Marion Coyle (born 1954) is a former member of the

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

(IRA).

Background

Marion Coyle was born in July 1954 in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

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 ...

, and lived in the Duncreggan Road, a rather middle-class and fashionable area of Derry. Coyle was a student in typing and advanced English at the time of the civil rights demonstrations and civil disorder which culminated in the

Battle of the Bogside The Battle of the Bogside was a large three-day riot that took place from 12 to 14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Thousands of Catholic/Irish nationalist residents of the Bogside district, organised under the Derry Citizens' Defence ...

. In his work, ''Hostage:Notorious Irish Kidnappings'', Paul Howard notes that Coyle was a very quiet teenager ''"showing none of the qualities that would make her one of the IRA's most fearless and respected Volunteers''. On the night of 26 June 1970 her uncle Joe Coyle, who was a member of the IRA's Derry leadership, along with Thomas Carlin, Tommy McCool and his two young daughters died when a bomb they were preparing in the kitchen of Tommy McCool's house on the Creggan estate exploded prematurely. Following this, her brother Phillip was arrested and imprisoned for possession of a firearm. In 1973 Coyle and three others were arrested in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

after they were stopped in a car containing guns and ammunition. The alleged IRA Northern OC,

Leo Martin Leo Martin ( sr-cyr, Лео Мартин, born on 6 March 1942) is a Serbian and former Yugoslav pop singer. He started his career in the early 1960s in jazz bands as an instrumentalist and vocalist. In 1964, he moved with his band to West Germa ...

was charged in relation to the incident. In 1974 Coyle was acquitted of the attempted murder of a Garda officer during the re-arrest of Kevin Mallon in Portlaoise (Mallon had been one of three IRA prisoners who escaped from Mountjoy Prison in 1973 using a helicopter).

Monasterevin Siege

On 3 October 1975 Coyle and another IRA member, Eddie Gallagher, kidnapped industrialist

Tiede Herrema In October 1975, Dutch businessman Tiede Herrema (21 April 1921 – 24 April 2020) was kidnapped by the Provisional IRA in Castletroy, near Limerick. This triggered a large police investigation and a two-week siege, after which Herrema was rele ...

near his home in

Castletroy Castletroy (, meaning O'Troy's Landing or O'Troy's Callow) is a suburb of Limerick, Ireland. The town was named after Castle Troy also known as the Black Castle, which is located on the southern bank of the River Shannon, roughly 2 km eas ...

, a suburb of

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. They were traced to a house in

Monasterevin Monasterevin (), sometimes Monasterevan, is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. It lies on the River Barrow and the Barrowline, a canal branch of the Grand Canal. In the 20 years between the 2002 and 2022 censuses, the population more than dou ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, and a two-week siege began. Coyle and Gallagher demanded the release of three republican prisoners, including

Rose Dugdale Bridget Rose Dugdale (25 March 1941 – 18 March 2024) was an English debutante who rebelled against her wealthy upbringing, becoming a volunteer in the militant Irish republican organisation, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). As an ...

, in return for the release of Herrema, but the authorities refused to grant any concessions. The siege ended on 7 November when Herrema was released, and Coyle and Gallagher were arrested. The kidnapping was the longest in Irish history. In March 1976 Coyle was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the abduction, while Gallagher received a 20-year sentence. Herrema has stated he believes the sentences were too long, describing Coyle and Gallagher as young people who did something stupid. Coyle was released from prison in 1985, and Gallagher in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coyle, Marion 1954 births Irish republicans Living people People of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) from Derry (city) Provisional Irish Republican Army members Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict