Michael Fitzgerald also known as Mick Fitzgerald, (December 1881 – 17 October 1920) was among the first members of the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

and played an important role in organizing it. He rose to the rank of Commandant, Officer Commanding (OC) in the First Battalion, Cork Number 2 Brigade. He died in the 1920

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 ...

at Cork Gaol. His death is credited with bringing world-wide attention to the Irish cause for independence. Commandant Mick Fitzgerald

Early life

Born in Ballyoran,

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dái ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Fitzgerald was educated at the Christian Brothers School in the town and subsequently found work as a mill worker in the locality. He joined the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...

in 1914 and played an important role in building the local organisation which was soon to become the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He soon rose to the rank of Battalion Commandant, 1st Battalion, Cork No.2 Brigade.Cork Jail Memorial Souvenir (pamphlet), 1948, Cló na Laoí (The Lee Press), Cork.Peter Hart. Rebel Cork's Fighting Story. 1916-21. Told by the Men Who Made It. Edited by Peter Hart. Mercier Press, Cork 2009. Pages 117-120.

IRA activities

On Easter Sunday, 20 April 1919 Michael Fitzgerald led a small group of IRA volunteers who captured Araglin, Cork

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

Barracks located on the border with

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to three months imprisonment at Cork Jail. Fitzgerald was released from prison in August 1919 and immediately returned to active IRA duty. He was involved in the holding up of a party of

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

troops at the

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

Church in Fermoy. The troops were disarmed although one of them was killed.Arrested and held on remand, Mick Fitzgerald felt that the only chance he had for release was via a hunger strike.

1920 hunger strike

Michael Fitzgerald, along with

Terence MacSwiney Terence James MacSwiney (; ga, Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne; 28 March 1879 – 25 October 1920) was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork during the Irish War of Independence in 1920. He ...

and nine other IRA volunteers, were arrested on 8 August 1920. On 11 August 1920, MacSwiney began a hunger strike in Brixton Gaol. Fitzgerald and the other nine volunteers at Cork Gaol joined in. Twenty-four-year-old Fitzgerald was the first to die on 17 October 1920 as a result of his sixty seven day fast Days before his death the authorities refused Fitzgerald permission to marry his fiancée. He was followed by Joe Murphy and Terence McSwiney. Their deaths are credited with bringing world-wide attention to the Irish cause for independence and occurred just before the largest hunger strike in Irish history - the 1923 Irish Hunger Strikes. Their survival during the long hunger strike was credited the devotion and care provided by attending nuns. Remember the Hunger Strikers Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin

Remember the Hunger Strikers Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin

Gravesite

Michael Fitzgerald is buried at Kilcrumper Cemetery, on the outskirts of Fermoy. In addition, a road was named after him in Togher, Cork. During a November 2008 visit to Fermoy, County Cork

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 ...

Vice-President Pat Doherty laid a wreath at Fitzgerald's grave. Doherty said Fitzgerald's sacrifice was like that of the hunger strikers in 1981. He said it was a great honour for him to pay homage to a man "to whom we owe so much." Also buried in the Republican Plot in Fermoy is General Liam Lynch, who was Chief of Staff of the IRA when he was shot dead by Free State troops on the Knockmealdown Mountains on 12 April 1923. His last wish was to be buried with his great friend and comrade, Mick Fitzgerald.

References

External links