Joe McCann
Encyclopedia
Joe McCann was an Irish Republican Army and later Official Irish Republican Army volunteer
from Belfast
. He was active in politics from the early 1960s and participated, as an Official IRA volunteer, in the early years of the Troubles
in Northern Ireland
. He was killed after being confronted by the R.U.C. Special Branch and British soldiers in 1972 aged 24.
, and spent most of his life there and in the nearby Markets area of the city. His mother died when he was four years old leaving behind Joe and three other children. His father remarried having another three children with his second wife. He was educated in the Christian Brothers
school on Barracks Street in Belfast, where he developed an interest in the Irish language
. A bricklayer by trade, he joined the Fianna
at age 14 and the IRA in the early 1960s.
In 1964 he was involved in a riot on Divis Street in Belfast in opposition to the threat of loyalist
leader Ian Paisley
to march on the area to remove an Irish tricolour flying over the election office of Billy McMillen
. In 1965 he was arrested for the possession of bayonets with five other men. The five refused to answer questions in custody or to speak in court and were sentenced to a three years in prison. They served nine months in Crumlin Rd jail. McCann had had expressed an interest in the priesthood while a teenager and became more religiously committed in prison. He joined the third order of the Franciscans in his later teens.
McCann was active in the IRA's involvement in the civil rights agitation; protesting against the development of the Divis flats which were being built to replace the old tenement slums in the Lower Falls. McCann became Officer in Command (O.C.) of the IRA in the Markets, involved in housing issues and any matters which related to local government.
In 1969, after sectarian rioting in Belfast, the IRA split into two factions; the newly created Provisional Irish Republican Army
, traditionalist militarists, and the existing organisation, which became known as the Official IRA
, Marxist-oriented socialists. McCann sided with the Officials as he felt they had a better political analysis. His brothers Dennis, Patrick and Brian also joined the OIRA.
In the rioting of August 1969, McCann participated in armed defence of the Lower Falls area.
McCann married Anne McKnight who hailed from a strong republican family in the Markets area in Belfast. Anne's older brother Bobby McKnight was part of the 1956-62 border campaign and was arrested and jailed as well as being interned. Bobby was command staff in Belfast played a key role in the arms deals that went on between the IRA and the Irish government
of 1969. Anne's brother Seán sided with the Provisionals after the 1969 split. He went on to represent South Belfast for Sinn Féin
between the Official IRA and up to 3,000 British soldiers in the Lower Falls area that left four civilians dead from gunshot wounds, another killed after being hit by an armoured car and 60 injured. On 22 May 1971, McCann's unit ambushed a British patrol, killing one soldier.
In another incident McCann led a unit which captured 3 UVF members in Sandy Row
. The UVF had raided an OIRA arms dump earlier that day and the OIRA announced they would execute the three prisoners if the weapons were not returned. McCann eventually released the three UVF members because they were "working class men like yourself".
His most famous act came on 9 August 1971 when his unit took over the Inglis bakery in the Markets area and fortified it after the introduction of internment
without trial by the Northern Ireland authorities (see Operation Demetrius
). They defended it throughout the night from an incursion by 600 British soldiers, looking to arrest paramilitary suspects. The action allowed other IRA members to slip out of the area and avoid arrest. He was photographed during the incident, holding an M1 carbine
, against the background of a burning building and the Starry Plough
flag; one of the most striking early images of The Troubles
.
In early February 1972, he was involved in the attempted assassination of Ulster Unionist politician and Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs. John Taylor
in Moira
, County Down
. McCann and another gunman fired on Taylor's car with Thompson submachine gun
s, hitting him five times in the neck and head, but he survived, though badly injured. In another incident he and a comrade were standing outside a Belfast cinema to purchase tickets for the film Soldier Blue
when McCann spotted a British Army checkpoint. He drew his gun and fired at the soldiers before running away laughing.
The RUC Special Branch was aware of his presence in Belfast and were on the look out for him. he was spotted by an RUC officer on the morning of his death who reported his whereabouts to the British Parachute Regiment, who were carrying out a road block in the immediate area at the time. McCann was approached by the RUC officer who informed him that he was under arrest. McCann was unarmed and tried to run to safety when confronted by the soldiers. He was shot dead at the corner of Joy Street and Hamilton Street after a chase on foot through the Markets.
Ten cartridge cases were found close to his body, indicating that he had been shot repeatedly at close range. Bullet holes were also visible in the walls of nearby houses.
