Terence MacSwiney

Terence Joseph MacSwiney (pronEng|məkˈswiːni; _ga. Tordhealbhach Mac Suibhne) (20 March 1879 – 25 October 1920) was born in Cork City, County Cork Ireland. He was educated as an accountant and also was a playwright, poet, and writer of pamphlets on Irish history.

Life

MacSwiney was educated by the Christian Brothers at the North Monastery school in Cork City. He became an accountant and studied at University College Cork. In 1901 he helped to found the Celtic Literary Society, and in 1908 he founded the Cork Dramatic Society with Daniel Corkery and wrote a number of plays for them.

He was one of the founders of the Cork Brigade of the Irish Volunteers in 1913, and was President of the Cork branch of Sinn Féin. He founded a newspaper, "Fianna Fáil", in 1914, but it was suppressed after only 11 issues. In April 1916, he was intended to be second in command of the Easter Rising in Cork and Kerry, but stood down his forces on the order of Eoin MacNeill. Following the rising, he was interned under the Defence of the Realm Act in Reading and Wakefield Gaols until December 1916. In February 1917 he was deported from Ireland and interned in Shrewsbury and Bromyard internment camps until his release in June 1917. It was during his exile in Bromyard that he married Muriel Murphy of the Cork distillery-owning family. In November 1917, he was arrested in Cork for wearing an IRA uniform, and went on a hunger strike for 3 days prior to his release.

In the 1918 general election, MacSwiney was returned unopposed to the first Dáil Éireann as Sinn Féin representative for Mid Cork, succeeding the Nationalist M.P. D. D. Sheehan. After the murder of Tomás Mac Curtain, the Lord Mayor of Cork on 20 March 1920, he was elected Lord Mayor of Cork. On 12 August 1920, he was arrested in Dublin for possession of seditious articles and documents, and also possession of a cipher key. He was summarily tried by court martial on 16 August, sentenced to two years' imprisonment in Brixton Prison. In prison, he immediately started a hunger strike. On 20 October 1920, he fell into a coma and died five days later after 74 days on hunger strike.

His sister Mary MacSwiney took on his seat in the Dáil and spoke against the Anglo-Irish Treaty in January 1922. His brother Seán MacSwiney was also elected in the 1921 elections for another Cork constituency. Seán also opposed the Treaty.

MacSwiney’s hunger strike gained world attention. The British government was threatened with a boycott of British goods by Americans, while four countries in South America appealed to the Pope to intervene. Protests were held in Germany and France as well.

His body was returned to Ireland for burial and his funeral on 1 November attracted huge crowds. Terence MacSwiney is buried in Saint Finbarr's Cemetery in Cork. A collection of his writings, entitled "Principles of Freedom", was published posthumously in 1921. It was based upon articles MacSwiney contributed to "Irish Freedom" during 1911–1912.

In 1945 his only child, daughter Máire MacSwiney, married Ruairi Brugha, son of the anti-Treaty Teachta Dála Cathal Brugha, and later a TD, Member of the European Parliament, and Senator.

A collection relating to Terence MacSwiney exists in Cork Public Museum.

Writings

* "The music of freedom" by 'Cuireadóir'. (Poems, The Risen Gaedheal Press, Cork, 1907)
* "Fianna Fáil : the Irish army : a journal for militant Ireland" (Weekly publication edited and mainly written by MacSwiney; Cork, 11 issues, September to December 1914)
* "The revolutionist; a play in five acts" (Dublin, London, Maunsel and Company, 1914).
* "The ethics of revolt : a discussion from a Catholic point of view as to when it becomes lawful to rise in revolt against the Civil Power" by Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne. (Pamphlet, 1918)
* "Battle-cries" (Poems, 1918)
* "Principles of freedom" (Dublin, The Talbot Press, 1921)
* "Despite fools' laughter; poems by Terence MacSwiney". Edited by B. G. MacCarthy. (Dublin, M. H. Gill and Son, 1944)

Quotes

* "It is not those who can inflict the most, but those that can suffer the most who will conquer." (Some sources replace "conquer" with "prevail")

* "I am confident that my death will do more to smash the British Empire than my release." (On his hunger strike)

* "I want you to bear witness that I die as a Soldier of the Irish Republic." His last words to a visiting priest.

Bibliography

* Francis J Costello, "Enduring the Most: The Biography of Terence McSwiney". Dingle: Brandon Books, 1996.

* Robert Welch (ed), "The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature". Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1996.

Terence Mac Swiney's private papers are held in the University College Dublin Archives (IE UCDA P48b, P48c). There are also manuscript papers and copies of his published writings in the National Library of Ireland (MSS 35029–35035).

ee also

*Families in the Oireachtas
*Kevin Barry

External links

* [http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=951 Terence MacSwiney's electoral history] (ElectionsIreland.org)

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