Hugh Christopher Corvin (25 December 1899 – September 1975) was an Irish republican leader. Born at 21 Violet Street in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

on 25 December 1899, Corvin was the son of Peter Corvin, an RIC constable, and Lucy Mooney. Corvin began working for the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

at the age of 15. There, he joined the

Gaelic League (; historically known in English as the Gaelic League) is a social and cultural organisation which promotes the Irish language in Ireland and worldwide. The organisation was founded in 1893 with Douglas Hyde as its first president, when it emer ...

and 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 respon ...

,"Obituary: Mr Hugh Corvin", ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', 1 October 1975 participating in the Easter Rising.Johnny Rogan, ''Van Morrison: No Surrender'', p. 166 During the Irish War of Independence, Corvin was based in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

, then, in 1920, he returned to Belfast, where he became quartermaster of the third northern division 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 th ...

(IRA). An opponent of the

Anglo-Irish Treaty The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

, he became the IRA's Belfast secretary in 1923.Denis Kleinrichart, ''Republican Internment and the Prison Ship Argenta 1922'', p. 341 Still working for the Inland Revenue, he later claimed that he was working on the returns of

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

politician

Dawson Bates Sir Richard Dawson Bates, 1st Baronet (23 November 1876 – 10 June 1949), known as Dawson Bates, was an Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) member of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland. He was born in Strandtown, Belfast, the son of Richard D ...

when he was arrested on Bates' orders, later that year. He was interned at

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid ...

, becoming the officer commanding

anti-treaty IRA The 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty ( ga , An Conradh Angla-Éireannach), commonly known in Ireland as The Treaty and officially the Articles of Agreement for a Treaty Between Great Britain and Ireland, was an agreement between the government of the ...

internees there. In April 1924, he was moved to

Derry Gaol Derry Gaol, also known as Londonderry Gaol, refers to one of several gaols (prisons) constructed consecutively in Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Derry Gaol is notable as a place of incarceration for Irish Republican Army (IRA) m ...

, during which time he was a leader of the republican internees, alongside Dan Turley. While inside, he stood for Sinn Féin in Belfast North at the 1924 general election, but took only 3.4% of the votes cast,

F. W. S. Craig Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...

, ''British Parliamentary Election Results, 1918-1949'' the party's worst result at the election. Corvin was released on Christmas Eve 1924, at which time the northern IRA was reorganised; he became the first Officer Commanding its new Belfast Brigade. He had been able to complete his accountancy qualification while interned and founded his own company, later known as Corvin & Co. In 1926, he stood down from his IRA positions, to focus on his business interests. Living on the Antrim Road, Corvin spoke the

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

at home, was very active in the

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

, and served in succession as the president, secretary and treasurer of the Belfast branch of the Gaelic League. From the 1930s, he began supporting

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

,"3,000 shout for De Valera", ''

Nashua Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', for most of its existence known as the ''Nashua Telegraph'', is a daily newspaper in Nashua, New Hampshire. It was founded as the ''Nashua Daily Telegraph'' in 1869, although a weekly version dates back to 1832. Through the 20 ...

'', 23 January 1933 and later in the decade, he was a leading figure in the Northern Council for Unity, a short-lived split from the Nationalist Party. Corvin served as

Eamon Donnelly Eamon Donnelly (19 July 1877 – 29 December 1944) was an Irish politician. He was born in Middletown, County Armagh, the son of Francis Donnelly, a mason, and Catherine Donnelly (née Haggin). He was a member of the Irish Volunteers. In 1921 ...

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is ...

in his campaign for Belfast Falls at a 1942 by-election to the Northern Ireland House of Commons. Donnelly won the seat, and his supporters then nominated Corvin for the British House of Commons at the 1943 Belfast West by-election, although the IRA repudiated his candidacy. He took only 2.9% of the vote and a distant fourth place in the contest. Despite this, he remained close to some IRA members, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he organised the Green Cross Fund to assist the families of republican internees. In 1946, he acted as a pall bearer at the funeral of

Seán McCaughey Seán McCaughey (Irish: Seán Mac Eóchaidh) (1915 – 11 May 1946) was an Irish Republican Army leader in the 1930s and 1940s and hunger striker. Background McCaughey was born in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone in 1915 and in 1921 his family move ...

, the last person to die on hunger strike in independent Ireland. Corvin's son, Donal, became a well known DJ and pop music journalist.'Donal Corvin: An Appreciation'
Magill.ie. 30 October 1979. Retrieved March 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corvin, Hugh 1899 births 1975 deaths Independent politicians in Northern Ireland Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members Politicians from Belfast People of the Easter Rising Sinn Féin parliamentary candidates