Seán McCool
Encyclopedia
Seán McCool (died 1 May 1949) was a prominent Irish Republican
and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army
. Imprisoned on numerous occasions, both North and South of the border, he embarked on a number of hunger strike
s. He stood as a candidate for Clann na Poblachta
before leaving the party as a result of their decision to go into government with Fine Gael
.
McCool was described by Peadar O’Donnell as “...deeply read but very much the IRA man”.. He was also prominent within the GAA
in his native County Donegal
and the current home ground of the Donegal GAA, MacCumhaill Park
, is named in his honour.
, took the Republican side during the Irish Civil War
. At the end of the War he was sentenced and held as a prisoner of the Free State in either Finner Camp or Drumboe Castle
.
McCool was present at the 2nd Drumboe martyrs commemoration for the execution of IRA volunteers
Lieut. Dan Enright, Comdt. Gen. Charlie Daly, Brig. Comdt. Sean Larkin, and Lieut. Timothy O’Sullivan in 1923..
In September 1926 McCool’s IRA unit raided the offices of a landlord’s agent in Donegal, taking away all records. On the 19th February 1927 he was one of four men arrested in connection with the raid. Before the trial, the prisoners went on hunger strike for a week. McCool, and his co-accused, which included Peadar O’Donnell’s younger brother Barney, received a sentence of six months imprisonment. which McCool served in Mountjoy Prison
where he would have been a prisoner at the same time as Seán MacBride
Upon his release McCool returned to IRA activity in Donegal and was the main speaker at the annual Drumboe commemoration in 1928. His period of freedom was not to last as, by May 1929, he was again arrested in Sligo and held on a ‘documents’ charge while engaged in land annuity agitation. He was later sentenced to eight months of imprisonment.
In 1931, despite not being a member of the party, Fianna Fáil members in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal attempted to select McCool as candidate, without success. That same year the IRA attempted to launch its own political party, Saor Éire
. McCool attended the inaugural meeting and seconded a motion sending fraternal greetings to the USSR.. The success Fianna Fáil and the IRA at this time encouraged McCool, writing to fellow republican Frank Ryan
in 1932 he said that the crowd (at the Drumboe march) "did one’s heart good after all the black years... the youth are with us and that’s everything".
McCool continued to be active on both the military and political fronts. In 1932 he joined Peadar O’Donnell, Charlotte Despard
and David Fitzgerald on the governing Committee of the Workers College, a group close to the Revolutionary Workers Group which would later morph into the Communist Party of Ireland
. Later that year, while still involved in training activities, an IRA unit under the command of McCool and Mick Price took over Donamon Castle
in County Roscommon
to set up a training camp.. He also found time to address the Drumboe commemoration in his native County Donegal. McCool wrote to then IRA Chief of Staff Moss Twomey requesting permission to issue a statement, ahead of a planned Orange march in Donegal, denouncing imperialist displays. This plan was vetoed by Twomey and Peadar O’Donnell’s appeal to the Orange Order was issued instead.
By 1933 McCool was commander of the IRA Donegal No.2 Battalion and presided over the organising of a new slua of na Fianna Éireann (IRA youth wing) in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal and attended a ‘Release the Prisoners’ meeting in Derry City. He was also selected to stand as an abstentionist
Republican candidate for the Foyle Constituency
in Derry
where he received 3,031 votes. This result, along with the votes obtained by other Republicans in the North was hailed as significant with the IRA proclaiming ‘the fight in the North has been given new life’.
The early 1930s saw increasing clashes between the IRA and the General Eoin O’Duffy’s
Blueshirts, At the 1934 IRA General Army Convention differences began to arise between those who thought that fighting Irish fascism in the form of the Blueshirts was the most important task for the IRA and those who believed that the Fianna Fáil government was using these clashes to turn against, and clamp down on the IRA. At the convention McCool warned against physical clashes with the blueshirts, stating that the IRA should instead attack what they stood for.
1934 saw the IRA split, with many on the left such as McCool’s long time ally Peadar O’Donnell leaving to form the Republican Congress
and being dismissed from the IRA. This split was initially amicable with each side retaining many friends within each organisation.
Despite being on the left of the IRA McCool remained loyal and did not join those who left to form the Republican Congress and again spoke at the Drumboe Commemoration in 1935.
. The venue for the court martial was the Craobh Ruadh Club at 10 Crown Entry. Presiding over the court martial was members of the IRA's GHQ staff and the Ulster
leadership of IRA which by now included Seán McCool.
At 3:25pm, the RUC
raided the club and arrested all present. Those present were charged with Treason-Felony and refused to recognise the court. McCool was sentenced to five years imprisonment which he served in Belfast's Crumlin Road Gaol
. By September 1936 McCool and Jim Killeen (Adjutant General before being arrested in the Craobh Ruadh Club) were on hunger strike for political status.