McCann was the leader of the most militant of the OIRA's members in Belfast and was much more enthusiastic about the use of "armed struggle" in Northern Ireland
than the OIRA leadership. His killing was closely followed by the organisation calling a ceasefire. As a result, it was rumoured that the reason that McCann was unarmed when he was killed was that the Official leadership had confiscated his personal weapon, a .38 pistol. Some former OIRA members have even alleged that McCann's killing was set up by their Dublin leadership.
Five days of rioting followed his death. Turf Lodge, where McCann lived, was a no-go area and was openly patrolled by an OIRA land rover with the words "Official IRA - Mobile Patrol" emblazoned on the side. The OIRA shot five British soldiers, killing three, in revenge for McCann's killing, in different incidents the following day in Belfast, Derry
and Newry
.
the Official IRA Chief of Staff, provided the graveside oration in Milltown Cemetery
. Goulding said;
"By shooting Joe McCann [the British Government] their Whitlaws and their Heaths
and their Tuzos
have shown the colour of their so called peace initiatives. They have re-declared war on the people...We have given notice, by action that no words can now efface, that those who are responsible for the terrorism that is Britain's age old reaction to Irish demands will be the victim of that terrorism, paying richly in their own red blood for their crimes and the crimes of their imperial masters".
In spite of this hardline rhetoric, however, Goulding called a ceasefire just six weeks later, on 29 May 1972.
One of the more surprising tributes to McCann came from Gusty Spence
, leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force loyalist group. Spence wrote a letter of sympathy to McCann's widow, expressing his, "deepest and profoundest sympathy" on the death of her husband. "He was a soldier of the Republic and I a Volunteer of Ulster and we made no apology for being what we were or are...Joe once did me a good turn indirectly and I never forgot him for his humanity". This is thought to refer to an incident in which three UVF men wandered into the Lower Falls, were captured by OIRA men, but were released unharmed on McCann's orders.
In 1997, a plaque was unveiled at the spot on Joy street in the Markets where McCann was killed. Members of the various republican factions, the Workers' Party of Ireland
(ex Official IRA), Sinn Féin
(political wing of the Provisional IRA) and the Irish Republican Socialist Party
(a splinter, along with the Irish National Liberation Army
from the Official republican movement in 1974) were all in attendance.
The Lost revolution the story of The Official I.R.A. and the workers party. Hanley and Miller. Penguin, 2009.
Volunteer (Irish republican)
Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
from Belfast
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...
. He was active in politics from the early 1960s and participated, as an Official IRA volunteer, in the early years of the Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. He was killed after being confronted by the R.U.C. Special Branch and British soldiers in 1972 aged 24.
Early life
He was born in the Lower Falls area of BelfastBelfast
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...
, and spent most of his life there and in the nearby Markets area of the city. His mother died when he was four years old leaving behind Joe and three other children. His father remarried having another three children with his second wife. He was educated in the Christian Brothers
Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with...
school on Barracks Street in Belfast, where he developed an interest in the Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
. A bricklayer by trade, he joined the Fianna
Fianna
Fianna were small, semi-independent warrior bands in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology, most notably in the stories of the Fenian Cycle, where they are led by Fionn mac Cumhaill....
at age 14 and the IRA in the early 1960s.
In 1964 he was involved in a riot on Divis Street in Belfast in opposition to the threat of loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
leader Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
to march on the area to remove an Irish tricolour flying over the election office of Billy McMillen
Billy McMillen
Billy McMillen was an Irish republican activist and an officer of the Official Irish Republican Army...
. In 1965 he was arrested for the possession of bayonets with five other men. The five refused to answer questions in custody or to speak in court and were sentenced to a three years in prison. They served nine months in Crumlin Rd jail. McCann had had expressed an interest in the priesthood while a teenager and became more religiously committed in prison. He joined the third order of the Franciscans in his later teens.
McCann was active in the IRA's involvement in the civil rights agitation; protesting against the development of the Divis flats which were being built to replace the old tenement slums in the Lower Falls. McCann became Officer in Command (O.C.) of the IRA in the Markets, involved in housing issues and any matters which related to local government.
In 1969, after sectarian rioting in Belfast, the IRA split into two factions; the newly created Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
, traditionalist militarists, and the existing organisation, which became known as the Official IRA
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to create a "32-county workers' republic" in Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of "The Troubles"...
, Marxist-oriented socialists. McCann sided with the Officials as he felt they had a better political analysis. His brothers Dennis, Patrick and Brian also joined the OIRA.
In the rioting of August 1969, McCann participated in armed defence of the Lower Falls area.
