Jimmy Steele (8 August 1907 – 9 August 1970) was born 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 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and was one of the most prominent

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) men in Belfast after the Irish Civil War. Steele was an Irish republican who spent most of his life in jail as a result of his activities with the IRA. Steele joined

Fianna Éireann Na Fianna Éireann (The Fianna of Ireland), known as the Fianna, is an Irish nationalist youth organisation founded by Constance Markievicz in 1909, with later help from Bulmer Hobson. Fianna members were involved in setting up the Irish Volun ...

in 1920 during the Irish War of Independence and later went on to join the IRA. He was arrested in 1923 and again in 1924 and imprisoned in

Crumlin Road Gaol HMP Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1996 it is the only remaining Victorian era former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known as ' ...

. After his release in 1925, Steele helped in the re-organisation of the IRA's Belfast Brigade. In 1935 Steele led an IRA raid on a RUC base within the grounds of

Campbell College Campbell College located in Belfast, Northern Ireland and founded in 1894 comprises a preparatory school department (junior age) and a senior Northern Ireland 'Voluntary Grammar' school, the latter meaning, in terms of provision of education, a ...

, a school in the east of the city. The raid was unsuccessful due to a tip-off, and Steele managed to escape. The following year he was arrested for the raid along with several other IRA members and again sent to Crumlin Road Gaol on a five year sentence. While in jail, Steele was one of eight Irish Republican prisoners conducting a

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 ...

demanding

political status In international law three categories of Political status are usually recognized: #Independent countries e.g.: France, Canada #Internal independent countries which are under the protection of another country in matters of defense and foreign affa ...

. In 1943 Steele, along with Patrick Donnelly,

Ned Maguire Ned Maguire was an Irish Republican Army volunteer from Belfast,Anderson, B., ''Joe Cahill: A Life in the IRA'', Dublin 2002, p. 86 perhaps best known for his part in the Crumlin Road Gaol breakout of 1943. Having been sentenced to six years im ...

and

Hugh McAteer Hugh McAteer ( ga, Aodh Mac an tSaoir; 13 August 1916 – 24 June 1970) was a volunteer in, and leader of, the Irish Republican Army during their Northern Campaign, and later in 1950 and 1964 unsuccessfully contested for a seat in the British ...

escaped from the Gaol. Shortly afterwards he was appointed adjutant of the Northern Command. While on the run he helped 21 prisoners escape from jail on 20 March 1943, this was known as The Big Derry Jail Escape. In late 1943 Steele was sentenced to 12 years in jail and was subjected to 12 "strokes of the birch". Steele had been arrested on charges related to the IRAs bombing/sabotage campaign in England - the

S-Plan The S-Plan or Sabotage Campaign or England Campaign was a campaign of bombing and sabotage against the civil, economic and military infrastructure of the United Kingdom from 1939 to 1940, conducted by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). ...

) and the Border Campaign. In October, 1950 Steele was the last S-Plan internee released. While interned in Belfast jail Steele and other Irish republican prisoners tried to secure treatment as political prisoner. When their requests were denied 22 prisoners went on a "strip strike" in which they removed their clothes. Prison authorities responded by removing everything from the prisoners cells except the frame of the bed, a sanitary vessel and a carafe of water for the whole day. (Mattress and blanket were returned at the end of the day.) The strike was called off after about three months. Steele was also arrested/imprisoned in 1967. He wrote for a number of republican publications, including ''Glor Uladh'', ''Resurgent Ulster'' and ''

An Phoblacht ''An Phoblacht'' (Irish pronunciation: ; en, "The Republic") is a formerly weekly, and currently monthly newspaper published by Sinn Féin in Ireland. From early 2018 onwards, ''An Phoblacht'' has moved to a magazine format while remaining an ...

''. In the 1950 United Kingdom general election Steele stood for

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 G ...

in the West Belfast constituency. Steele was founder of the Belfast Republican Press Centre in 1970. He was the first editor of ''Republican News'', which started as a monthly and later became a weekly. He died on 9 August 1970 the year after the IRA split between the

Official IRA The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "workers' republic" encompassing all of Ireland. It emerged ...

and the

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

, in which he sided with the Provisionals. He was one of the leaders of the 1969 split, being critical of the leadership of the time. Steele was critical of the republican movements turn to the left: "One is now expected to be more conversant with the thoughts of Chairman Mao than those of our dead patriots."McKenna, pg 165.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steele, Jimmy 1907 births 1970 deaths Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members Irish republicans Provisional Irish Republican Army members Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict Sinn Féin parliamentary candidates