November 1941 saw the arrest of IRA chief of Staff Pearse Kelly and a hurried IRA conference was called to deal with the vacancy. Seán Harrington was appointed Chief of Staff while the newly released Seán McCool took on the role of Adjutant-General. The Dublin government had the IRA on the run for a number of years now and this was the first time in almost a year that the IRA had a functioning GHQ staff. The IRA's previous strategy, advocated by Seán Russell, of focusing its activities on England had been a failure. The new leadership turned its focus to the six north eastern Counties which remained under British jurisdiction, while attempting to curtail armed actions by the IRA in the Twenty-Six Counties which had given the Dublin government justification to clamp down on the IRA.
However, it wasn't long before Harrington was arrested and the Chief of Staff position was again vacant. The IRA in the Twenty-Six Counties was in disarray and the leadership was severely depleted. The Northern Command of the IRA saw this and stepped into the void, effectively assuming control of the organisation, with some justification given that the focus of the IRA was to be the North of Ireland.
GHQ had become a mere symbol. February 1942 saw Seán McCool take on the role of Chief of Staff while Belfast's Eoin McNamee became Adjutant-General. McCool, McNamee and one or two others were the sum total of the IRA leadership and GHQ staff.
The process of rebuilding the IRA was difficult. With so many arrests contacts had been lost or disappeared. McCool traveled around the country attempting the re-establish IRA units and working towards the planned Northern campaign. McCool and McNamee worked tirelessly and even attempted to renew contacts with Germany ahead of the planned campaign in the North.
Attempts to re-establish contact with Germany gathered pace when German Sergeant Gunther Schuetz escaped from Mountjoy Gaol in February 1942 and made contact with the IRA. Schuetz made contact with Mrs Caítlín Brugha (widow of Cathal Brugha) and McCool quickly developed plans to get Schuetz out of the country with a shopping list of weapons for the IRA.
McCool, however, was not to see these plans develop as August 1942 saw him arrested and interned in the Curragh despite being an election candidate for the Irish General Election scheduled for June 1943. McCool's arrest caused difficulties for the IRA for while he had done an impressive job as Chief of Staff in a short period of time, he had kept the locations and contents of many IRA arms dumps in his head. McCool, however, developed a plan to get this information to his comrades on the outside who were still planning for the Northern Campaign.
Republican internees held in the Curragh camp had split into two main factions. However, a third faction of those who refused to take sides was also in existence. One member of this non-aligned faction was Harry White. McCool hoped that White would appear to the authorities as having become disillusioned with the IRA due to the splits in the camp. With this is mind McCool selected White to become his courier. McCool asked White to 'sign out' of the camp and take the details of the arms dumps which McCool had to the IRA leadership on the outside. 'Signing out' meant giving an undertaking to the authorities that you would turn you back on the IRA and not re-engage in the Republican struggle. This was contrary to IRA rules and carried a great stigma with it. White initially refused as he did not wish to contravene IRA rules. McCool circumvented this problem by getting White to resign from the IRA, then sign out and rejoin when he left the camp. Technically this would mean that White was not breaking any IRA orders. The plan succeeded and, through White, McCool's information was relayed to the IRA on the outside. McCool used this method of getting men to 'sign out' to get get other experienced IRA Volunteers out of the Curragh in order to help the IRA on the outside.
internment camp in April 1942 the faction fighting within the camp between those who accepted Liam Leddy as the prisoners camp O/C and those who supported Pearse Kelly as camp O/C was in full flight. McCool, upon entering the Curragh, brought instructions from the IRA leadership on the outside that the rift between the factions was to be healed and both factions were to come together. Liam Leddy organised a meeting within the camp to discuss the directive from the leadership. McCool and a number of other prisoners, mostly on the Kelly side of the dispute, voted to accept the directive. Leddy refused to accept this and the split was solidified and McCool aligned himself with the Pearse Kelly faction.
While morale amongst the prisoners was affected by the split in the camp McCool and other senior prisoners in the camp ensured that men were kept occupied and that Republican politics was to the fore at all times. Towards the end of 1942 this took the form of a 'Statement on Republican Policy'. McCool and Pearse Kelly colluded in writing this document which was essentially an education program for Republican internees which was intended to ensure that the Curragh Camp became "..a school of training of leaders and fighters". The document focused on revolutionary training, the national struggle, the history and economics. This was a radical program which put the common good ahead of private property rights, called for large unproductive landholding to be redistributed, planned for surplus farm produce to be sold at a price guaranteed by the State and promoted State banks and co-ops among other radical social and economic proposals. One internee, Derry Kelleher, noted that this period in the Curragh was where "I first heard the word 'revolution' in the powerful northern accent of Seán MacCumhaill".
