Belfast list of republican dead, 1966-2016

This post goes outside the usual pre-1970 timeline for this blog (and will be controversial), but 1970 was unsatisfactory as an end date. Simply put, this is a combined list of Belfast’s republican dead, from 1966 to present, to follow on from the 1916-66 list (names are taken from various online sources, such as An

Belfast Easter Commemoration, 1917

Easter Sunday 1917 dawned bright and clear over the Falls Road, Belfast. In the Irish Ireland Club which stood on the site of what is now Barrack Street School, the Irish Volunteers made last minute plans for the first Easter Commemoration Parade to honour those comrades who had given their lives in the Rising of

Steele and McAteers’ Daring Escape

This is ‘Steele and McAteers Daring Escape from the Crumlin Road Jail’ as recorded by The Men of No Property in 1976. This was released on the LP, ‘Ireland – The Fight Goes On’ on Resistance records (RES 1003 LP). The sleeve notes have this to say about the song:  Steele and McAteer’s Daring Escape

1970s Christmas Messages from Republican News

Usually I don’t cover the post-1970 period directly, but here is some early 1970s Christmas items from Republican News. The articles include a two page spread on Long Kesh naming many of those interned at Christmas 1974, a number of front covers, messages from individual battalions of the Belfast Brigade and even a piece supporting

The Organisation of the Belfast IRA from 1917 to 1970

On formation of the IRA in 1919-20, the existing Irish Volunteer Companies of the Belfast Battalion simply became A and B Company of the IRA’s Belfast Battalion, with a C Company and D Company added in early 1919. It isn’t clear now whether each Company had strict catchment areas. The city’s IRA units were then

A brief history of Belfast IRA newspapers, part 2 (1946-1970)

This is the second part of an introduction to the newspapers published by the Belfast IRA from the 1920s to 1970. You can read part one, covering the period to 1945, here. After the demise of Republican News in 1946, a monthly publication was resumed in November 1951, called Resurgent Ulster, deliberately referencing the newspaper

Obituary for Jimmy Steele, published in Republican News, August 1970

This is the obituary published for Jimmy Steele on the front page of Republican News in August 1970 (Vol 1, No 3). The text is reproduced as written below.   DEATH OF SEAMUS STEELE A life-long, staunch and ardent Irish Republican In the sudden death of Seamus Steele, R.I.P., Ireland has lost a loving soul and a