Joe Graham
Encyclopedia
Anthony Joseph "Joe" Graham (born 30 January 1944), is a Belfast
-based Irish
writer and historian. He founded Rushlight: The Belfast Magazine in 1972.
Joe Graham was born in Belfast, the eighth of twelve children born to Jim and Kitty Graham. He was raised in what was then the newly built Ballymurphy
housing estate in the west of the city. He attended St. John’s Public Elementary School and later St. Thomas's Secondary Intermediate School. One of his teachers was Michael MacLaverty
, who himself wrote stories (Call My Brother Back) about the political troubles in Belfast. MacLaverty encouraged Graham to express himself in the written word, prompting Graham to write a number of short plays which were staged and performed locally in his own community.
Graham's interest in writing and politics deepened.
Graham's father, Jim, would take his son on bike rides and excursions across the length and breadth of County Antrim
to ensure that Joe developed a clear knowledge of many of the historical events that occurred there – particularly the 1798 rebellion in which the Graham family played a prominent role: Watty Graham, an ancestor, was executed by the British in 1798.
. At the back of the graveyard Joe looked at a tall monument erected to the memory of the famed James Hope
. Right beside his grave was that of his son, Luke. Inscribed on Luke Hope’s grave was a word that caught the 12 year old Joe’s eye – the word was “Rushlight”. Luke Hope published his “Rushlight” on 3 December 1825, from Clark & Hope’s General Printing Office in High Street, in Belfast. It received the name Rushlight after a form of candle
. However, the paper went out of print after 41 editions and Luke Hope died a young man.
In 1967, at the age of 23, Joe Graham became the editor of The Pike, an Irish republican news sheet.
and share his opinion with the local community. His interest in civil rights motivated his presence in Duke Street, Derry, on 5 October 1968 and on 4 January 1969 at the Burntollet Ambush, where marchers, many of whom were members of a student body named “The People’s Democracy”, were physically assaulted by loyalists. In 1969, he became a founding member of the Belfast & District Civil Rights Group,The Ardoyne Citizen's Action Committee and The Belfast Housing Action Committee. These groups were established to address the need for the provision and improvement of housing in Catholic areas.
Graham later established news sheets aimed at Irish republican activists in Ardoyne
(The Ardoyne Freedom Fighter), Ballymurphy (Scale), and in the Falls Road area of Clonard (The Vindicator).
In May 2002, Joe Graham was awarded the “Irish Hand” for his “continued and appreciated contribution of Rushlight Magazine to the Irish communities in Belfast, Brompton, Canada, and around the world”. In 2008, he wrote Show Me The Man – The Official Biography of Martin Meehan
.
His work and knowledge of local Irish history has been listed as a source in the following:
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
-based Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
writer and historian. He founded Rushlight: The Belfast Magazine in 1972.
Joe Graham was born in Belfast, the eighth of twelve children born to Jim and Kitty Graham. He was raised in what was then the newly built Ballymurphy
Ballymurphy
Ballymurphy may refer to:*Ballymurphy, Belfast - an area in Belfast, northern Ireland, known for the Ballymurphy Massacre.*Ballymurphy, County Carlow - a village in County Carlow, Ireland....
housing estate in the west of the city. He attended St. John’s Public Elementary School and later St. Thomas's Secondary Intermediate School. One of his teachers was Michael MacLaverty
Michael MacLaverty
Michael McLaverty was an Irish writer of novels and short stories.-Background:Michael McLaverty was born in County Monaghan and then moved as a child to the Beechmount area of Belfast He attended St Gall's School and then went to College and became a school teacher. Michael McLaverty worked as a...
, who himself wrote stories (Call My Brother Back) about the political troubles in Belfast. MacLaverty encouraged Graham to express himself in the written word, prompting Graham to write a number of short plays which were staged and performed locally in his own community.
Graham's interest in writing and politics deepened.
Graham's father, Jim, would take his son on bike rides and excursions across the length and breadth of County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
to ensure that Joe developed a clear knowledge of many of the historical events that occurred there – particularly the 1798 rebellion in which the Graham family played a prominent role: Watty Graham, an ancestor, was executed by the British in 1798.
Rushlight
On one excursion when Joe was only 12 years old, he and his father visited a graveyard situated in Mallusk, close to TemplepatrickTemplepatrick
Templepatrick is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim. It had a population of 1,556 in the 2001 Census. It is also close to Belfast International Airport and the village has several hotels...
. At the back of the graveyard Joe looked at a tall monument erected to the memory of the famed James Hope
James Hope (Ireland)
James Hope was an United Irishmen leader who fought in the 1798 and 1803 rebellions against British rule in Ireland.-Background:...
. Right beside his grave was that of his son, Luke. Inscribed on Luke Hope’s grave was a word that caught the 12 year old Joe’s eye – the word was “Rushlight”. Luke Hope published his “Rushlight” on 3 December 1825, from Clark & Hope’s General Printing Office in High Street, in Belfast. It received the name Rushlight after a form of candle
Rushlight
A rushlight is a type of candle or miniature torch formed by soaking the dried pith of the rush plant in fat or grease. For several centuries rushlights were a common source of artificial light for poor people throughout the British Isles. They were extremely inexpensive to make...
. However, the paper went out of print after 41 editions and Luke Hope died a young man.