Despite the inconvenience of his imprisonment, McCool still had an election to fight as the Republican candidate in his native Donegal. The arrest and internment of an election candidate caused some controversy. Speaking in Leinster House
, seat of the Irish Oireachtas
, Roddy Connolly
(veteran of the Tan War and Civil War, Labour Party
T.D.
and son of James Connolly
) raised McCool's plight when discussing the effects that censorship implemented by the Fianna Fáil government were having on McCool's election campaign, namely that the Fianna Fáil government had censored one of McCool's election advertisements.
During the same debate Connolly also accused the Fianna Fáil government of abusing the powers of internment by arresting a candidate for parliamentary election, effectively depriving him of being able to contact his constituents during the election campaign.
On top of this McCool had, in May 1943, begun a Hunger Strike. McCool's hunger strike demanding release or fair trial began on 22 May 1943. The public was not notified by the Dublin authorities until the 18th June 1943 that McCool was on hunger strike and, due to the censorship in place at the time his election literature was not allowed to refer to this issue. By July 1943 the issue if those on Hunger Strike in the Curragh was the subject of debate in the Dublin Parliament and a number of demands were made for their release.
Despite the censorship in place, which meant that only McCool's name and Party appeared on the ballot paper with little or no media coverage of his policies or plight, he polled 1,961 votes in the Donegal East constituency. McCool's hunger strike ended on 11 July 1943, after 50 days when he and three other hunger strikers, John Gerard O'Doherty, Terry McLaughlin and John Joe Maxwell, were persuaded to come off it by Sean MacBride
and Con Lehane
.
Undoubtedly, the prolonged hunger strike had effects on the health of McCool, an issue which was again raised in the Dublin parliament on 30 November 1944 where one TD alleged that the doctor in the Curragh was refusing to tend to McCool and that McCool's health was in an extremely poor way
The first major Republican gathering which took place after the 'Curragh Years' was the annual Bodenstown commemoration in June 1945. There, among the assembled crowd McCool met with Tony Magan
and Michael Conway. All three agreed that they should work to begin rebuilding what was left of the IRA. However, by July 1945 he was again arrested and charged with plotting to kill Seán Gantly, head of the Free State Special Branch. Gantly, who had taken the Free State side after the Treaty split, had become the arch-nemesis of many senior IRA members after carrying out a number of high profile arrests against them.
By 1946 serious efforts were being made to re-establish the IRA leadership. In May 1947 Garda Special Branch were monitoring meetings held to establish a new republican national newspaper. These meetings were held under the banner of the 'Sean McCaughey Sinn Féin Cumann'. It was believed at that time that the IRA was using the cover of Sinn Féin to reorganise. A further meeting was held in June 1947 to discuss the reissue of An Phoblacht
. McCool attended this meeting, during which the current state of the IRA was also discussed. This meeting, however, was noted for the argument which took place between Paddy McLogan
and Seán McCool. McLogan had suggested that the IRA give up the idea of drilling among other things. Many delegated seized upon this as an opportunity to expound the necessity of physical force, the foremost of these being McCool. It was noted that the meeting ended without any firm proposals and that McLogan and McCool parted on bad terms.
The reorganisation of the IRA had seen the election of a new leadership which was primarily composed of those who had opposed McCool and Pearse Kelly in the Curragh and also contained Paddy McLogan.
, formed a new political party called Clann na Poblachta
. The Clann drew many well known and staunch IRA and former IRA members such as MacBride, Con Lehane, Jim Killeen, Michael Conway and Mick Fitzpatrick, and also attracted a number of younger radical members who had no Republican history or background.
By 1947 the Clann had won two by-elections and their campaigning had given hope to many Republicans who had become demoralised by a combination of the Curragh splits, the Stephen Hayes
affair, and the lack of political direction within the IRA. Added to this was the fact that many voters felt that Fianna Fáil had failed to live up to their early promise, this was exacerbated by Taoiseach
de Valera's government being content to let IRA men die on hunger strike, particularly Sean McCaughey
in Irish prisons.
The Clann once again put Republicanism centre stage and many Republican stalwarts, McCool, included were swept up by this tide and the belief that MacBride and the Clann might just go all the way and achieve what Fianna Fáil and the IRA has thus far failed to do.
1948 saw a general election in the Free State, one which Clann na Poblachta, spurred on by their by-election victories, presented a serious challenge to Fianna Fáil. McCool, now a member of the Clann, stood as a candidate in his home Donegal East constituency and increased his previous vote by receiving 3,217 votes. While McCool did not manage to win a seat, the overall Clann na Poblachta vote meant that the party held the balance of power in the Twenty-Six counties.
The decision was made to enter into coalition government with Fine Gael. This decision to go into government as partners with the tradition enemy of republicanism was a step too far for many Republicans within the Clann and Seán McCool was probably one of the most prominent members to resign from the party on this issue.
