Seán Cronin (29 August 1922 – 9 March 2011) was a journalist and former
Irish Army
The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...
officer and twice
Irish Republican Army chief of staff.
[Brian Hanley and Scott Millar, ''The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers Party'', pp. 12-13, ]
Biography
Cronin was born in
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
but spent his childhood years in
Ballinskelligs, in the
County Kerry
County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...
Gaeltacht
A ( , , ) is a district of Ireland, either individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home.
The districts were first officially recognised ...
.
[Patrick Smyth]
"Veteran republican and first 'Irish Times' Washington correspondent dies aged 91"
''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'', 10 March 2011.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Cronin was an officer in the Southern Command in the Irish
Defence Forces. He later emigrated to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where he found work as a journalist. In America, he became involved with
Clan na Gael
Clan na Gael (CnG) (, ; "family of the Gaels") is an Irish republican organization, founded in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries, successor to the Fenian Brotherhood and a sister organization to the Irish Republican Bro ...
and later joined the
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...
.
In 1955 he returned from the United States and began work as a subeditor in the ''
Evening Press
The ''Evening Press'' was an Irish newspaper which was printed from 1954 until 1995. It was set up by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group, and was originally edited by Douglas Gageby. Its principal competitor was the ''Evening Herald'', whic ...
''.
He was soon put in charge of training in the IRA. He outlined his ideas in a booklet, ''Notes on Guerrilla Warfare''. He became the chief strategist for the Border Campaign code named
Operation Harvest (1956-62), which saw the carrying out a range of military operations from direct attacks on security installations to disruptive actions against infrastructure. Cronin believed that a strong campaign of attacks on police barracks, military installations and government buildings would force the withdrawal of security forces from villages and small towns thereby making large areas of the north ungovernable.
He was arrested and imprisoned several times over the course of this campaign.
[
On two occasions, from 1957 to 1958 and then 1959 to 1960, Cronin was ]IRA chief of staff
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
* Ira (surname), a rare Estonian family name; occurs in some other languages
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law and finance
*Indian Reorganization Act of 19 ...
. He also served as editor of the Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
'' United Irishman'' newspaper.
Jailed for his activities, he left the IRA in 1962 after his release from prison.
He later became a journalist for ''The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...
'', becoming that paper's first Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
correspondent.
He was the author of a dozen books and pamphlets, including a biography of republican Frank Ryan, ''Washington's Irish Policy 1916-1986: Independence, Partition, Neutrality'', an authoritative account of Irish-US relations; ''Our Own Red Blood'' about the 1916 Easter Rising; and a number of works on guerrilla strategy, including an early Sinn Féin pamphlet ''Resistance'' under the pseudonym of J. McGarrity.
After several years of illness, Cronin died in Washington on 9 March 2011. He is survived by his second wife, Reva Rubenstein Cronin.
Bibliography
* ''Wolfe Tone
Theobald Wolfe Tone, posthumously known as Wolfe Tone (; 20 June 176319 November 1798), was a revolutionary exponent of Irish independence and is an iconic figure in Irish republicanism. Convinced that, so long as his fellow Protestantism in ...
''. Dublin Directory: Wolfe Tone Bi-Centenary, 1963.
* '' Jemmy Hope: A Man of the People''. Scéim na gCeardchumann, 1964.
* ''The Story of Kevin Barry
Kevin Gerard Barry (20 January 1902 – 1 November 1920) was an Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldier and medical student who was executed by the British Government during the Irish War of Independence. He was sentenced to death for his part in a ...
, with a foreword by Commander-General Tom Barry''. The National Publications Committee, 1965. Reprinted by C.F.N. in 1983.
* ''Our Own Red Blood :The Story of The 1916 Rising''. Wolfe Tone Society, 1966 Reprinted 1976 and 2006.
* ''The Rights of Man in Ireland''. Wolfe Tone Society, 1970.
* ''The Revolutionaries''. Republican Publications, 1971.
* ''Ireland Since The Treaty : fifty years after.'' Irish Freedom Press, 1971.
* ''The McGarrity Papers: Revelations of the Irish Revolutionary Movement in Ireland and America, 1900-1940'' Anvil Books, 1972.
* ''Freedom the Wolfe Tone Way'' Anvil Books, 1973.
* ''Tone's Republic : The Case Against Sectarianism'' Wolfe Tone Society, 1975.
* ''Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
and the Irish Question''. Repsol, 1977.
* ''Frank Ryan : The Search for the Republic''. Repsol, 1980.
* ''Irish Nationalism
Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...
: a history of its roots and ideology''. Academy Press, 1980, US edition, Continuum, 1981.
* ''Washington's Irish policy 1916-1986 : independence, partition, neutrality''. Anvil Books, 1987.
* ''For Whom the Hangman's Rope was Spun : Wolfe Tone and the United Irishmen''. Repsol, 1991.
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, Sean
1922 births
2011 deaths
Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) members
The Irish Press people
The Irish Times people
Irish Army officers