Thomas Hunter an 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...

 republican

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 politician. He was a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood

Irish Republican Brotherhood

The Irish Republican Brotherhood was a secret oath-bound fraternal organisation dedicated to the establishment of an "independent democratic republic" in Ireland during the second half of the 19th century and the start of the 20th century...

 (IRB), 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...

, the Irish Volunteers

Irish Volunteers

The Irish Volunteers was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists. It was ostensibly formed in response to the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1912, and its declared primary aim was "to secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to the whole people of Ireland"...

 and 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...

 (IRA).

Hunter was born on 22 December 1880 in Castletownroche

Castletownroche

Castletownroche is a village on the N72 National secondary road in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. In ancient times, it was known in Irish as Dún Chruadha, meaning Cruadha's Fort...

, County Cork

County Cork

County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

He participated in the 1916 Easter Rising

Easter Rising

The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...

 as a Captain of the 2nd Battalion under Commandant Thomas MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh

Thomas MacDonagh was an Irish nationalist, poet, playwright, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Early life:MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary...

, which occupied the Jacob's biscuit factory

Jacob's

Jacob's is a brand name for several lines of biscuits and crackers. The brand name in the Republic of Ireland is owned by Jacob Fruitfield Food Group and in the United Kingdom it is owned under license by United Biscuits.-History:...

 on Bishop Street, almost a mile to the south of the General Post Office

General Post Office (Dublin)

The General Post Office ' in Dublin is the headquarters of the Irish postal service, An Post, and Dublin's principal post office...

. Following the Rising he was sentenced to death – this was later commuted to penal servitude for life.

In 1917, Hunter, along with Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera

Éamon de Valera was one of the dominant political figures in twentieth century Ireland, serving as head of government of the Irish Free State and head of government and head of state of Ireland...

 and Thomas Ashe

Thomas Ashe

Thomas Patrick Ashe born in Lispole, County Kerry, Ireland, was a member of the Gaelic League, the Irish Republican Brotherhood and a founding member of the Irish Volunteers...

, were accepted among their fellow prisoners at Lewes prison

Lewes (HM Prison)

HM Prison Lewes is a local men's prison, located in Lewes in East Sussex, England. The term 'local' means that the prison holds people on remand to the local courts, as well as sentenced prisoners. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service....

 as commanding officers. On 28 May of that year, de Valera, Ashe and Hunter lead a prison hunger-strike. This led the authorities to remove the prisoners from Lewes to separate facilities. By 18 June 1917, all participants of the Easter Rising had been released.

In May 1918, Hunter was again arrested along with all other members of Sinn Féin during the "German Plot

German Plot (Ireland, May 1918)

The "German Plot" was a conspiracy alleged in May 1918 by the Dublin Castle administration in Ireland to exist between the Sinn Féin movement and the German Empire to start an armed insurrection in Ireland during World War I...

". In December 1918 he was elected as a Sinn Féin MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for the Cork North East constituency at the 1918 general election. Sinn Féin MPs refused to attend Westminster

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

, and instead assembled at the Mansion House

Mansion House, Dublin

The Mansion House on Dawson Street, Dublin, is the official residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin since 1715.-Features:The Mansion House's most famous features include the "Round Room", where the First Dáil assembled on 21 January 1919 to proclaim the Irish Declaration of Independence...

 in Dublin as a revolutionary parliament called Dáil Éireann, though Hunter could not attend as he was still in prison.

By March 1920, Hunter had established a business with his partner Peadar Clancy

Peadar Clancy

Peadar Clancy was a member of the Irish Republican Army who served in the Four Courts garrison during the 1916 Easter Rising and was second-in-command of the Dublin Brigade, IRA during the War of Independence...

, calling themselves a "republican tailor". Hunter was once again arrested for his involvement in the theft of Viceroy French

John French, 1st Earl of Ypres

Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...

's documents. While in prison, Hunter and several others engaged in a hunger strike, demanding to be treated as prisoners of war. News of these hunger strikes sparked general strikes called by the trade unions and large scale demonstrations in Dublin to show support for the hunger strikers. On 14 April 1920, all hunger striking prisoners were released.

In October 1920, during a "wholesale raid" of the homes of Sinn Fein members, British troops attacked Hunter's business ("The Republican Outfitters"), destroying the building. It was mistakenly reported at the time that Hunter was among the dead.

In May 1921, Hunter was elected unopposed as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála

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...

 (TD) for the Cork East and North East

Cork East and North East (Dáil Éireann constituency)

Cork East and North East was a parliamentary constituency represented in Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Irish parliament or Oireachtas from 1921 to 1923...

 constituency at the 1921 elections

Irish elections, 1921

Two elections in Ireland took place in 1921, as a result of the Government of Ireland Act 1920 to establish the House of Commons of Northern Ireland and the House of Commons of Southern Ireland. The election was used by Irish Republicans as the basis of membership of the Second Dáil...

. During Dáil debates on the Anglo-Irish Treaty

Anglo-Irish Treaty

The Anglo-Irish Treaty , officially called the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was a treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and representatives of the secessionist Irish Republic that concluded the Irish War of...

, Hunter spoke (albeit briefly) against the treaty.
At the 1922 general election

Irish general election, 1922

The Irish general election of 1922 took place in Southern Ireland on 16 June 1922, under the provisions of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty to elect a constituent assembly paving the way for the formal establishment of the Irish Free State...

, Hunter stood unsuccessfully for as an anti-Treaty Sinn Féin candidate.

Hunter died on 11 March 1932 at Glanworth, County Cork.

Legacy

A stretch of the N72 (Mallow Road) leading to the village of Castletownroche

Castletownroche

Castletownroche is a village on the N72 National secondary road in County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. In ancient times, it was known in Irish as Dún Chruadha, meaning Cruadha's Fort...

has been named Commandant Tom Hunter Park.