Patrick Pearse Kelly (14 October 1916 – 6 April 1974), also known as Paul Kelso, was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

journalist and republican activist.

Biography

Born in Dungannon in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

, Kelly began working as a journalist at the ''Dungannon Observer'', before moving to the ''

Tyrone Courier The ''Dungannon News and Tyrone Courier'' is a weekly newspaper based in Dungannon, County Tyrone, with an office in Cookstown Northern Ireland. It is published by the Alpha Newspaper Group Alpha Newspaper Group is a media group, primarily in ...

'' and then working as a freelancer for the ''

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' ( Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

''."Pearse Kelly, former RTÉ news head, dies", ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 8 April 1974 A group of his friends from school had bonded over

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

lessons and, inspired by seeing British troops readying for action

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, they considered forming their own republican paramilitary group. However, they decided in late 1939 or early 1940 to instead all join the local

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

(IRA), in the hope that this would reinvigorate it, and that its name and tradition would prove useful. Kelly, personally, was also inspired by attending future

IRA Chief of Staff Several people are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army () in the organisations bearing that name. Due to the clandestine nature of these organisations, this list is not definitive. Chiefs of Staff of the Irish ...

Eoin McNamee Eoin McNamee (b.1961) is an Irish writer from Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland who has written numerous novels and screenplays. He was awarded the Macauley Fellowship for Irish Literature in 1990. He lives in County Sligo. Career Novella ...

's trial as a reporter.Tim Pat Coogan, ''The IRA'', pp.172-174 Following training, Kelly's friends burnt down a hall which was being used to drill British troops. Kelly was quickly marked out as a leader, establishing a "Republican police" locally to crack down on local nuisance behaviour. They beat up a group of people involved in this, increasing local regard for the IRA. As a result, he was ordered to

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 ...

, where he was appointed as the Officer Commanding its Belfast Battalion early in 1941. There, he obtained a code being used by British forces, which they had carelessly left in a chemists' shop run by an IRA sympathiser. This was then returned to the troops without arousing suspicion, enabling the IRA to crack British messages for some time, although it did not ultimately lead to any useful results for the organisation. A few months later, he was called to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

to take part in the IRA's investigation of its Chief of Staff, Stephen Hayes. In July, he was selected as Hayes' replacement, but in November in company of the German spy

Hermann Görtz Hermann Görtz (also anglicised as Goertz; 15 November 1890 in Lübeck – 23 May 1947 in Dublin) was a German spy in Britain and Ireland before and during World War II, liaising with the Irish Republican Army (IRA). After the war, he commi ...

, he was arrested and subsequently interned at the

Curragh The Curragh ( ; ga, An Currach ) is a flat open plain of almost of common land in County Kildare. This area is well known for Irish horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is located on the edge of Kildare town, beside the ...

.Edgar O'Ballance, ''Terror in Ireland: The Heritage of Hate'', pp.66-67 At the Curragh, Kelly took over as Officer Commanding republican internees, although his predecessor, Liam Leddy, refused to recognise him, leading to an ongoing rift. However, Kelly increasingly won over internees, and proved successful in improving their conditions, ending physical punishments, increasing education and starting concerts and sporting activities.Ian S. Wood, ''Britain, Ireland and the Second World War'', pp.114-115 Kelly was released in 1946 and found work at the '' Irish Independent''. He remained there until 1958, when he was appointed editor of the ''

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Even ...

'', then in 1961 he became the Head of News for Raidió Teilifís Éireann. A dispute arose in 1966 when Kelly approved a news item which showed Minister for Agriculture

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

contradicting Rickard Deasy, President of the National Farmers' Association, and

Minister for Posts and Telegraphs The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs ( ga, Aire Poist agus Telegrafa) was the holder of a position in the Government of Ireland (and, earlier, in the Executive Council of the Irish Free State). From 1924 until 1984 – when it was abolished � ...

Joseph Brennan Joseph Brennan may refer to: Politicians * Joseph Brennan (senator) (died 1950), Irish senator *Joseph Brennan (Clann na Poblachta politician) (1889–1968), Irish TD 1948–1951 *Joseph Brennan (Fianna Fáil politician) (1912–1980), Irish gove ...

stated that he would have censored the item had he known about it. Kelly resigned and instead found work with the

Bord Fáilte Cucerdea ( hu, Oláhkocsárd, Hungarian pronunciation: ) is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Bord (''Bord''), Cucerdea, and Șeulia de Mureș (''Oláhsályi''). The commune is located in the sout ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Pearse 1916 births 1974 deaths Irish journalists Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members People from Dungannon 20th-century journalists