Posted by Jim on November 4, 2025
Michael Devine – Died 20 August 1981 after 60 days on hunger strike in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh
Posted by Jim on August 20, 2025
MICHAEL DEVINE, aged 27, was born in the Creggan, Derry City, on 26 May 1954.
Michael was arrested in September 1976 following an INLA arms raid in County Donegal. He received a 12-year sentence in June 1977.
He spent 60 days on hunger strike from 22 June. He died on 20 August 1981.
The death of Michael Devine
On the death of INLA Volunteer Michael Devine at 12 minutes to eight on Thursday 20 August 1981, his brother-in-law, Frankie McCauley, said:
“One thinks, ‘Ten men, how many more have to die? We have ours now over us. Next week it will be big Laurence’s people waiting for the same thing. Then the Devlins after that and another boy will go on hunger strike and another. They’ll never break them.’”
Michael Devine was the last of the Hunger Strikers to die in 1981. His funeral took place on Saturday 22 August in his native Derry City, in a grave next to his friend and comrade, Patsy O’Hara, who died the previous May.
The funeral went from Michael Devine’s sister’s home in Rathkeele Way directly to the cemetery after Requiem Mass in St Mary’s Chapel. People came from many parts of Ireland to attend and a long queue of mourners lined up outside the house to pay their respects. Thousands gathered in the street as the coffin was removed from the house, flanked by an INLA guard of honour, followed by relatives and then representatives of the families of the other Hunger Strikers.
Conversation on the day revolved around the courage and determination of the Hunger Strikers and the wavering attitude of the Irish Government, the SDLP and the Catholic Hierarchy. Another topic of conversation was the election in Fermanagh/South Tyrone after the death of Bobby Sands MP of Owen Carron, who attended the funeral. He was repeatedly mobbed by well-wishers. Three British military helicopters flew overhead.
The cortege made its way to the top of the cemetery and to the plot where Michael Devine’s comrade, Patsy O’Hara, was buried three months previously. A piper playing laments was followed by a guard of honour of eight men in uniform. The two leading Volunteers carried the Starry Plough and Tricolour flags, followed by six more carrying semi-automatic short-arms in their belts. Three drummers then marched silently forward. A second guard of honour of 16 men flanked the coffin on the last few yards of its journey.
Margaret McCauley walked behind the coffin with Michael Devine’s two children, Michael (Jnr), aged seven, and Louise, aged five, and Michael’s aunt, Theresa Moore. The coffin was laid on trestles and the firing party stepped forward and delivered three volleys of shots over the remains of their comrade. This salute was greeted with loud applause. Terry Robson chaired the ceremony and praised the deceased Hunger Striker who was the former O/C of the INLA prisoners in the H-Blocks. Wreaths were laid on behalf of all the Hunger Strikers’ families, the INLA, the Irish Republican Socialist Party, the National H-Block/Armagh Committee, the IRA and many others. A girl piper played The H-Block Song and a bugler sounded The Last Post.
• Frank McAuley, Michael Devine’s brother-in-law, holds the hand of Michael’s seven-year-old son, also Michael, at the funeral
The flags were then removed from the coffin for presentation to Margaret McCauley. “The colours,” Terry Robson said, “include the Starry Plough and the national flag, the Tricolour. It will also include his beret, his gloves and his belt – denoting his rank as an officer in the Irish National Liberation Army.” A statement from the Army Council of the INLA was read out. It said:
“The Army Council and Volunteers of the Irish National Liberation Army deeply regret the death of Volunteer and Hunger Striker Michael Devine. The Irish National Liberation Army applauds his heroism in the face of the most extreme deprivation and horror.
“As Officer Commanding our Prisoners of War in the concentration camp at Long Kesh, Michael relentlessly pursued an honourable settlement for the protesting prisoners, not in any elitist disregard for the rights of others but in the full knowledge that his struggle was merely an extension of the same struggle for which he was incarcerated.”
The INLA statement went on to say:
“The creation of the H-Blocks, a development unseen in the history of the sophisticated torture machinery of British imperialism, brought a new unity amongst anti-imperialist organisations and saw a degree of co-operation between people as our nation reacted in horror at what really was going on inside the corrugated and barbed enclosures of Long Kesh.”
