Pearse Kelly
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Patrick Pearse Kelly (14 October 1916 – 6 April 1974), also known as Paul Kelso, was an Irish journalist and republican activist.


Biography

Born in
Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...
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. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...
, Kelly began working as a journalist at the ''Dungannon Observer'', before moving to the '' Tyrone Courier'' and then working as a freelancer for the '' Irish Press''."Pearse Kelly, former RTÉ news head, dies", ''
Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'', 8 April 1974
A group of his friends from school had bonded over
Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
lessons and, inspired by seeing British troops readying for action
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, 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 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), 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 Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name * Ira (surname), a rare Estonian family name; occurs in some other languages *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law and finance *Indian Reorganization Act of 19 ...
Eoin McNamee'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 ) 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 ...
, 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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
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, he was arrested and subsequently interned at the
Curragh The Curragh ( ; ) is a flat open plain in County Kildare, Ireland. This area is well known for horse breeding and training. The Irish National Stud is on the edge of Kildare town, beside the Japanese Gardens. Pollardstown Fen, the larges ...
.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 The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...
''. 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 ''Ev ...
'', 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 led four governments as Taoiseach: December 1979 to June 1981, March to December 1982, March 1987 to June 1989, and June 1989 to February 1992 ...
contradicting Rickard Deasy, President of the National Farmers' Association, and
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs () 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 – the minister headed the Dep ...
Joseph Brennan stated that he would have censored the item had he known about it. Kelly resigned and instead found work with the
Bord Fáilte Cucerdea (, 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 southwestern part of ...
.


References

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