List of republican fatalities in Belfast between 1916 and 2016

The following is a list of Belfast’s republican dead from 1916 to 2016, with a brief explanatory note at the end (including three omissions).

Charlie Monaghan, April 21st 1916
Bernard MacMackin, May 29th 1917
Joseph Giles, July 20th 1920
John McCartney, July 24th 1920
John Murray, August 28th 1920
John O’Brien, September 1st 1920
Edward Trodden, September 26th 1920
John McFadden, September 26th 1920
Sean Gaynor, September 26th 1920
Sean O’Carroll, November 30th 1920
Michael Garvey, January 27th, 1921
Dan Duffin, April 23rd 1921
Pat Duffin, April 23rd 1921
Sean McCartney, May 8th 1921
John Collins, May 19th 1921
Alexander McBride, June 11th 1921
Henry Mulholland, July 10th 1921
Alexander Hamilton, July 11th 1921
James Ledlie, July 12th 1921
Freddie Fox, August 15th 1921
Murt McAstocker, September 25th 1921
Bernard Shanley, December 16th 1921
David Morrison, December 27th 1921
Patrick Flynn, December 28th 1921
Joseph Burns, January 20th 1922
Frank McCoy, February 14th 1922
James Morrison, February 14th 1922
Thomas Gray, February 16th 1922
Thomas Heathwood, March 6th 1922
Andrew Leonard, March 13th 1922
Augustine Orange, March 18th 1922
Edward McKinney, March 24th 1922
James McGee, March 26th 1922
John Walker, April 20th 1922
J.P. Smyth, May 11th 1922
William Toal, May 25th 1922
George McCaughey, May 31st 1922
William Thornton, June 18th 1922
Joseph Hurson, June 23rd 1922
Leo Rea, June 23rd 1922
Joe McKelvey, December 8th 1922
Hugh Hennon, September 21st 1924
Pat Nash, January 31st 1925
John O’Donnell, June 16th, 1925
Francis Doherty, January 13th 1936
Dan Turley, December 4th 1936
Liam Tumilson, March 14th 1937
Jim Stranney, July 31st 1938
Sean Martin, April 25th 1940
Jack Gaffney, November 18th 1940
Joseph Rooney, May 5th 1941
Joe Malone, January 21st 1942
Terence Perry, July 7th 1942
Gerard O’Callaghan, August 31st 1942
Tom Williams, September 2nd 1942
Seamus Burns, February 12th 1944
Sean Doyle, April 10th 1944
Dickie Dunn, February 27th 1945
Sean McCaughey, May 11th 1946
Brendan O’Boyle, July 2nd 1955
Tommy O’Malley, December 10th 1959
Patrick McLogan, July 21st 1964
Gerald McAuley August 15th, 1969
Liam McParland November 6th, 1969
Hugh McAteer June 24th, 1970
Danny O’Hagan July 31st, 1970
Jimmy Steele August 9th, 1970
Michael Kane September 4th, 1970
Peter Blake October 27th, 1970
Tom McGoldrick October 27th, 1970
James Saunders February 6th, 1971
Bernard Watt February 6th, 1971
Charles Hughes March 8th, 1971
Tony Henderson April 4th, 1971
Billy Reid May 15th, 1971
Patrick McAdorey August 9th, 1971
Séamus Simpson August 11th, 1971
Rose Curry September 23rd 1971
Gerard O’Hare September 23rd 1971
Terence McDermott October 2nd, 1971
Dorothy Maguire October 23rd, 1971
Maura Meehan October 23rd, 1971
Martin Forsythe October 24th, 1971
Tony Nolan December 8th, 1971
Gerald McDade December 21st, 1971
Danny O’Neill January 7th, 1972
Michael Sloan January 11th, 1972
Eamon McCormick January 16th, 1972
Gerry Donaghy January 30th, 1972
Joseph Cunningham February 10th, 1972
David McAuley February 19th, 1972
Gerard Bell February 21st, 1972
Gerard Steele February 21st, 1972
Robert Dorrian February 21st, 1972
Joseph Magee February 21st, 1972
Albert Kavanagh March 4th, 1972
Gerard Crossan March 9th, 1972
Tony Lewis March 9th, 1972
Seán Johnston March 9th, 1972
Tom McCann March 9th, 1972
Seán O’Riordan March 23rd, 1972
Patrick Campbell March 25th, 1972
Samuel Hughes April 7th, 1972
Charles McCrystal April 7th, 1972
John McErlean April 7th, 1972
Joe McCann April 15th 1972
Michael Magee May 13th, 1972
Edward McDonnell May 28th, 1972
Jackie McIlhone May 28th, 1972
Joseph Fitzsimmons May 28th, 1972
Martin Engelen May 28th, 1972
Joseph Campbell June 11th, 1972
Tony Jordan June 28th, 1972
John Finucane June 28th, 1972
David McCafferty July 9th 1972
Gerard Gibson July 11th 1972
Edward Brady July 14th 1972
Louis Scullion July 14th, 1972
James Reid July 15th, 1972
John Dougal July 9th, 1972
Tobias Molloy July 16th, 1972
Joseph Downey July 21st, 1972
Séamus Cassidy July 28th, 1972
Robert McCrudden August 3rd, 1972
Michael Clarke August 11th, 1972
Anne Parker August 11th, 1972
Joseph McComiskey September 20th, 1972
Jimmy Quigley September 29th, 1972
Patricia McKay September 30th 1972
Daniel McAreavey October 6th, 1972
Patrick Maguire October 10th, 1972
John Donaghy October 10th, 1972
Joseph McKinney October 10th, 1972
Stan Carberry November 13th, 1972
Bernard Fox December 4th, 1972
