Denis O'Beirne Faul (14 August 1932 – 21 June 2006), was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

and civil rights campaigner best known for his role in the

1981 Irish Hunger Strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republicanism, Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government ...

. At his death, he held the honorific title of

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

within the Catholic Church.

Biography

Born on 14 August 1932 in the village of

Louth, County Louth Louth () is a village at the heart of County Louth, Ireland. It is roughly 11 km south-west of the town of Dundalk, 10.9 km to neighbouring town Ardee. The village is approximately 15 km south-east of Carrickmacross town in Coun ...

, in the north of the Province of

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

, he was the son of Joseph and Anne Frances Faul. He was educated at

St Patrick's College, Armagh St Patrick's Grammar School ( ga, Scoil Ghramadaí Naomh Pádraig), Armagh, is a Roman Catholic boys' non-selective voluntary grammar school in the city of Armagh, Northern Ireland. The present-day school was officially opened on Thursday, 27 O ...

, and thereafter studied for the priesthood at

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

, where he was ordained in 1956. After a year studying Theology in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he joined the staff of St Patrick's Boys' Academy in

Dungannon Dungannon () is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 14,340 at the 2011 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council had its headquarters in the ...

, Co Tyrone, to teach

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and religion. He was appointed principal in 1983.

Civil rights movement

Faul (known as Father Faul at the time) became actively involved in the

Northern Ireland civil rights movement The Northern Ireland civil rights movement dates to the early 1960s, when a number of initiatives emerged in Northern Ireland which challenged the inequality and discrimination against ethnic Irish Catholics that was perpetrated by the Ulster Pr ...

in 1968, participating in marches. He protested vigorously against civil rights abuses by the elements of the British security forces. However he also condemned the killings perpetrated by the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reun ...

. He also campaigned for the release of the

Birmingham Six The Birmingham Six were six Irishmen who were each sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 following their false convictions for the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and unsatisfactory and quashed by the Cou ...

and the

Guildford Four and Maguire Seven The Guildford Four and Maguire Seven were the collective names of two groups whose convictions in Courts of England and Wales, English courts in 1975 and 1976 for the Guildford pub bombings of 5 October 1974 were eventually quashed after long cam ...

before their causes became well-known and vindicated.

Irish hunger strike

In 1981, as a visiting priest assisting the formally appointed chaplain, Faul played a decisive role in ending the

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

. In July 1981, he tried to persuade families of the hunger strikers that the campaign would not change the minds of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

and her ministers and nothing could be gained by more deaths. The families spoke to the prisoners, resulting in two prisoners ( Paddy Quinn and Pat McKeown) being moved to the hospital wings where they could be fed. By 6 September, four other participants had joined them and the remaining prisoners agreed to end their campaign on 3 October. The IRA referred to him as '' Dennis the Menace'' at this time. In 1993 he described his role in the hunger strikes for a BBC "Timewatch" documentary.

Later life

Faul was honoured by the church with the title

in 1995. Following his retirement from teaching in 1998 he became Parish Priest of neighbouring Termonmaguirc (

Carrickmore Carrickmore () is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. It ha ...

). Faul died of cancer in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

on 21 June 2006, aged 73.BBC News story reporting Fr Faul's death
/ref> Former hunger strikers and prisoners, Republicans and senior members of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

attended the large funeral at St. Colmcille's Church, Carrickmore, many having come to respect the work carried out by Faul over his lifetime. He criticised

integrated education Integrated education in Northern Ireland refers to the bringing together of children, parents and teachers from both Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions in childhood education: the aim being to provide a balanced education, while allowing the ...

, insisting that Catholic parents were required by

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

to send their children to Catholic schools and also claimed the schools were a "dirty political trick" inspired by the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

.Monsignor Denis Faul
Independent, 22 June 2006
obituaries,

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

, 22 June 2006A man of God who feared none in defence of all
Maurice Hayes,

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

, 25 June 2006

Publications

* ''The RUC: The Black and Blue Book'' by Fr. Denis Faul and Fr.

Raymond Murray Major General Raymond Leroy Murray (January 30, 1913 – November 11, 2004) was a highly decorated United States Marine Corps officer who earned two Navy Crosses, one during World War II and a second during the Korean War. He retired from activ ...

(1975) * ''H Blocks: British Jail for Irish Political Prisoners'' by Denis Faul and Raymond Murray (1979) * ''The British Dimension: Brutality, Murder and Legal Duplicity in N. Ireland'' by Denis Faul and Raymond Murray (1980) * ''Plastic Bullets - Plastic Government: Deaths and Injuries by Plastic Bullets, August 1981-October 1982'' by Denis Faul and Raymond Murray (1982) * ''The Hooded Men: British Torture in Ireland, August, October 1971'' by Denis Faul and Raymond Murray, Wordwell (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faul, Denis 1932 births 2006 deaths People of The Troubles (Northern Ireland) People from County Louth Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland