Terence MacSwiney—martyrdom, civil resistance & the Irish Revolution

This podcast is part of the History Ireland Hedge School programme supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht under the Decade of Centenaries 2012–2023 initiative.

 

On 25 October 1920, after 74 days on hunger strike, Terence MacSwiney, lord mayor of Cork, died in Brixton Prison. His death not only evoked huge sympathy within Ireland but was also a turning point in the mobilisation of Irish nationalism abroad. In addition, his martyrdom inspired anti-colonial struggles throughout the world, particularly in India.

 

Listen to History Ireland editor Tommy Graham discuss these and related questions, in particular the relationship between passive, civil and physical resistance, with Dr John Borgonovo, Dr Sarah-Ann Buckley, Dr Kate O’Malley and Dr Pádraig Yeates.

 

Photo:
Terence MacSwiney on the day of his wedding to Muriel Murphy in Bromyard, Herefordshire, where he had been interned after the 1916 Rising prior to his release in June 1917. Standing (left to right) are sisters Mary and Annie, Capuchin friar Fr Augustine Hayden OFM, bridesmaid Geraldine O’Sullivan and best man Richard Mulcahy. (Cork Public Museum)