The main oration was delivered by Naomi Brennan, Chairperson of the IRSP. She described Michael Devine as “a revolutionary, a soldier, but above all a socialist”. She went on to say that Devine saw from “the reality of everyday life in his native Derry what British imperialism means in Ireland. He saw the long years without hope on the dole. He saw the discrimination and gerrymandering from the fat cats behind the Derry walls, and he liked none of it.”
• INLA Volunteers carry the coffin of Michael Devine
Naomi Brennan said that Michael Devine was only a youngster when the RUC batoned the civil rights protesters off the streets in 1969, adding that the lessons of the period were not lost on him. She said that 1969 was a time when people had at long last found their voice, learned to stand and demand their rights and that “to stand and fight was far better than 50 years of bending the knee”.
Of Michael Devine’s socialist politics she said that Michael “realised that to have national freedom, we must have socialism, and that, also, to have any chance of socialism, we must have national freedom”. She said that his dedication to the socialist cause was a well-thought-out one and one which he put into practice.
“He realised that you had to organise the people to struggle for themselves; that you had to organise a revolutionary party to guide and direct that struggle; and that you had to organise military resistance to give backbone to that struggle, because that was the only thing that the British had ever really listened to.”
She said the prisoners’ five just demands could, and must, be won.
“The hope we have is not in the droppings from this or that British Government, much less from the well-oiled phrases of the SDLP politicians and their likes. No, the hope we have is in the spirit of Michael Devine, unquenchable even in the jaws of death itself.
“While Ireland brings forth young men and women such as him there is hope now and for the future – a certainty that the cause for which Michael Devine gave his young life is just, and is necessary, and we must see it through to the end. And we will.
The story of Ireland’s ultimate adventurer
Posted by Jim on August 11, 2025
the Shackleton Experience
Athy museum reopens with immersive tribute to Ireland’s greatest Antarctic explorer.
IrishCentral Staff
Aug 11, 2025
Irish Explorer Earnest Shackleton (second from the left) along with other members of the Southern Party. Public Domain
His name is synonymous with adventure, exploration and endurance. Ernest Shackleton was one of the most renowned Antarctic explorers of all time, leading pioneering expeditions to the furthermost corners of the planet, all the while embodying his family motto: “By endurance, we conquer”. But did you know that Shackleton was born in Ireland, and a proud Irishman through and through? It’s just one of the facets of his story that you can learn about when the Shackleton Experience reopens in October, fresh from a huge renovation.
Set in Athy, County Kildare, just a few miles from the very place where Shackleton was born, this museum is the only institution in the world dedicated to the life and work of the man himself. When the upgraded museum opens, it will showcase everything that made the Kildare man a groundbreaking force in the world of exploration.
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You’ll learn how he travelled from his birthplace, the village of Kilkea, to the outermost edges of the globe, and see some incredible artefacts from those very expeditions.
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Shackleton’s House.
A world-class polar museum
“Athy is a beautiful heritage town steeped in history, with an incredibly passionate and supportive community,” says Aline FitzGerald, General Manager of the Shackleton Experience.
“The Shackleton Experience is destined to become one of the world’s great polar museums, and the only one dedicated to the greatest explorer of them all, Sir Ernest J. Shackleton.”
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The Shackleton Experience.
The attraction started life as a small community museum 25 years ago, and this epic renovation combines high-tech, immersive exhibits with rare relics that would take pride of place in any museum around the world. Set in the 300-year-old Town Hall in the heart of Athy, the sensitively restored building now features a striking glass shard extension that looks just like an iceberg, with a statue of Shackleton at the entrance.
Throughout the Shackleton Experience, you’ll get great insight into the three Antarctic expeditions that he led, including the incredible story of Endurance, the ship that became trapped in the ice and later sank. Despite the great risk and danger, and against all odds, his leadership meant that all of the 27-man crew survived. However, the journey to survival was arduous, with the group forced to camp on the ice for 10 months before Shackleton and four others sailed 800 miles in a lifeboat, navigating treacherous waters in order to organize the rescue of the others. Their story of survival is one of the greatest of all time.
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And in an absorbing, multi-media experience, you’ll get a deep sense of what their escape from the ice-trapped ship was like, with crashing waves and wind effects bringing the story to life. You can also see biscuit and tobacco tins from that very ship, along with the actual sledge and harness Shackleton used on the Nimrod Expedition.