McCann married Anne McKnight who hailed from a strong republican family in the Markets area in Belfast. Anne's older brother Bobby McKnight was part of the 1956-62 border campaign and was arrested and jailed as well as being interned. Bobby was command staff in Belfast played a key role in the arms deals that went on between the IRA and the Irish government
Irish Government
The Government of Ireland is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland.-Members of the Government:Membership of the Government is regulated fundamentally by the Constitution of Ireland. The Government is headed by a prime minister called the Taoiseach...
of 1969. Anne's brother Seán sided with the Provisionals after the 1969 split. He went on to represent South Belfast for Sinn Féin
Armed activities
McCann was appointed commander of the OIRA's Third Belfast Battalion. By 1970, violence in Northern Ireland had escalated to the point, where British soldiers were deployed there in large numbers. From 3–5 July 1970, McCann was involved in gun battles during the Falls CurfewFalls Curfew
The Falls Curfew was a British Army operation during 3–5 July 1970 in an area along the Falls Road in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The operation started with a weapons search but quickly developed into rioting and gun battles between British soldiers and the Official Irish Republican Army...
between the Official IRA and up to 3,000 British soldiers in the Lower Falls area that left four civilians dead from gunshot wounds, another killed after being hit by an armoured car and 60 injured. On 22 May 1971, McCann's unit ambushed a British patrol, killing one soldier.
In another incident McCann led a unit which captured 3 UVF members in Sandy Row
Sandy Row
Sandy Row is a Protestant working-class community in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. It has a population of about 3,000. It is a staunchly loyalist area of Belfast, being a traditional heartland for affiliation with the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and the Orange Order.-Location:Sandy...
. The UVF had raided an OIRA arms dump earlier that day and the OIRA announced they would execute the three prisoners if the weapons were not returned. McCann eventually released the three UVF members because they were "working class men like yourself".
His most famous act came on 9 August 1971 when his unit took over the Inglis bakery in the Markets area and fortified it after the introduction of internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
without trial by the Northern Ireland authorities (see Operation Demetrius
Operation Demetrius
Operation Demetrius began in Northern Ireland on the morning of Monday 9 August 1971. Operation Demetrius was launched by the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary and involved arresting and interning people accused of being paramilitary members...
). They defended it throughout the night from an incursion by 600 British soldiers, looking to arrest paramilitary suspects. The action allowed other IRA members to slip out of the area and avoid arrest. He was photographed during the incident, holding an M1 carbine
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
, against the background of a burning building and the Starry Plough
The Starry Plough (flag)
The Starry Plough banner was originally used by the Irish Citizen Army, a socialist, Republican movement. James Connolly, co-founder of the Irish Citizen Army with Jack White, said the significance of the banner was that a free Ireland would control its own destiny from the plough to the stars.This...
flag; one of the most striking early images of The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
.
In early February 1972, he was involved in the attempted assassination of Ulster Unionist politician and Northern Ireland Minister for Home Affairs. John Taylor
John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney
John David Taylor, Baron Kilclooney, PC , is a former Ulster Unionist Party MP and a life peer. He was deputy leader of the UUP from 1995 to 2001, and a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.-Career and family:...
in Moira
Moira, County Down
Moira is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is in the northwest of the county, near the borders with counties Antrim and Armagh. The M1 motorway and Dublin–Belfast railway line are nearby. The settlement has existed since time immemorial...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
. McCann and another gunman fired on Taylor's car with Thompson submachine gun
Thompson submachine gun
The Thompson is an American submachine gun, invented by John T. Thompson in 1919, that became infamous during the Prohibition era. It was a common sight in the media of the time, being used by both law enforcement officers and criminals...
s, hitting him five times in the neck and head, but he survived, though badly injured. In another incident he and a comrade were standing outside a Belfast cinema to purchase tickets for the film Soldier Blue
Soldier Blue
Soldier Blue is a 1970 American Revisionist Western movie directed by Ralph Nelson and inspired by events of the 1864 Sand Creek massacre in the Colorado Territory....
when McCann spotted a British Army checkpoint. He drew his gun and fired at the soldiers before running away laughing.
Death
Joe McCann was killed on 15 April 1972 in Joy St in The Markets. McCann had been sent to Belfast by a member of the Dublin command as he was at the top of the RUC Special Branch wanted list. He was told by the Official IRA Belfast command to return for his own safety to Dublin. However he ignored their requests and remained in Belfast.The RUC Special Branch was aware of his presence in Belfast and were on the look out for him. he was spotted by an RUC officer on the morning of his death who reported his whereabouts to the British Parachute Regiment, who were carrying out a road block in the immediate area at the time. McCann was approached by the RUC officer who informed him that he was under arrest. McCann was unarmed and tried to run to safety when confronted by the soldiers. He was shot dead at the corner of Joy Street and Hamilton Street after a chase on foot through the Markets.
