams and others was interned on the

prison ship A prison ship, often more accurately described as a prison hulk, is a current or former seagoing vessel that has been modified to become a place of substantive detention for convicts, prisoners of war or civilian internees. While many nat ...

HMS ''Maidstone''. He was later moved to

HM Prison Maze Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sept ...

for several months. Upon release, he joined the

Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's brigades, based in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The nucleus of the Belfast Brigade emerged in the divisions within Belfast republicans in the closing mon ...

. He met

Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands ( ga, Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member (and leader in the Maze prison) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison M ...

during the preparation for a firebomb attack on the Balmoral Furnishing Company's premises in

Dunmurry Dunmurry (; ) is an urban townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council. History Until the end of the 18th century, Dunmurry was largely an agricul ...

. During the ensuing shoot-out between the IRA and the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Roya ...

(RUC) and

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

, both men, along with Séamus Finucane and

Seán Lavery Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...

, were arrested. McDonnell and the others were sentenced to 14 years in prison for possession of a firearm. None of the men recognized nor accepted the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

of the court.

Hunger strike

McDonnell agreed with the goals of the Irish hunger strike, 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 organise their own educational and recreational facilities and the right to one visit, one letter and one parcel per week. Although McDonnell was not involved in the first (1980) hunger strike, he joined Bobby Sands and the others in the second (1981) hunger strike. During the strike he fought the general election in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

, and only narrowly missed election in the Sligo–Leitrim constituency. He went 61 days without food before dying on 8 July 1981. He has two children. His wife Goretti took an active part in the campaign in support of the hunger strikers. McDonnell was buried in the grave next to Bobby Sands at

Milltown Cemetery Milltown Cemetery ( ga, Reilig Bhaile an Mhuilinn) is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland. It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and the M1 motorway. History Milltown Cemetery opened in 1869 as part ...

John Joe McGirl John Joe McGirl (25 March 1921 – 8 December 1988) was an Irish republican, a Sinn Féin politician, and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). Biography Anti-Treaty IRA Born and raised in Ballinamore, County Leitrim, M ...

, McDonnell's election agent in Sligo–Leitrim, gave the oration at his funeral. Quoting Patrick Pearse, he stated: "He may seem the fool who has given his all, by the wise men of the world; but it was the apparent fools who changed the course of Irish history".

Allegations

In March 2006, former prisoner

Richard O'Rawe Richard O’Rawe is a former Provisional IRA prisoner and author of ''Blanketmen''. Background He grew up in a house at the corner of Peel Street and Mary Street in the Lower Falls district of Belfast. When that house was demolished in 1970 a ...

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. The IRA commander inside Long Kesh at the time, Brendan McFarlane (known as "Bik"), has publicly disputed this version of events. Only one other prisoner on the prison wing O'Rawe and McFarlane were on,

Anthony McIntyre Anthony McIntyre (born 27 June 1957) is a former Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteer, writer and historian. He was imprisoned for murder for 18 years in Long Kesh, spending four of those years on the no-wash protest. After his release fr ...

, has backed up O'Rawe's version of events in relation to the 1981 hunger strike.

Commemoration

Upon his death, McDonnell was martyred alongside the other hunger strikers and remains a well-known figure in the movement today, even with his death. McDonnell is commemorated on the Irish Martyrs Memorial at

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915), ...

in Sydney, Australia. Joe McDonnell is also commemorated in the

Wolfe Tones The Wolfe Tones are an Irish rebel music band that incorporate Irish traditional music in their songs. Formed in 1963, they take their name from Theobald Wolfe Tone, one of the leaders of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, with the double meaning ...

song, "Joe McDonnell". His family is also recognized in the Irish Brigade's "A Father's Blessing", and is one of the 10 hunger strikers mentioned in "The Roll of Honour".

References

External links

General Election: 11 June 1981 Sligo/LeitrimLyrics to Joe McDonnell, the song

Stailc 81 Hunger Strike Commemoration Committee
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Joe 1951 births 1981 deaths Irish republicans interned without trial Paramilitaries from Belfast People who died on the 1981 Irish hunger strike Provisional Irish Republican Army members Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict