John S.S. Graham (1915 in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

– 29 December 1997) was an important

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

(IRA) activist in the 1940s. He was a member of a Protestant group (including George Gilmore and George Plant) who joined the IRA, and for a time in the 1940s they formed a company of the IRA in Belfast. He rose to become Belfast Commander and Northern Director of Intelligence. Graham was arrested in September 1942 and sentenced to 12 years in prison. While in HM Prison Crumlin Road he (and 21 other Irish Republicans) went on a "strip strike" asking for treatment as political prisoners. The strip strike began in mid June 1943 and was called off in early September. The strike attracted little attention due to war time censorship. Graham was jailed during the IRA "Border Campaign" of 1956-62. While in prison, he learned Irish, and started one of the first Irish language newspapers in Belfast (which is now discontinued). In the late 1970s, a book was written about him, in which the author used a code name, John Gray, instead of John Graham. He was a communicant of the Church of Ireland and opposed any romanisation of that church. As a member of the select vestry of St Mary's on the

Crumlin Road The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road which leads out of Belfast to th ...

in Belfast, Graham resisted the placing of an image of the Virgin Mary in the church.History Ireland September/October 2009

References

*''The IRA'',

Tim Pat Coogan Timothy Patrick "Tim Pat" Coogan (born 22 April 1935) is an Irish journalist, writer and broadcaster. He served as editor of ''The Irish Press'' newspaper from 1968 to 1987. He has been best known for such books as ''The IRA'', ''Ireland Since t ...

*''Northern Ireland: The Orange State'', Michael Farrell {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, John (Irish Republican) 1915 births 1997 deaths Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members Paramilitaries from Belfast Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict Protestant Irish nationalists