One of the most extraordinary displays is the actual cabin in which Shackleton died. He passed away of a heart attack during the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition to the South Pole in 1922, on the ship named Quest. You’ll be able to see the cabin where he spent his final night. Then go to the reconstructed 1920s cinema to see archival footage and historic clips of his expeditions, to remember all of his accomplishments. There’s also an exhibit showing what the polar regions are like today, and every year the Shackleton Autumn School features a series of workshops, talks and events that delve deeper into Shackleton’s legacy.
But walk through the exhibits at any time, and you’ll get an insight into what life must really have been like for Shackleton, setting sail for a whole new world, right at the dawn of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Imagine sailing through the unknown territory of Antarctica, seeing icebergs looming on the horizon, watching penguins totter on the snow and looking out at the wonder of the Frozen Continent.
“It is in our nature to explore, to reach out into the unknown,” said Shackleton, and that’s just what he did, with his expeditions exemplifying the spirit of endurance.
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Athy Boat tour.
Beyond the museum, the market town of Athy is a joy to uncover. Stroll the elegant grounds of the Georgian-era Burtown House, and dine in The Green Barn there, a contemporary restaurant serving fresh produce straight from the historic gardens. Then enjoy an Athy Boat Tour aboard a charming barge, taking in local wildlife and historic landmarks along the way.
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Sculpture of Tom Crean in Annascaul, County Kerry.
Ireland’s adventurers
Shackleton’s not the only celebrated Irish explorer. Over the years, the country has produced many an adventurous spirit, from Shackleton’s fellow Antarctic explorer Tom Crean to the pioneering travel legend Dervla Murphy. Further back in the 16th century, there was the pirate queen Grace O’Malley, a fearsome seafarer who defied gender norms and stereotypes to rule the ocean.
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The South Pole, in Annascaul.
That spirit of adventure, endurance and exploration is still very much alive in Ireland today. All around the country, there are courageous and innovative adventurers who set out to make the most of every inch of the island, climbing the soaring mountains, swimming its waters and performing incredible feats of strength and tenacity
And it’s easy to follow in their footsteps. You could take part in one of the Gael Force Great Swims, setting out into the gloriously clear waters of Killary Fjord in Connemara or the magical Lough Derg. If you want to go beneath the ground and explore the Fermanagh underworld, you can go “wild caving” in the Marble Arch Caves, donning expert gear and clambering through elaborate passages.
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Marble Arch Caves, in Fermanagh.
If running is more your thing, head to Donegal for the epic Seven Sisters Skyline Ireland, a 55km (or 30km) mountain running event, traversing seven peaks in the incredible Derryveagh Mountains. There are more trail running adventures in Wicklow, where the EcoTrail event sees participants running five different distances, from 10km to an astonishing 80km, over the mountains and through incredible scenery.
That’s alongside the lower octane adventures that can be found all over the island, from beautiful walking trails and cycles to wild swimming.
Whether you want to get out of your comfort zone and have the adventure of a lifetime, or simply savor the beauty of the great outdoors, Ireland is an explorer’s dream.
The many faces of Michael Collins
Posted by Jim on
Where are The Big Fella’s mugshots? Dermot McEvoy believes they don’t exist because they were never taken; Collins’ survival depended on his anonymity.
Aug 11, 2025
Michael Collins addressing throngs of people in Cork on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 1922. US Library of Congress / Public Domain
A look back on the character Michael Collins – “The Big Fella” – and his incredible life story.
Where are The Big Fella’s mugshots? They don’t exist because they were never taken.
One of the great mysteries concerning the Easter Rising – and the subsequent arrest of its participants – is why didn’t the British photograph their prisoners? As someone who has written two books on Michael Collins, who was assassinated nearly 100 years ago, this has always bothered me.
“Why?” because Collins’ survival depended on his anonymity. With a £5,000 (sometimes embellished to £10,000) bounty put on his head by Winston Churchill, Collins walked about the streets of Dublin at the height of the terror in 1919-20 and almost never feared for his survival. There are many reasons for this.
Collins believed that if you didn’t look guilty you had nothing to worry about. He always dressed impeccably and carried an attaché case. He was a businessman. Why would the British bother a busy businessman?
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When he went into the Great Brunswick (now Pearse) Street Dublin Metropolitan Police Station on April Fool’s Day 1919 to read his file, he discovered that they had a poor photograph of him taken in profile. He promptly pinched it, which left them with no picture at all.
Collins was also the perfect chameleon. I have never seen someone who could change their facial appearance so dramatically. The differences between the scowling Collins and the laughing Collins are so great that they are like two different, distinct people. This is especially evident in the official photograph of the members of the First Dáil where Collins has an absolute look of disgust on his face.