Seán Hughes December 4th, 1972
Francis Liggett January 18th, 1973
James Sloan February 3rd, 1973
Tony Campbell February 4th, 1973
James McCann February 4th, 1973
Patrick McCabe March 27th, 1973
Edward O’Rawe April 12th, 1973
Robert Millen April 14th, 1973
Brian Smyth April 17th, 1973
Joseph McKenna May 16th, 1973
Seán McKee May 18th, 1973
Patrick Bracken July 6th, 1973
Francis Hall August 30th, 1973
Patrick Mulvenna August 31st, 1973
Anne Marie Petticrew September 1st, 1973
James Bryson September 22nd, 1973
Michael Marley November 24th, 1973
Daniel Burke April 9th, 1974
Frederick Leonard May 7th, 1974
Martin Skillen August 3rd, 1974
Patrick McGreevy September 18th, 1974
Gerard Fennell November 8th, 1974
John Rooney November 15th, 1974
John Kelly January 21st, 1975
John Stone January 21st, 1975
Bridie Dolan February 9th, 1975
Hugh Ferguson February 20th, 1975
Sean Fox February 25th, 1975
Robert Allsopp March 23rd, 1975
Danny Loughran April 6th, 1975
Paul Crawford April 12th, 1975
Liam McMillen April 28th, 1975
Brendan McNamee June 6th, 1975
James Templeton August 29th, 1975
Gerard Grogan October 2nd, 1975
Robert Elliman October 29th, 1975
Thomas Berry October 31st, 1975
Séamus McCusker October 31st, 1975
Kevin McAuley November 6th, 1975
John Kelly November 9th, 1975
John Brown November 11th, 1975
Paul Fox December 1st, 1975
Laura Crawford December 1st, 1975
Ronnie Trainor December 15th, 1975
Rosemary Bleakley January 13th, 1976
James O’Neill February 12th, 1976
Seán Bailey February 13th, 1976
James McGrillen February 15th, 1976
Paul Best February 18th, 1976
Seán McDermott April 5th, 1976
Thomas Kane July 6th, 1976
Gerard Gilmore July 13th, 1976
Danny Lennon August 10th, 1976
Martin McDonagh January 13th, 1976
Colm Mulgrew June 5th, 1976
Frank Fitzsimmons October 16th, 1976
Joseph Surgenor October 16th, 1976
Paul Marlowe October 16th, 1976
Maire Drumm October 28th, 1976
Trevor McKibbin April 17th, 1977
Brendan O’Callaghan April 23rd, 1977
Trevor McNulty July 27th, 1977
Tommy Tolan July 27th, 1977
Paul McWilliams August 9th, 1977
Jackie McMahon January 18th, 1978
Jackie Mailey June 21st, 1978
Denis Brown June 21st, 1978
Jim Mulvenna June 21st, 1978
Laurence Montgomery January 5th, 1979
Frankie Donnelly January 5th, 1979
Billy Carson April 25th, 1979
Joseph McKee June 9th, 1979
Martin McKenna October 23rd, 1979
Kevin Delaney January 17th, 1980
Miriam Daly June 26th, 1980
Terence O’Neill July 1st, 1980
Ronnie Bunting October 15th, 1980
Noel Lyttle October 15th, 1980
Liam Hannaway February 2nd, 1981
James Burns February 23rd, 1981
Bobby Sands May 5th, 1981
Jim Power May 7th, 1981
Emmett McClarnon May 12th, 1981
Joe McDonnell July 8th, 1981
John Dempsey July 8th, 1981
Kieran Doherty August 2nd, 1981
Eamon Kerr March 11th, 1983
Dan Turley June 9th, 1983
David Nocher Octber 29th, 1983
Joe Craven December 5th, 1983
Paul McCann June 15th, 1984
Tony Campbell August 4th, 1985
Tom McGill February 28th, 1986
Jim McKernan September 14th, 1986
Brian Dempsey June 25th, 1986
John O’Reilly January 20th, 1987
Thomas ‘Ta’ Power January 20th, 1987
Mickey Kearney February 18th, 1987
Thomas Maguire March 7th 1987
Gerard Steenson March 15th, 1987
Kevin Barry Duffy March 21st, 1987
Emmanuel Gargan March 21st, 1987
Laurence Marley April 2nd, 1987
Finbarr McKenna May 2nd, 1987
Margaret McArdle June 7th, 1987
Colm Maguire October 10th 1987
James McPhilemy August 10th 1988
Mairéad Farrell March 6th, 1988
Dan McCann March 6th, 1988
Seán Savage March 6th, 1988
Kevin McCracken March 14th, 1988
Caoimhín Mac Brádaigh March 16th, 1988
Brendan Davison July 25th, 1988
Séamus Twomey September 12th, 1989
Seán Bateson June 7th, 1990
Alex Patterson November 12th 1990
Martin ‘Rook’ O’Prey August 16th 1991
Patricia Black November 15th, 1991
Frankie Ryan November 15th, 1991
Proinsias Mac Airt January 8th, 1992
Pat McBride February 4th, 1992
Paddy Loughran February 4th, 1992
Jimmy Brown August 18th, 1992
Conor Maguire April 29th, 1992
Hugh McKibben August 27th, 1992
Pearse Jordan November 25th, 1992
Alan Lundy May 1st, 1993
Thomas Begley October 23rd, 1993
John O’Rawe April 4th, 1994
Gino Gallagher January 30th 1996
John Fennell March 5th, 1996
Dessie McCleery May 25th, 1996
Francis Shannon June 9th, 1996
Jimmy Roe August 12th, 1996
Hugh Torney September 3rd, 1996
Pat McGeown October 1st, 1996
Harry Burns February 3rd, 1999
Patrick Campbell October 10th, 1999
Joseph O’Connor October 13th, 2000
Tommy Crossan April 18th, 2014
Gerard Davison May 5th, 2015
Kevin McGuigan August 12th, 2015

