John Fahy (8 June 1893 – 19 July 1969) was an Irish

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, republican, agrarian and

radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

. He is perhaps best known for creating the political party

Lia Fáil The () or (; "Stone of Fál") is a stone at the Inauguration Mound () on the Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, which served as the coronation stone for the King of Tara and hence High King of Ireland. It is also known as the Stone of D ...

, a far-right radical agrarian movement and newspaper in which Fahy expressed

xenophobic Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

and

anti-semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

views amongst other views. Lia Fáil made national headlines in the early 1960s after some members were arrested for rural agitation but later escaped jail and went on the run, and Fahy aided and abetted them.

Biography

Early life

Fahy was born in the townland of Burroge, in the parish of

Killeenadeema Killeenadeema () is a civil parish in County Galway, Ireland. It contains most of the Derrybrien mountains, which hold the Derrybrien Wind Farm. Name The name in Irish is , where means "little church". Thus, it means "Chapel of Díoma". Locat ...

Loughrea Loughrea ( ; ), is a town in County Galway, Ireland. It lies to the north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains and Lough Rea, the lake from which it takes its name. The town's cathedral, St Brendan's, dominates the urban sk ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

. He was one of a number of sons of John Fahy, a strong farmer and fervent member of the

Irish National Land League The Irish National Land League ( Irish: ''Conradh na Talún''), also known as the Land League, was an Irish political organisation of the late 19th century which organised tenant farmers in their resistance to exactions of landowners. Its prima ...

, and Honoria Davock. He was ordained on 28 September 1919, serving in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, between 1919 and 1921. He served as the chaplain for a battalion of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers (), also known as the Irish Volunteer Force or the Irish Volunteer Army, was a paramilitary organisation established in 1913 by nationalists and republicans in Ireland. It was ostensibly formed in response to the format ...

and involved himself with the

Scottish nationalism Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the Scottish people form a cohesive nation and Scottish national identity, national identity. Scottish nationalism began to shape from 1853 with the National Association for the Vindication of Scottis ...

movement. He supported

Terence MacSwiney Terence James MacSwiney (; ; 28 March 1879 – 25 October 1920) was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. He was arrested by the British Governme ...

's fatal hunger strike, and traveled back to Ireland to attend the funeral of Father Michael Griffin in November 1920. He was recalled to the diocese of Clonfert where he served as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

Eyrecourt Eyrecourt, historically known as Donanaghta (), is a village in County Galway, Ireland. It is on the R356 regional road west of the Banagher bridge over the River Shannon. History The Eyres after whom the village is named, as well as other ...

, Closetoken and

Bullaun A bullaun (; from a word cognate with "bowl" and French ''bol'') is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun. The size of the bullaun is highly variable ...

from 1921 to 1929. From 1928, Fahy became involved with

Peadar O'Donnell Peadar O'Donnell (; 22 February 1893 – 13 May 1986) was one of the foremost radicals of 20th-century Ireland. O'Donnell became prominent as an Irish republican, socialist politician and writer. Early life Peadar O'Donnell was born into an I ...

, who brought his campaign into east Galway. Fahy was arrested in 1929 on charges of obstructing a bailiff rescuing seized cattle. He refused to recognise the court, citing

Irish republican legitimatism Irish republican legitimism denies the legitimacy of the political entities of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and posits that the pre- partition Irish Republic continues to exist. It is a more extreme form of Irish republicanism, w ...

, and was imprisoned in Galway. This brought him to national attention and raised important church-state issues. Fahy's bishop, John Dignan, invoked ''

privilegium fori The ''privilegium fori'' (Latin for "privilege of the (legal) forum") is a generic term for legal privileges to be tried in a particular court or type of court of law. Typically, it is an application of the principle of trial by one's peers, either ...

'', allowing Fahy to submit to him. He was tried and sentenced to seven weeks already served, and released. Bishop Dignan transferred him back to

Clostoken Clostoken or Cloghastookeen is a small townland in the civil parish of Kilconickny, near the town of Loughrea in County Galway, Ireland. It takes its name from an old ruined castle. Today, the name is more commonly used to refer to the civil pa ...

, where he would serve until 1932, and forbade him to publicly express political views. It is believed that the republican sympathies of Dignan and Monsignor John Bowes (Fahy's uncle), saved him from more serious consequences, despite Fahy's continued involvement in the IRA.

Lia Fáil

In 1945, he was transferred to

Lusmagh Lusmagh () is a civil parish in County Offaly, Ireland, bounded by three rivers: the Shannon, Lusmagh and Little Brosna to the west, east and south respectively. The town of Banagher is northeast across the River Lusmagh. Lusmagh was considere ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

, where in the late 1950s, he was involved in

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

agitation under the banner of Lia Fáil. Farms were burned, cattle seized, and five activists arrested were forcibly freed from Lusmagh Garda station, which led to the Gardaí raiding Fahy's house, an event covered as it happened by a photojournalist which lead to it appearing in national headlines and for the raid to be debated in the Dáil. During this time Fahy was also the write and editor of a newspaper also called Lia Fáil which was sold regionally in which Fahy explained his and Lia Fáil's political views. These views mainly revolved around expelling all foreigners from Irish soil and preventing them from purchasing property in Ireland, as well as plan to build a conscription army of 100,000 men to invade

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Fahy often drifted into societal issues as well though and in the articles of the newspaper expressed his disdain for Women, Jews and Protestants. Lia Fáil eventually petered out after the ruling

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil ( ; ; meaning "Soldiers of Destiny" or "Warriors of Fál"), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party (), is a centre to centre-right political party in Ireland. Founded as a republican party in 1926 by Éamon de ...

government began to take an interest in Lia Fáil and took action against them. Similarly, his superiors in the Catholic Church took a dim view of his political agenda and moved him to the parish of Abbey in Galway to quell him. Fahy remained active in Republican circles until his death in 1969.

References

* ''The stone of destiny: Father John Fahy (1894–1969)'', Brian S. Murphy, 2000 * ''Killeenadeema Aille: History and Heritage/Stair agus Oidhreacht'', ed. Pat O'Looney, Killeenadeema Historical and Heritage Society, 2009. * ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', p. 693, Cambridge, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fahy, John 1893 births 1969 deaths Irish political party founders Irish agrarianists Irish far-right politicians 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Irish republicans Irish military chaplains Christian clergy from County Galway People from Loughrea People educated at Garbally College Scottish nationalists Antisemitism in Ireland

Biography

Early life

Lia Fáil

See also

References