Seán Keenan
Encyclopedia
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
from 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"...
, 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...
.
Keenan was interned without trial
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...
on three occasions: 1940–1945, 1957–1961, and 9 August 1971 – 27 April 1972. He spent a total of 15 years in jail despite never being convicted of an offence. In March 1972, a month before his final release, he was paroled for the funeral of his son Colm, a 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...
officer who had been shot by the British Army.
Keenan was chairman of the Derry Citizens Defence Association
Derry Citizens Defence Association
The Derry Citizens' Defence Association , was an organisation set up in July 1969 in response to a perceived threat to the nationalist community of Derry in connection with the annual parade of the Apprentice Boys of Derry on 12 August. This followed clashes with the Royal Ulster Constabulary in...
between July and October 1969, and played a prominent role in the events surrounding the creation and defence of Free Derry
Free Derry
Free Derry was a self-declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland, between 1969 and 1972. Its name was taken from a sign painted on a gable wall in the Bogside in January 1969 which read, “You are now entering Free Derry"...
. In the late 1980s, he was made honorary vice president for life of Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin
Republican Sinn Féin or RSF is an unregisteredAlthough an active movement, RSF is not registered as a political party in either Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. minor political party operating in Ireland. It emerged in 1986 as a result of a split in Sinn Féin...
until his death.
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 area of Derry City.
His son, also named Sean, was a 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...
councillor. He was elected to Belfast City Council in 1985 to represent West Belfast and worked hard to preserve the Irish language. He died after a long battle with cancer in August 2006.
See also
- HMS Al Rawdah (1911)HMS Al Rawdah (1911)HMS Al Rawdah was a ship of the Royal Navy. She was built in 1911 and originally christened Chenab for the Nourse Line of London.In 1930 the ship was sold to Khedivial Mail Steamship & Graving Dock and renamed Ville De Beyrouth...
- HMS Maidstone (1937)HMS Maidstone (1937)HMS Maidstone was a submarine depot ship of the Royal Navy.-Facilities:She was built to support the increasing numbers of submarines, especially on distant stations, such as the Mediterranean and the Pacific Far East...
- Maze (HM Prison)Maze (HM Prison)Her Majesty's Prison Maze was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from mid-1971 to mid-2000....
- Operation DemetriusOperation DemetriusOperation 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...
External links
- (cached) Seán Keenan Memorial to 60 years of service - Ireland's OWN
- Internment, John McGuffin (1973) Chapter 8 - INTERNMENT 1971: THOSE DETAINED