Joe Cahill
Encyclopedia
Joe Cahill was a prominent Irish
republican
and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA).
, Ireland
, where his parents had been neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish revolutionary James Connolly
.
Cahill was the first child in a family of thirteen siblings born to Joseph and Josephine Cahill. Cahill was educated at St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Primary School at Barrack Street. Cahill's father was a printer by trade and an Irish republican who was a former member of the Irish National Volunteers and would produce republican-related material at his print shop. At the age of fourteen Cahill left school to assist in the print shop after his father had become ill.
Soon after this, Cahill joined the Catholic Young Men's Society, which campaigned on social issues with a focus on eradicating working-class areas of Belfast of moneylenders who often charged extortionately-high levels of interest rate. At the age of seventeen, Cahill then joined Na Fianna Éireann, a republican-orientated scouting movement.
in the local Clonard-based 'C' Company of the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army. In the 1940s, he was sentenced to death
for killing a police officer
during the IRA's so-called Northern Campaign
. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, as a result of pressure on the British government by Éire
. The Vatican
also called on the Northern Ireland government
to grant clemency. Of the six men sentenced to death for the murder of Constable Patrick Murphy of Clowney Street, the Falls Road, Belfast, only one was executed. He was Tom Williams, the leader of the IRA unit that killed Murphy. Cahill was released from prison in 1949.
During the 1950s IRA Border Campaign, Cahill was again arrested and interned. He was released in 1962.
. In the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969, Cahill, along with Billy McKee
, tried to defend the Catholic Clonard area from attack, but was unable to prevent Bombay Street being burned by loyalists
. When he subsequently tried to organise the defence of the Ballymurphy
area, he was initially chased away by the nationalist residents, who were unimpressed with the IRA's response to the events of August 1969.
Angry at the failure of the IRA, led in Belfast by Billy McMillen
, to defend Catholic areas during this rioting, Cahill and McKee stated in September 1969 that they would no longer be taking orders from the IRA leadership in Dublin, or from McMillen. In December 1969, they declared their allegiance to the Provisional IRA, who split off from the leadership. This action took 9 out of the 13 units of the IRA in Belfast into the PIRA
. The remnants of the pre-split IRA became known as the Official IRA
. Joe Cahill served on the first Provisional IRA Army Council
.
. He held this post until the introduction of internment
in August of that year. It was during this period that the Provisional IRA campaign got off the ground in the city. Cahill authorised the beginning of the IRA's bombing operations as well as attacks on British troops and the RUC. He based himself in a house in Andersonstown
and toured the city, co-ordinating IRA operations. The day after the Army
mounted Operation Demetrius
, designed to arrest the IRA's leaders, Cahill held a press conference in a school in Ballymurphy and stated that the operation had been a failure. He said, "we have lost one brigade officer, one battalion officer and the rest are volunteers, or as they say in the British Army, privates". Cahill himself however had to flee to the Republic of Ireland
to avoid arrest, temporarily relinquishing his command of the Belfast Brigade.
In March 1972, Cahill was part of an IRA delegation that held direct talks with the British Labour Party
leader Harold Wilson
. However, although the IRA called a three-day ceasefire for the talks, no permanent end to violence was agreed upon.
On his return to Ireland, Cahill was arrested in Dublin by Gardaí
and charged with IRA membership. However he went on hunger strike
for twenty-three days and was subsequently released due to lack of evidence. In November 1972, Cahill became the IRA's chief of staff, he held this position until his arrest in the following year.
Cahill was then put in charge of importing arms for the IRA. He liaised with the NORAID
group in America and with the Libya
n dictatorship of Muammar al-Gaddafi
to this end. In March 1973 he was arrested by the Irish Navy in Waterford, aboard the Claudia, a ship from Libya loaded with five tons of weapons. Cahill was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Irish Special Criminal Court
. Cahill stated at his trial that, "If I am guilty of any crime, it is that I did not succeed in getting the contents of the Claudia into the hands of the freedom fighters in this country". Upon his release, Cahill again was put in charge of arms importation and to this end went to the United States. He was deported from the United States
in 1984 for illegal entry
. (See Provisional IRA arms importation
).
Cahill served on the IRA Army Council
as late as the 1990s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he argued against proposals for Sinn Féin
to stand in elections. However, in 1985, he spoke at the party's Ard Fheis
in favour of republicans contesting elections and taking seats in the Irish Dáil or parliament.
he was a strong supporter of Gerry Adams
and the Good Friday Agreement. In 1994, a controversial but central aspect of the IRA's ceasefire was the granting of a limited visa by then United States President Bill Clinton
to Cahill, in the face of strident opposition by John Major
's government. This was to facilitate a trip to the United States to win support for the new Sinn Féin strategy from Irish American
IRA supporters.