In 1967, at the age of 23, Joe Graham became the editor of The Pike, an Irish republican news sheet.
Activism
His involvement in The Pike gave Graham the opportunity to publish his views on such issues as the Special Powers ActCivil Authorities (Special Powers) Act (Northern Ireland) 1922
The Civil Authorities Act 1922, often referred to simply as the Special Powers Act, was an Act passed by the Parliament of Northern Ireland shortly after the establishment of Northern Ireland, and in the context of violent conflict over the issue of the partition of Ireland...
and share his opinion with the local community. His interest in civil rights motivated his presence in Duke Street, Derry, on 5 October 1968 and on 4 January 1969 at the Burntollet Ambush, where marchers, many of whom were members of a student body named “The People’s Democracy”, were physically assaulted by loyalists. In 1969, he became a founding member of the Belfast & District Civil Rights Group,The Ardoyne Citizen's Action Committee and The Belfast Housing Action Committee. These groups were established to address the need for the provision and improvement of housing in Catholic areas.
Graham later established news sheets aimed at Irish republican activists in Ardoyne
Ardoyne
Ardoyne is an Irish nationalist, working class and mainly Catholic district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during "The Troubles". It is home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants...
(The Ardoyne Freedom Fighter), Ballymurphy (Scale), and in the Falls Road area of Clonard (The Vindicator).
Rushlight Gets Printed
In 1972, Graham,the man published Rushlight - The Belfast Magazine for the first time. He shared the stories his father had originally shared with him as a boy as well as his own historical research and study. The magazine included articles of local interest, folklore, and tales of old Belfast. The Rushlight proved to be a staple part of Belfast literature with copies being forwarded by locals to relatives around the world, as well as copies being held in the Linen Hall Library Catalog, as well as at the Queen's University Library Catalogue, both in Belfast.In May 2002, Joe Graham was awarded the “Irish Hand” for his “continued and appreciated contribution of Rushlight Magazine to the Irish communities in Belfast, Brompton, Canada, and around the world”. In 2008, he wrote Show Me The Man – The Official Biography of Martin Meehan
Martin Meehan (Irish republican)
Martin Meehan was a Sinn Féin politician and former volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army . Meehan was the first person to be convicted of membership of the Provisional IRA, and he spent eighteen years in prison during the Troubles.-Background and IRA activity:Meehan was born in 1945...
.
Writings by Graham
- Show Me The Man – The Official Biography of Martin Meehan (2008)
- Belfast, Born, Bred and Buttered (2003)
- Ghostly Tales of Old Belfast (1995)
- Where The Lagan Flows (1984)
- The Belfast Quiz Book (1981)
- Old Belfast (1981)
- The Rushlight (written and published since 1972)
Interviews
Joe Graham has been interviewed for or his work has been written of and/or reviewed by the following:- Downtown Radio (Belfast) - The Bobby Hanvey "Ramblin' Man" Show (September 10 and 17, 2004; August 16, 2009)
- "The Night the Troubles Started" BBC Radio UlsterBBC Radio UlsterBBC Radio Ulster is one of two Northern Irish BBC radio stations, the other being BBC Radio Foyle located in the city of Derry. BBC Radio Ulster is located at Broadcasting House in the Ormeau Avenue area of Belfast city centre...
(August 9, 2009) - The Derry Journal (May 9, 2008)
- The Sunday World (October 20, 1991, March 23, 2008, and May 11, 2008)
- The Belfast Newsletter (May 17, 1993)
- The Andersonstown NewsAndersonstown NewsThe Belfast Media Group's Andersonstown News is twice-weekly published Belfast, Northern Ireland newspaper, which focuses on news and issues, in west Belfast....
- The Belfast Telegraph
- The Porterville Recorder (California) (April 20, 1981)
- The Irish Echo
His work and knowledge of local Irish history has been listed as a source in the following:
- Voices From the Grave TV Documentary (Deer Lake Films) aired October 26, 2010 RTE
- Beauty & Atrocity by Joshua Levine (Collins) (2010) ISBN 978-0-00-730947-4
- Standby Studio by Anne Hailes (Shanway Press)(2009) ISBN 978-0-9560101-4-8
- Northern Divisions – The Old IRA and The Belfast Pogroms 1920 -1922 by Jim McDermott, Beyond The Pale Publications (2001) ISBN 1-900960-11-7
- Belfast's Unholy War by Alan F. Parkinson, The Four Courts Press (2004) ISBN 1-85182-792-7
- Republican Internment and the Prison Ship Argenta 1922: S.S. Argenta Legacies by Denise Kleinrichert, Published by Irish Academic Press, (2001) ISBN 0-7165-2683-2, 9780716526834
- Cathal O'Byrne and the Northern Revival in Ireland, 1890-1960 by Richard Kirkland. Published by Liverpool University Press, (2006) ISBN 1-84631-045-8, 9781846310454
- Ardoyne: The Untold Truth by Ardoyne Commemoration Project. Beyond the Pale Publications, (2002) ISBN 1-900960-17-6, 9781900960175
- Falls Memories by Gerry AdamsGerry AdamsGerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
. Published by Brandon, (1982) ISBN 0-86322-013-4, 9780863220135
External links
- Rushlight Magazine - Official Site