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1919: Sinn Fein leaders at the First Dail Eireann. Michael Collins is pictured front row, second from left. (Getty Images)
Collins never missed a wedding. The tradition at the time was that the entire wedding party lined up to be photographed. Collins, always the perfect guest, duly lined up with everyone else, but when the photographer said “watch the birdie” Collins always dropped or turned his head. I have seen at least five or six of these photos from different weddings.
However, the biggest mystery regarding the missing mugshot goes all the way back to the Easter Rising. After the rebels were rounded up they were taken to Richmond Barracks for processing. There they were separated into elites and non-elites. Legend has it that Collins saw that the elites were probably going to be shortly staring down the barrel of a rifle and crossed the room and lined up with the non-elites. Shortly thereafter he was shipped off to Stafford Prison in England and then Frongoch Prison Camp in Wales.
There are a few clues as to what happened at Richmond Barracks. Vinny Byrne, one of Collins’ “Twelve Apostles,” said in his witness statement that he was fingerprinted while at Richmond Barracks. Thanks to his young age he was soon sent home to his mammy – a dramatic blunder on the part of the British.
After all the research I’ve done over the years (reading many witness statements) I have come to the conclusion that the British, in their rush to execute the leaders and deport the rest, simply did not take mugshots of the participants. And this would be natural because the British would have processed thousands in the days after the Rising.
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In 2016, the Irish Times reported that rare mugshots from 1916 were going on sale. The Irish Times did not say where these mugshots have been, but one can guess that they were in someone’s attic for the last hundred years.
These mugshots are important because they contain the photographs of two of Collins’ closest associates: Liam Tobin (#4 W. Tobin) and Piaras Béaslaí (#6 P. Beazley), who was Collins’ first biographer. Tobin was one of the most important members of the IRA in Dublin in 1919-20. This is because he was the Assistant Director of Intelligence (Collins was the chief) with an office at #3 Crow Street in Dublin. The office is a mere two blocks from Dublin Castle but was never discovered by the British.
I decided to check the witness statements of both Béaslaí and Tobin. Béaslaí’s shed no light whatsoever. Tobin’s statement, however, told his 1916 story. (Surprisingly his statement ends after his incarceration and he never mentions his work for Collins.)
During the Rising, Tobin fought at the Four Courts before his unit’s surrender. He was taken to Richmond Barracks to be questioned and processed. For some reason Tobin, a regular foot soldier in the Volunteers without rank, was singled out, sent to Kilmainham Gaol, and sentenced to death, which was immediately commuted to penal servitude. (His harsh treatment may have been because he fought at the Four Courts under Commandant Ned Daly and they had given the British a brutal time.)
The Irish Times speculates that the mugshots, including those of Tobin and Béaslaí, “were taken at Richmond Barracks in Dublin – a British army facility in Inchicore where most of the rebels were taken after the Rising. It is believed that the photos were taken by the Dublin Metropolitan Police, who were called on to assist the military in processing the detainees.”
I disagree with this. Tobin was then removed to Mountjoy Gaol for a while before being deported to Britain. He makes no mention of being photographed while at either Richmond Barracks or Kilmainham Gaol. But when he moved to Mountjoy he was “received by warders, had a bath and the usual prison routine gone through.”
Could that “usual prison routine” included the taking of mugshots? I think so because both Richmond (a military facility) and Kilmainham (an antique of a prison even in 1916) were not equipped with the photographic equipment to take mug shots. Mountjoy, of course, would have had such equipment.
So where are Michael Collins’ mugshots? With a great degree of certainty, I can speculate that they don’t exist because they were never taken. Collins, like many of his fellow GPO rebels, was quickly processed at Richmond Barracks and taken to the North Wall for his voyage on the cattle boat to England.
The British, in their rush for vengeance, probably only photographed a handful of their 3,000 prisoners, mainly those few who were sent to Mountjoy Gaol like Tobin. This blunder, in less than six years, would cost them their first colony, Ireland.
*Dermot McEvoy is the author of “The 13th Apostle: A Novel of a Dublin Family,” “Michael Collins, and the Irish Uprising and Irish Miscellany” (Skyhorse Publishing). He may be reached at dermotmcevoy50@gmail.com. Follow him at dermotmcevoy.com. Follow The 13th Apostle on Facebook.