In 1998 he stood in North Antrim
in
the elections
to the Northern Ireland Assembly
but was unsuccessful, finishing in eleventh place in a poll topped by Ian Paisley
.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
and former chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA).
Background
In May 1920, Cahill was born in Divis Street in West BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, where his parents had been neighbours of the Scottish-born Irish revolutionary James Connolly
James Connolly
James Connolly was an Irish republican and socialist leader. He was born in the Cowgate area of Edinburgh, Scotland, to Irish immigrant parents and spoke with a Scottish accent throughout his life. He left school for working life at the age of 11, but became one of the leading Marxist theorists of...
.
Cahill was the first child in a family of thirteen siblings born to Joseph and Josephine Cahill. Cahill was educated at St. Mary's Christian Brothers' Primary School at Barrack Street. Cahill's father was a printer by trade and an Irish republican who was a former member of the Irish National Volunteers and would produce republican-related material at his print shop. At the age of fourteen Cahill left school to assist in the print shop after his father had become ill.
Soon after this, Cahill joined the Catholic Young Men's Society, which campaigned on social issues with a focus on eradicating working-class areas of Belfast of moneylenders who often charged extortionately-high levels of interest rate. At the age of seventeen, Cahill then joined Na Fianna Éireann, a republican-orientated scouting movement.
Paramilitary career
The following year in 1938, at the age of eighteen, Cahill became a volunteerVolunteer (Irish republican)
Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
in the local Clonard-based 'C' Company of the Belfast Brigade of the Irish Republican Army. In the 1940s, he was sentenced to death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
for killing a police officer
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
during the IRA's so-called Northern Campaign
Northern Campaign (IRA)
Northern Campaign is a term used to describe attacks involving volunteers of the Irish Republican Army during the Second World War between September 1942 and December 1944. It was a plan conceived by the then IRA Northern Command to launch attacks within Northern Ireland during this period...
. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, as a result of pressure on the British government by Éire
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. The Vatican
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
also called on the Northern Ireland government
Parliament of Northern Ireland
The Parliament of Northern Ireland was the home rule legislature of Northern Ireland, created under the Government of Ireland Act 1920, which sat from 7 June 1921 to 30 March 1972, when it was suspended...
to grant clemency. Of the six men sentenced to death for the murder of Constable Patrick Murphy of Clowney Street, the Falls Road, Belfast, only one was executed. He was Tom Williams, the leader of the IRA unit that killed Murphy. Cahill was released from prison in 1949.
During the 1950s IRA Border Campaign, Cahill was again arrested and interned. He was released in 1962.
Founding the Provisional IRA
In 1969, Cahill was a key figure in founding the Provisional Irish Republican ArmyProvisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
. In the Northern Ireland riots of August 1969, Cahill, along with Billy McKee
Billy McKee
Billy McKee is an Irish republican and was a founding member and former leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Early life:McKee was born in Belfast in the early 1920s, and joined the Irish Republican Army in 1939. During the Second World War, the IRA carried out a number of armed...
, tried to defend the Catholic Clonard area from attack, but was unable to prevent Bombay Street being burned by loyalists
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
. When he subsequently tried to organise the defence of the Ballymurphy
Ballymurphy
Ballymurphy may refer to:*Ballymurphy, Belfast - an area in Belfast, northern Ireland, known for the Ballymurphy Massacre.*Ballymurphy, County Carlow - a village in County Carlow, Ireland....
area, he was initially chased away by the nationalist residents, who were unimpressed with the IRA's response to the events of August 1969.
Angry at the failure of the IRA, led in Belfast by Billy McMillen
Billy McMillen
Billy McMillen was an Irish republican activist and an officer of the Official Irish Republican Army...
, to defend Catholic areas during this rioting, Cahill and McKee stated in September 1969 that they would no longer be taking orders from the IRA leadership in Dublin, or from McMillen. In December 1969, they declared their allegiance to the Provisional IRA, who split off from the leadership. This action took 9 out of the 13 units of the IRA in Belfast into the PIRA
Pira
Pira may refer to:* Pira, Victoria, locality in Victoria, Australia* Pira, Tarragona, Spain* Pira District, Huaraz Province, Peru* Pira, Peru, capital of Pira District* Provisional Irish Republican Army...
. The remnants of the pre-split IRA became known as the Official IRA
Official IRA
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA is an Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to create a "32-county workers' republic" in Ireland. It emerged from a split in the Irish Republican Army in December 1969, shortly after the beginning of "The Troubles"...
. Joe Cahill served on the first Provisional IRA Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
.
