Seán Keenan (1914 – 3 March 1993) was an

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

from

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 ...

. His father Seamus Keenan was a

Quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

in the

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). Keenan was interned without trial on three occasions: 1940–1945, 1957–1961, and 9 August 1971 – 27 April 1972."Whitelaw frees 22 more internees", ''The Irish Times'', 28 April 1972, p. 5 He spent a total of 15 years in jail despite never being convicted of an offence. Keenan was first arrested in 1935 for carrying an Irish flag. He was interned for the duration of World War II in several prisons including the hulk prison ship HMS Al Rawdah. He was again interned during the IRAs Border campaign and again during the period of violence known as

The Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

. While interned on HMS Maidstone, Keenan was the

Commanding Officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

of the

Provisional IRA 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 ...

prisoners there. In March 1972, a month before his final release, he was paroled for the funeral of his son Colm, a Provisional IRA officer who had been shot by the British Army. In January 1969, following the Dublin leadership of the IRA rejecting

Seán Mac Stíofáin Seán Mac Stíofáin (born John Edward Drayton Stephenson; 17 February 1928 – 18 May 2001) was an English-born chief of staff of the Provisional IRA, a position he held between 1969 and 1972. Childhood Although he used the Gaelicised vers ...

's proposal to set up an auxiliary IRA unit in Derry to protect the Catholic areas of the city, Keenan and others established a local IRA unit. Keenan was chairman of the

Derry Citizens Defence Association The Derry Citizens' Defense Association (DCDA) was an organisation set up in Derry in July 1969 in response to a threat to nationalist residents from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and civilian unionists, in connection with the annual parad ...

between July and October 1969 and played a prominent role in the events surrounding the creation and defence of

Free Derry Free Derry () was a self-declared autonomous Irish nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland that existed between 1969 and 1972 during the Troubles. It emerged during the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, which sought to end discrimina ...

, including 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 ...

. During the 1970 split within

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...

and the IRA, Keenan sided with the Provisional faction; and later sided with

Republican Sinn Féin Republican Sinn Féin or RSF () is an Irish republican political party in Ireland. RSF claims to be heirs of the Sinn Féin party founded in 1905; the party took its present form in 1986 following a split in Sinn Féin. RSF members take seats w ...

during the 1986 split. In the late 1980s, he was made honorary Vice-President for life of the party until his death. His wife Nancy Ward, who died in October 1970, was a member of

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; but in English termed The Irishwomen's Council), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and dissolving Inghinidhe na hÉireann, and in 191 ...

who was interned in Armagh Gaol in the early 1940s. He is commemorated annually by Republican Sinn Féin in the month of March at the Seán Keenan Memorial (Celtic Cross) on Fahan Street in the

Bogside The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are ...

area of Derry City. His son, also named Sean, was a

councillor. He died after a long battle with cancer in August 2006.

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* * Chapter 8 - INTERNMENT 1971: THOSE DETAINED {{DEFAULTSORT:Keenan, Sean 1993 deaths Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members Irish republicans Irish republicans interned without trial Republican Sinn Féin members 1914 births

See also

References

External links