Tommy McKearney (born 1952) is a former Irish

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

in 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 ...

who took part in the 1980 hunger strike.

Background

McKearney was born in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

in the north-east of

County Armagh County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and h ...

, but he was raised in The Moy, a village in the south-east of

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

, just across the River Blackwater from

. He was born into a family with a long tradition of

Irish republicanism Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develo ...

. Both his grandfathers had fought in 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 that ...

in the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi- ...

, his maternal grandfather Tom Murray being an

Adjutant General An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer. France In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...

in the North Roscommon Brigade. McKearney lost three of his brothers during the Northern Ireland Troubles. Sean was killed by his own bomb in 1974, Pádraig was killed by the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-te ...

(SAS) in the

Loughgall Ambush The Loughgall ambush took place on 8 May 1987 in the village of Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. An eight-man unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) launched an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base in the vi ...

on 8 May 1987, and Kevin, a non-paramilitary, was murdered by the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook T ...

(UVF) in 1992 while working in the family's butcher shop. His sister, Margaret, was the subject of an unsuccessful

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two juri ...

attempt in 1975, when

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

described her as "possibly the most dangerous woman terrorist in Britain."

IRA activity

On 9 August 1971, the day

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

was introduced, McKearney received his

A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational au ...

results.''Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin'', p. 100. He had hoped to study at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

and become a teacher but his results were not good enough to secure entry. He describes the introduction of internment as "the straw that broke the camel's back" and decided to join the

Provisional IRA 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 re ...

, becoming a member of the

East Tyrone Brigade The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". It is believed to have drawn ...

. He became the brigade's OC during the mid-seventies. On 19 October 1977 he was arrested and charged with the murder of Stanley Adams, a postman and part-time

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

(UDR)

lance corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal, and is typically the lowest non-commissioned officer (NCO), usually equi ...

(L/Cpl) of the 8th Battalion. He was interrogated for seven days under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and says he was ill-treated while in custody. He later received a life sentence with a recommended minimum term of twenty years for the murder of L/Cpl Adams, after a statement which he never signed was accepted by the court on the word of a

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Roy ...

(RUC) Inspector.

Hunger strike

McKearney was involved in the

blanket A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection. Etymology The term ...

and dirty protests, and took part in the 1980 hunger strike along with other IRA members. Prior to commencing the hunger strike, McKearney told his mother and father: He spent 53 days on hunger strike, from 27 October to 18 December and, according to a doctor had only a few hours left to live when the strike was called off.

Release

McKearney was released from prison in 1993, having served 16 years of his sentence. In 2003 he appeared in the BBC documentary ''Life After Life''. He is now a

freelance journalist ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

, edits the publication ''Fourthwrite'', and is an organiser for the Independent Workers Union of Ireland.

References

External links

Official siteIndependent Workers Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKearney, Tommy 1952 births Irish hunger strikers Irish republicans Irish republicans imprisoned on charges of terrorism Irish trade unionists Journalists from Northern Ireland Living people People convicted of murder by Northern Ireland People from Lurgan Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Northern Ireland Provisional Irish Republican Army members