Provisional IRA activities
In April 1971, after the arrest and imprisonment of Billy McKee, Cahill became the commander of the Provisional IRA Belfast BrigadeProvisional IRA Belfast Brigade
The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's command areas, based in the city of Belfast. Founded in 1969, along with the formation of the Provisional IRA, it was historically organised into three battalions; the First Battalion based in the...
. He held this post until the introduction of internment
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in August of that year. It was during this period that the Provisional IRA campaign got off the ground in the city. Cahill authorised the beginning of the IRA's bombing operations as well as attacks on British troops and the RUC. He based himself in a house in Andersonstown
Andersonstown
Andersonstown is a suburb of Belfast, Northern Ireland.It is overshadowed by the Black Mountain and Divis Mountain and contains a mixture of public and private housing. It is largely populated by the Irish nationalist and Roman Catholic community...
and toured the city, co-ordinating IRA operations. The day after the Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
mounted Operation Demetrius
Operation Demetrius
Operation Demetrius began in Northern Ireland on the morning of Monday 9 August 1971. Operation Demetrius was launched by the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary and involved arresting and interning people accused of being paramilitary members...
, designed to arrest the IRA's leaders, Cahill held a press conference in a school in Ballymurphy and stated that the operation had been a failure. He said, "we have lost one brigade officer, one battalion officer and the rest are volunteers, or as they say in the British Army, privates". Cahill himself however had to flee to the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
to avoid arrest, temporarily relinquishing his command of the Belfast Brigade.
In March 1972, Cahill was part of an IRA delegation that held direct talks with the British Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
leader Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
. However, although the IRA called a three-day ceasefire for the talks, no permanent end to violence was agreed upon.
On his return to Ireland, Cahill was arrested in Dublin by Gardaí
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
and charged with IRA membership. However he went on hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
for twenty-three days and was subsequently released due to lack of evidence. In November 1972, Cahill became the IRA's chief of staff, he held this position until his arrest in the following year.
Cahill was then put in charge of importing arms for the IRA. He liaised with the NORAID
NORAID
Noraid or the Irish Northern Aid Committee is an Irish American fund raising organization founded after the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1969...
group in America and with the Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n dictatorship of Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
to this end. In March 1973 he was arrested by the Irish Navy in Waterford, aboard the Claudia, a ship from Libya loaded with five tons of weapons. Cahill was sentenced to three years imprisonment by the Irish Special Criminal Court
Special Criminal Court
The Special Criminal Court is a juryless criminal court in the Republic of Ireland which tries terrorist and organized crime cases. Article 38 of the Constitution of Ireland empowers the Dáil to establish "special courts" with wide-ranging powers when "the ordinary courts are inadequate to secure...
. Cahill stated at his trial that, "If I am guilty of any crime, it is that I did not succeed in getting the contents of the Claudia into the hands of the freedom fighters in this country". Upon his release, Cahill again was put in charge of arms importation and to this end went to the United States. He was deported from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1984 for illegal entry
Illegal entry
Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like...
. (See Provisional IRA arms importation
Provisional IRA arms importation
The Provisional Irish Republican Army began importing large quantities of weapons and ammunition into the Republic of Ireland for use in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s...
).
Cahill served on the IRA Army Council
IRA Army Council
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. The council had seven members, said by the...
as late as the 1990s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he argued against proposals for Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
to stand in elections. However, in 1985, he spoke at the party's Ard Fheis
Ard Fheis
Ardfheis or Ard Fheis is the name used by many Irish political parties for their annual party conference. The term was first used by Conradh na Gaeilge, the Irish language cultural organisation, for its annual convention....
in favour of republicans contesting elections and taking seats in the Irish Dáil or parliament.
Peace process
In his later years as honorary life vice-president of Sinn FéinSinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
he was a strong supporter of Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
and the Good Friday Agreement. In 1994, a controversial but central aspect of the IRA's ceasefire was the granting of a limited visa by then United States President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
to Cahill, in the face of strident opposition by John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
's government. This was to facilitate a trip to the United States to win support for the new Sinn Féin strategy from Irish American
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
IRA supporters.
In 1998 he stood in North Antrim
North Antrim (Assembly constituency)
North Antrim is a constituency in the Northern Ireland Assembly.The seat was first used for a Northern Ireland-only election for the Northern Ireland Assembly, 1973...
in
the elections
Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1998
-Seats summary:-Details:Although the SDLP won the most first preference votes, the Ulster Unionists won the most seats in the Assembly. This has been attributed to several reasons, including:...
to the Northern Ireland Assembly
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
but was unsuccessful, finishing in eleventh place in a poll topped by Ian Paisley
Ian Paisley
Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, Baron Bannside, PC is a politician and church minister in Northern Ireland. As the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party , he and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness were elected First Minister and deputy First Minister respectively on 8 May 2007.In addition to co-founding...
.