Commemoration is an act performed by the living for the living. Despite the apparent focal role played by the dead, by definition, being dead, they have no say in how they are remembered or why. It differs from the act of remembering, since remembering is often an unintended, involuntary action prompted by the strength of an emotional legacy of past experiences. Commemoration, then, is really a conscious forcing of memory, using the dead to convey a particular message to the living.

The legacies of a century’s struggle to restore a republic founded on the same principles as 1916 is such that there is no shared physical space that acknowledges all Belfast republicans who have died during that same struggle. But those who proclaimed a republic in 1916 embraced a shared aspiration to transcend their own particular differences. This blog conventionally focuses on the history of Belfast republicanism in the period up to 1970, but in the absence of a shared physical memorial, I have incorporated those named, by various organisations, as having died as a result of their republican activities, into a single list to act as a virtual memorial.

Typically, a list such as this would be described as a ‘roll of honour’, but that would not adequately reflect the complex emotional resonances of incorporating all those named into a single unified list, with its attendant implication that their shared republicanism might transcend other divisions. For that reason, it is, instead, given as a ‘list of the dead’, deliberately opening up a greater range of readings, reflections and ambiguities.

Even such a list, though, is still unsatisfactory. It gives no acknowledgement to the contribution of those many others who gave of themselves, subordinating their own hopes, futures, health and well-being to the pursuit of a republican ideal. To some, the list will be meaningless outside the wider context of the names of all those who died or were injured during a century, and more, of conflict. Within its own terms though, it is intended to be a comprehensive list of Belfast’s republican dead, 1916 to 2016.

Any omissions or corrections can be added on Facebook or via the comments sections.

Note: The following have been left out: James Johnston – he is named in ‘Belfast and nineteensixteen‘ as having died due to being interred after 1916, however he lived until 1932 when he died aged 70 (there is no reason to believe his death is connected to his imprisonment). Similarly, Richard Magowan is recorded as dying of TB in January 1943 in an obituary of Pat Donnelly (by Vincent McDowell), now held by the National Library but the date cannot be confirmed.  Note Tom Graham is recorded by Tarlach O hUid as having died around February 1944 of pleurisy which he contracted in the prison hospital while an internee (in ‘Faoi Ghlas’), but O hUid may be wrong here as Graham appears to have died in June 1940,