McCool died suddenly on 1 May 1949, shortly after Mark Byrne's field was secured for the GAA. Soon after that it was decided that the new Park would be known as Seán MacCumhaill Park
, in honour of Seán McCool. On Sunday, 22 April 1956, the well equipped MacCumhaill Park was officially opened by the President of the GAA, and a plaque to the memory of the late Seán MacCumhaill was unveiled at the main gate. The name of the Club was also changed from "Erin's Hope" to "MacCumhaills", a name it retains to this day.
The crowds attending McCool's funeral packed the streets of Stranorlar. After the funeral service, his tricolour draped coffin was borne through Stranorlar to the old graveyard. "Seán MacCumhaill was an extraordinary man" said Fr. Gallagher at the funeral, "he never once flinched from the ideals he had set for himself, he was an honest, God fearing Irishman."
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...
and a former chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
. Imprisoned on numerous occasions, both North and South of the border, he embarked on a number of hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
s. He stood as a candidate for Clann na Poblachta
Clann na Poblachta
Clann na Poblachta , abbreviated CnaP, was an Irish republican and social democratic political party founded by former Irish Republican Army Chief of Staff Seán MacBride in 1946.-Foundation:...
before leaving the party as a result of their decision to go into government with Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
.
McCool was described by Peadar O’Donnell as “...deeply read but very much the IRA man”.. He was also prominent within the GAA
Gaelic Athletic Association
The Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
in his native County Donegal
County Donegal
County Donegal is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal. Donegal County Council is the local authority for the county...
and the current home ground of the Donegal GAA, MacCumhaill Park
MacCumhail Park
MacCumhail Park is a Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Ballybofey, County Donegal, Ireland. It is the main grounds of Donegal GAA's Gaelic football and hurling teams. The ground is named after Seán MacCumhail and has a capacity of 17,500....
, is named in his honour.
Early IRA activity
McCool, based in DonegalDonegal
Donegal or Donegal Town is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. Its name, which was historically written in English as Dunnagall or Dunagall, translates from Irish as "stronghold of the foreigners" ....
, took the Republican side during the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
. At the end of the War he was sentenced and held as a prisoner of the Free State in either Finner Camp or Drumboe Castle
Drumboe Castle
Drumboe Castle is located in County Donegal, Ireland. It is infamous for being the location of the Drumboe massacre during the Irish Civil War....
.
McCool was present at the 2nd Drumboe martyrs commemoration for the execution of IRA volunteers
Executions during the Irish Civil War
The executions during the Irish Civil War took place during the guerrilla phase of the Irish Civil War . This phase of the war was bitter, and both sides, the government forces of the Irish Free State and the anti-Treaty Irish Republican Army insurgents, used executions and terror in what...
Lieut. Dan Enright, Comdt. Gen. Charlie Daly, Brig. Comdt. Sean Larkin, and Lieut. Timothy O’Sullivan in 1923..
Land annuities campaign
By 1927 Peadar O’Donnell, the IRA leader, had begun a campaign to use social agitation on the issue of Land Annuities, where small farmers in the republic were being taxed to pay for land brought by the British government in the preceding century. McCool was one of O’Donnell’s earliest supporters and by now was in charge of the East Donegal IRA.In September 1926 McCool’s IRA unit raided the offices of a landlord’s agent in Donegal, taking away all records. On the 19th February 1927 he was one of four men arrested in connection with the raid. Before the trial, the prisoners went on hunger strike for a week. McCool, and his co-accused, which included Peadar O’Donnell’s younger brother Barney, received a sentence of six months imprisonment. which McCool served in Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison
Mountjoy Prison , founded as Mountjoy Gaol, nicknamed The Joy, is a medium security prison located in Phibsboro in the centre of Dublin, Ireland. It has the largest prison population in Ireland.The current prison governor is Mr...
where he would have been a prisoner at the same time as Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA....
Upon his release McCool returned to IRA activity in Donegal and was the main speaker at the annual Drumboe commemoration in 1928. His period of freedom was not to last as, by May 1929, he was again arrested in Sligo and held on a ‘documents’ charge while engaged in land annuity agitation. He was later sentenced to eight months of imprisonment.
Rebuilding the IRA
During the 1930s senior IRA officers and veterans of the Tan and Civil Wars such as McCool were sent to different areas for weeks at a time to help train local IRA recruits.In 1931, despite not being a member of the party, Fianna Fáil members in Stranorlar, Co. Donegal attempted to select McCool as candidate, without success. That same year the IRA attempted to launch its own political party, Saor Éire
Saor Éire
Saor Éire was a left-wing political organisation established in September 1931 by communist-leaning members of the Irish Republican Army, with the backing of the IRA leadership. Notable among its founders was Peadar O'Donnell, former editor of An Phoblacht and a leading left-wing figure in the...