Ten cartridge cases were found close to his body, indicating that he had been shot repeatedly at close range. Bullet holes were also visible in the walls of nearby houses.
McCann was the leader of the most militant of the OIRA's members in Belfast and was much more enthusiastic about the use of "armed struggle" in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
than the OIRA leadership. His killing was closely followed by the organisation calling a ceasefire. As a result, it was rumoured that the reason that McCann was unarmed when he was killed was that the Official leadership had confiscated his personal weapon, a .38 pistol. Some former OIRA members have even alleged that McCann's killing was set up by their Dublin leadership.
Five days of rioting followed his death. Turf Lodge, where McCann lived, was a no-go area and was openly patrolled by an OIRA land rover with the words "Official IRA - Mobile Patrol" emblazoned on the side. The OIRA shot five British soldiers, killing three, in revenge for McCann's killing, in different incidents the following day in Belfast, Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
and Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
.
Funeral and tributes
McCann's funeral on 18 April 1972 was one of the largest Republican funerals of modern times. Between 6,000 and 20,000 mourners attended it. A guard of honour was provided by 20 OIRA volunteers and a further 200 women followed carrying flowers and wreaths. Four MPs including Bernadette Devlin were also in attendance. Cathal GouldingCathal Goulding
Cathal Goulding was Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army and the Official IRA.One of seven children born into a republican family in East Arran Street in the north inner city of Dublin, Goulding was involved as teenager in Fianna Éireann, the IRA youth wing which he joined with his...
the Official IRA Chief of Staff, provided the graveside oration in Milltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland.It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and the M1 motorway. Milltown Cemetery opened in 1869 and there are now approximately 200,000 of Belfast's citizens buried there. Most of those buried there are...
. Goulding said;
"By shooting Joe McCann [the British Government] their Whitlaws and their Heaths
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
and their Tuzos
Harry Tuzo
General Sir Harry Craufurd Tuzo, GCB, OBE, MC was a British Army officer who was Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and GOC of the British Army in Northern Ireland during the early period of the Troubles.-Early life:...
have shown the colour of their so called peace initiatives. They have re-declared war on the people...We have given notice, by action that no words can now efface, that those who are responsible for the terrorism that is Britain's age old reaction to Irish demands will be the victim of that terrorism, paying richly in their own red blood for their crimes and the crimes of their imperial masters".
In spite of this hardline rhetoric, however, Goulding called a ceasefire just six weeks later, on 29 May 1972.
One of the more surprising tributes to McCann came from Gusty Spence
Gusty Spence
Augustus Andrew "Gusty" Spence was a leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force and a leading loyalist politician. One of the first UVF members to be convicted of murder, Spence was a senior figure in the organisation for over a decade but later renounced violence and joined the Progressive Unionist...
, leader of the Ulster Volunteer Force loyalist group. Spence wrote a letter of sympathy to McCann's widow, expressing his, "deepest and profoundest sympathy" on the death of her husband. "He was a soldier of the Republic and I a Volunteer of Ulster and we made no apology for being what we were or are...Joe once did me a good turn indirectly and I never forgot him for his humanity". This is thought to refer to an incident in which three UVF men wandered into the Lower Falls, were captured by OIRA men, but were released unharmed on McCann's orders.
In 1997, a plaque was unveiled at the spot on Joy street in the Markets where McCann was killed. Members of the various republican factions, the Workers' Party of Ireland
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
(ex Official IRA), Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
(political wing of the Provisional IRA) and the Irish Republican Socialist Party
Irish Republican Socialist Party
The Irish Republican Socialist Party or IRSP is a republican socialist party active in Ireland. It claims the legacy of socialist revolutionary James Connolly, who founded the Irish Socialist Republican Party in 1896 and was executed after the Easter Rising of 1916.- History :The Irish Republican...
(a splinter, along with the Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
from the Official republican movement in 1974) were all in attendance.
Sources
- Patrick Bishop, Eamonn Mallie, The Provisional IRA
- Jack Holland, Henry McDonald, INLA, Deadly Divisions
- http://www.irelandsown.net/JoeMcCann.htm
The Lost revolution the story of The Official I.R.A. and the workers party. Hanley and Miller. Penguin, 2009.