Joe McKelvey GAC: the IRA’s own GAA club

This is the story of Joe McKelvey GAC, a GAA club formed by the IRA in Belfast. Founded in 1924, the Joseph McKelvey Gaelic Athletic Club was named after the executed former commandant of the IRA’s 3rd Northern Division. McKelvey had been a founder member of the O’Donovan Rossa GAA club in Belfast. The choice

A brief history of Cumann na mBan in Belfast from the 1920s to 1960s

This is a short history of Cumann na mBan in Belfast from the end of the civil war through to the 1960s. Obviously, anyone with information that enhances the story or adds further details is more than welcome to share it in the comments section. Jack McNally (in his 1989 autobiography, Morally Good, But Politically Bad)

The re-birth of the IRA in Belfast

On October 29th 1924 the Free State government handed back the remains of 18 men for burial. These 18 were some of the 83 or 84 ‘official’ executions by pro-Treaty forces during 1922 and 1923. One of those whose remains were handed back was Joe McKelvey (below), former O/C 3rd Northern Division and briefly Chief of Staff of the

The bombing of the republican plot in Milltown

This is the story of the bombing and destruction of the original republican plot in Milltown cemetery in Belfast. When most people think of the republican plot in Milltown, they usually think of it as the County Antrim memorial erected on the Tom Williams plot in the mid-1960s. The older republican monument, though, is the