. McCool attended the inaugural meeting and seconded a motion sending fraternal greetings to the USSR.. The success Fianna Fáil and the IRA at this time encouraged McCool, writing to fellow republican Frank Ryan
Frank Ryan (Irish republican)
Frank Ryan was a prominent member of the Irish Republican Army, editor of An Phoblacht, leftist activist and leader of Irish volunteers on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War....
in 1932 he said that the crowd (at the Drumboe march) "did one’s heart good after all the black years... the youth are with us and that’s everything".
McCool continued to be active on both the military and political fronts. In 1932 he joined Peadar O’Donnell, Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard
Charlotte Despard was a British-born, later Irish-based suffragist, novelist and Sinn Féin activist....
and David Fitzgerald on the governing Committee of the Workers College, a group close to the Revolutionary Workers Group which would later morph into the Communist Party of Ireland
Communist Party of Ireland
The Communist Party of Ireland is a small all-Ireland Marxist party, founded in 1933. An earlier party, the Socialist Party of Ireland, was renamed the Communist Party of Ireland in 1921 on its affiliation to the Communist International but was dissolved in 1924. The present-day CPI was founded in...
. Later that year, while still involved in training activities, an IRA unit under the command of McCool and Mick Price took over Donamon Castle
Donamon Castle
Donamon Castle is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in Ireland and stands on raised ground overlooking the River Suck in County Roscommon. In late 1932, an IRA unit, under the command of Seán McCool and Mick Price, took over Donamon Castle to set up an IRA training camp....
in County Roscommon
County Roscommon
County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
to set up a training camp.. He also found time to address the Drumboe commemoration in his native County Donegal. McCool wrote to then IRA Chief of Staff Moss Twomey requesting permission to issue a statement, ahead of a planned Orange march in Donegal, denouncing imperialist displays. This plan was vetoed by Twomey and Peadar O’Donnell’s appeal to the Orange Order was issued instead.
By 1933 McCool was commander of the IRA Donegal No.2 Battalion and presided over the organising of a new slua of na Fianna Éireann (IRA youth wing) in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal and attended a ‘Release the Prisoners’ meeting in Derry City. He was also selected to stand as an abstentionist
Abstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...
Republican candidate for the Foyle Constituency
Foyle (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)
Foyle was a single member constituency in the Parliament of Northern Ireland. It was created in 1929 as one of the five single-member constituencies replacing the former five-member Londonderry constituency...
in 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"...
where he received 3,031 votes. This result, along with the votes obtained by other Republicans in the North was hailed as significant with the IRA proclaiming ‘the fight in the North has been given new life’.
The early 1930s saw increasing clashes between the IRA and the General Eoin O’Duffy’s
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
Blueshirts, At the 1934 IRA General Army Convention differences began to arise between those who thought that fighting Irish fascism in the form of the Blueshirts was the most important task for the IRA and those who believed that the Fianna Fáil government was using these clashes to turn against, and clamp down on the IRA. At the convention McCool warned against physical clashes with the blueshirts, stating that the IRA should instead attack what they stood for.
1934 saw the IRA split, with many on the left such as McCool’s long time ally Peadar O’Donnell leaving to form the Republican Congress
Republican Congress
The Republican Congress was an Irish republican political organisation founded in 1934, when left-wing republicans left the Irish Republican Army. The Congress was led by such IRA veterans as Peadar O'Donnell, Frank Ryan and George Gilmore. It was a socialist organisation and was dedicated to a...
and being dismissed from the IRA. This split was initially amicable with each side retaining many friends within each organisation.
Despite being on the left of the IRA McCool remained loyal and did not join those who left to form the Republican Congress and again spoke at the Drumboe Commemoration in 1935.
The Crown Entry Affair
April 25, 1936 saw the IRA convene a court martial in 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...
. The venue for the court martial was the Craobh Ruadh Club at 10 Crown Entry. Presiding over the court martial was members of the IRA's GHQ staff and the Ulster
Ulster
Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the north of the island. In ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for administrative and judicial...
leadership of IRA which by now included Seán McCool.
At 3:25pm, the RUC
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
raided the club and arrested all present. Those present were charged with Treason-Felony and refused to recognise the court. McCool was sentenced to five years imprisonment which he served in Belfast's Crumlin Road Gaol
Crumlin Road Gaol
HMP Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the only Victorian era prison remaining in Northern Ireland and has been derelict since 1996...
. By September 1936 McCool and Jim Killeen (Adjutant General before being arrested in the Craobh Ruadh Club) were on hunger strike for political status.
Chief of Staff
Upon release after serving his 5 year sentence in Belfast McCool returned to the Twenty-Six Counties and was quickly arrested by the Gardaí with the intention of interning him. Representations were made to the Justice Minister, Gerard Boland, that since McCool had only been released from prison in Belfast that he should not be interned as he had effectively not been active and there was no evidence that he was a threat. Boland, contrary to the advice of the Gardaí, ordered his release.November 1941 saw the arrest of IRA chief of Staff Pearse Kelly and a hurried IRA conference was called to deal with the vacancy. Seán Harrington was appointed Chief of Staff while the newly released Seán McCool took on the role of Adjutant-General. The Dublin government had the IRA on the run for a number of years now and this was the first time in almost a year that the IRA had a functioning GHQ staff. The IRA's previous strategy, advocated by Seán Russell, of focusing its activities on England had been a failure. The new leadership turned its focus to the six north eastern Counties which remained under British jurisdiction, while attempting to curtail armed actions by the IRA in the Twenty-Six Counties which had given the Dublin government justification to clamp down on the IRA.
However, it wasn't long before Harrington was arrested and the Chief of Staff position was again vacant. The IRA in the Twenty-Six Counties was in disarray and the leadership was severely depleted. The Northern Command of the IRA saw this and stepped into the void, effectively assuming control of the organisation, with some justification given that the focus of the IRA was to be the North of Ireland.
GHQ had become a mere symbol. February 1942 saw Seán McCool take on the role of Chief of Staff while Belfast's Eoin McNamee became Adjutant-General. McCool, McNamee and one or two others were the sum total of the IRA leadership and GHQ staff.
The process of rebuilding the IRA was difficult. With so many arrests contacts had been lost or disappeared. McCool traveled around the country attempting the re-establish IRA units and working towards the planned Northern campaign. McCool and McNamee worked tirelessly and even attempted to renew contacts with Germany ahead of the planned campaign in the North.
Attempts to re-establish contact with Germany gathered pace when German Sergeant Gunther Schuetz escaped from Mountjoy Gaol in February 1942 and made contact with the IRA. Schuetz made contact with Mrs Caítlín Brugha (widow of Cathal Brugha) and McCool quickly developed plans to get Schuetz out of the country with a shopping list of weapons for the IRA.
McCool, however, was not to see these plans develop as August 1942 saw him arrested and interned in the Curragh despite being an election candidate for the Irish General Election scheduled for June 1943. McCool's arrest caused difficulties for the IRA for while he had done an impressive job as Chief of Staff in a short period of time, he had kept the locations and contents of many IRA arms dumps in his head. McCool, however, developed a plan to get this information to his comrades on the outside who were still planning for the Northern Campaign.
Republican internees held in the Curragh camp had split into two main factions. However, a third faction of those who refused to take sides was also in existence. One member of this non-aligned faction was Harry White. McCool hoped that White would appear to the authorities as having become disillusioned with the IRA due to the splits in the camp. With this is mind McCool selected White to become his courier. McCool asked White to 'sign out' of the camp and take the details of the arms dumps which McCool had to the IRA leadership on the outside. 'Signing out' meant giving an undertaking to the authorities that you would turn you back on the IRA and not re-engage in the Republican struggle. This was contrary to IRA rules and carried a great stigma with it. White initially refused as he did not wish to contravene IRA rules. McCool circumvented this problem by getting White to resign from the IRA, then sign out and rejoin when he left the camp. Technically this would mean that White was not breaking any IRA orders. The plan succeeded and, through White, McCool's information was relayed to the IRA on the outside. McCool used this method of getting men to 'sign out' to get get other experienced IRA Volunteers out of the Curragh in order to help the IRA on the outside.
The Curragh
When McCool arrived in the CurraghCurragh Camp
The Curragh Camp is an army base and military college located in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Irish Army.- Brief history of the Curragh's military heritage :...
internment camp in April 1942 the faction fighting within the camp between those who accepted Liam Leddy as the prisoners camp O/C and those who supported Pearse Kelly as camp O/C was in full flight. McCool, upon entering the Curragh, brought instructions from the IRA leadership on the outside that the rift between the factions was to be healed and both factions were to come together. Liam Leddy organised a meeting within the camp to discuss the directive from the leadership. McCool and a number of other prisoners, mostly on the Kelly side of the dispute, voted to accept the directive. Leddy refused to accept this and the split was solidified and McCool aligned himself with the Pearse Kelly faction.
While morale amongst the prisoners was affected by the split in the camp McCool and other senior prisoners in the camp ensured that men were kept occupied and that Republican politics was to the fore at all times. Towards the end of 1942 this took the form of a 'Statement on Republican Policy'. McCool and Pearse Kelly colluded in writing this document which was essentially an education program for Republican internees which was intended to ensure that the Curragh Camp became "..a school of training of leaders and fighters". The document focused on revolutionary training, the national struggle, the history and economics. This was a radical program which put the common good ahead of private property rights, called for large unproductive landholding to be redistributed, planned for surplus farm produce to be sold at a price guaranteed by the State and promoted State banks and co-ops among other radical social and economic proposals. One internee, Derry Kelleher, noted that this period in the Curragh was where "I first heard the word 'revolution' in the powerful northern accent of Seán MacCumhaill".
Despite the inconvenience of his imprisonment, McCool still had an election to fight as the Republican candidate in his native Donegal. The arrest and internment of an election candidate caused some controversy. Speaking in Leinster House
Leinster House
Leinster House is the name of the building housing the Oireachtas, the national parliament of Ireland.Leinster House was originally the ducal palace of the Dukes of Leinster. Since 1922, it is a complex of buildings, of which the former ducal palace is the core, which house Oireachtas Éireann, its...
, seat of the Irish Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
, Roddy Connolly
Roddy Connolly
Roderick James Connolly was a socialist politician in Ireland.The son of Irish socialist James Connolly and Lillie Connolly, he was involved in the Easter Rising in 1916, where he served in the GPO under his father. He joined the Socialist Party of Ireland in 1917...
(veteran of the Tan War and Civil War, Labour Party
Labour Party (Ireland)
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Republic of Ireland. The Labour Party was founded in 1912 in Clonmel, County Tipperary, by James Connolly, James Larkin and William X. O'Brien as the political wing of the Irish Trade Union Congress. Unlike the other main Irish...
T.D.
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
and son of James Connolly
James Connolly
James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...
) raised McCool's plight when discussing the effects that censorship implemented by the Fianna Fáil government were having on McCool's election campaign, namely that the Fianna Fáil government had censored one of McCool's election advertisements.
During the same debate Connolly also accused the Fianna Fáil government of abusing the powers of internment by arresting a candidate for parliamentary election, effectively depriving him of being able to contact his constituents during the election campaign.
On top of this McCool had, in May 1943, begun a Hunger Strike. McCool's hunger strike demanding release or fair trial began on 22 May 1943. The public was not notified by the Dublin authorities until the 18th June 1943 that McCool was on hunger strike and, due to the censorship in place at the time his election literature was not allowed to refer to this issue. By July 1943 the issue if those on Hunger Strike in the Curragh was the subject of debate in the Dublin Parliament and a number of demands were made for their release.
Despite the censorship in place, which meant that only McCool's name and Party appeared on the ballot paper with little or no media coverage of his policies or plight, he polled 1,961 votes in the Donegal East constituency. McCool's hunger strike ended on 11 July 1943, after 50 days when he and three other hunger strikers, John Gerard O'Doherty, Terry McLaughlin and John Joe Maxwell, were persuaded to come off it by Sean MacBride
Seán MacBride
Seán MacBride was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA....
and Con Lehane
Con Lehane (Irish republican)
Con Lehane was a left-wing nationalist, a 1930s member of the IRA Army Council, solicitor, and Dáil Éireann representative, elected in the 1948 general election for one term for Clann na Poblachta for the Dublin South Central constituency. He lost his seat at the 1951 general election...
.
Undoubtedly, the prolonged hunger strike had effects on the health of McCool, an issue which was again raised in the Dublin parliament on 30 November 1944 where one TD alleged that the doctor in the Curragh was refusing to tend to McCool and that McCool's health was in an extremely poor way
After Internment
By 1945 most of the Republican internees who had been held in the Curragh were released. By this stage the IRA was almost non-existent. Internment had robbed it of its most talented leaders and the factional disputes that had taken place in the Curragh had disillusioned most of those who had been interned. Within this context Republicans slowly began trying to rebuild the IRA. This was no easy task as whole units had lost contact with the leadership, arms dumps were lost and forgotten about. Indeed, many were unsure who was actually still in the IRA.The first major Republican gathering which took place after the 'Curragh Years' was the annual Bodenstown commemoration in June 1945. There, among the assembled crowd McCool met with Tony Magan
Tony Magan
Tony Magan was an Irish republican and chief of staff of the Irish Republican Army .Magan was a son of farmer James Magan and his wife Elizabeth, of Kilmore, County Meath....
and Michael Conway. All three agreed that they should work to begin rebuilding what was left of the IRA. However, by July 1945 he was again arrested and charged with plotting to kill Seán Gantly, head of the Free State Special Branch. Gantly, who had taken the Free State side after the Treaty split, had become the arch-nemesis of many senior IRA members after carrying out a number of high profile arrests against them.
By 1946 serious efforts were being made to re-establish the IRA leadership. In May 1947 Garda Special Branch were monitoring meetings held to establish a new republican national newspaper. These meetings were held under the banner of the 'Sean McCaughey Sinn Féin Cumann'. It was believed at that time that the IRA was using the cover of Sinn Féin to reorganise. A further meeting was held in June 1947 to discuss the reissue of An Phoblacht
An Phoblacht
An Phoblacht is the official newspaper of Sinn Féin in Ireland. It is published once a month, and according to its website sells an average of up to 15,000 copies every month and was the first Irish paper to provide an edition online and currently having in excess of 100,000 website hits per...
. McCool attended this meeting, during which the current state of the IRA was also discussed. This meeting, however, was noted for the argument which took place between Paddy McLogan
Paddy McLogan
Paddy J. McLogan was President of Sinn Féin from 1950–52 and again from 1954 to 1962.Born in Markethill, Co Armagh, he spent some time in Scotland. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1913 and the Irish Volunteers. The same year he was imprisoned by the British authorities and went on a...
and Seán McCool. McLogan had suggested that the IRA give up the idea of drilling among other things. Many delegated seized upon this as an opportunity to expound the necessity of physical force, the foremost of these being McCool. It was noted that the meeting ended without any firm proposals and that McLogan and McCool parted on bad terms.
The reorganisation of the IRA had seen the election of a new leadership which was primarily composed of those who had opposed McCool and Pearse Kelly in the Curragh and also contained Paddy McLogan.
Clann na Poblachta
In July 1946 former IRA chief of staff and good friend of Seán McCool, Seán MacBrideSeán MacBride
Seán MacBride was an Irish government minister and prominent international politician as well as a Chief of Staff of the IRA....
, formed a new political party called Clann na Poblachta
Clann na Poblachta
Clann na Poblachta , abbreviated CnaP, was an Irish republican and social democratic political party founded by former Irish Republican Army Chief of Staff Seán MacBride in 1946.-Foundation:...
. The Clann drew many well known and staunch IRA and former IRA members such as MacBride, Con Lehane, Jim Killeen, Michael Conway and Mick Fitzpatrick, and also attracted a number of younger radical members who had no Republican history or background.
By 1947 the Clann had won two by-elections and their campaigning had given hope to many Republicans who had become demoralised by a combination of the Curragh splits, the Stephen Hayes
Stephen Hayes
Stephen Hayes was a member and leader of the Irish Republican Army .Hayes was born in Enniscorthy.During the Irish War of Independence, he was commandant of the Wexford Brigade of Fianna Éireann...
affair, and the lack of political direction within the IRA. Added to this was the fact that many voters felt that Fianna Fáil had failed to live up to their early promise, this was exacerbated by Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
de Valera's government being content to let IRA men die on hunger strike, particularly Sean McCaughey
Seán McCaughey
Seán McCaughey was an Irish Republican Army leader in the 1930s and 1940s, and hunger striker....
in Irish prisons.
The Clann once again put Republicanism centre stage and many Republican stalwarts, McCool, included were swept up by this tide and the belief that MacBride and the Clann might just go all the way and achieve what Fianna Fáil and the IRA has thus far failed to do.
1948 saw a general election in the Free State, one which Clann na Poblachta, spurred on by their by-election victories, presented a serious challenge to Fianna Fáil. McCool, now a member of the Clann, stood as a candidate in his home Donegal East constituency and increased his previous vote by receiving 3,217 votes. While McCool did not manage to win a seat, the overall Clann na Poblachta vote meant that the party held the balance of power in the Twenty-Six counties.
The decision was made to enter into coalition government with Fine Gael. This decision to go into government as partners with the tradition enemy of republicanism was a step too far for many Republicans within the Clann and Seán McCool was probably one of the most prominent members to resign from the party on this issue.
Involvement in the GAA and death
The GAA had a strong tradition in the Stranorlar/Ballybofey area dating back to 1916 when the team 'Ballybofey Éire Óg's' was formed in Ballybofey and the in 1917 when 'Stranorlar Sarsfield's' was formed. Both teams then came together to form 'Erin's Hope'. In 1944, Ben Griffin and Sean MacCumhaill made an offer to Mark Byrne to buy a field which was within the town boundary of Ballybofey, but at the time the owner was unwilling to sell. In 1946, as part of the 'Civic Week' celebrations in the Twin Towns a friendly match between Sligo and Donegal was held in Mark Byrne's field. As this proved to be a great success, a Park Committee was formed and the field was finally secured for the GAA. McCool also served as secretary of the Donegal GAA from 1946 until his death in 1949.McCool died suddenly on 1 May 1949, shortly after Mark Byrne's field was secured for the GAA. Soon after that it was decided that the new Park would be known as Seán MacCumhaill Park
MacCumhail Park
MacCumhail Park is a Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Ballybofey, County Donegal, Ireland. It is the main grounds of Donegal GAA's Gaelic football and hurling teams. The ground is named after Seán MacCumhail and has a capacity of 17,500....
, in honour of Seán McCool. On Sunday, 22 April 1956, the well equipped MacCumhaill Park was officially opened by the President of the GAA, and a plaque to the memory of the late Seán MacCumhaill was unveiled at the main gate. The name of the Club was also changed from "Erin's Hope" to "MacCumhaills", a name it retains to this day.
The crowds attending McCool's funeral packed the streets of Stranorlar. After the funeral service, his tricolour draped coffin was borne through Stranorlar to the old graveyard. "Seán MacCumhaill was an extraordinary man" said Fr. Gallagher at the funeral, "he never once flinched from the ideals he had set for himself, he was an honest, God fearing Irishman."