Richard O'Rawe

Richard O’Rawe (born 1956) is a former Irish republican activist and author of several books about The Troubles.

Background

Richard O'Rawe was born in 1956 and spent the first fourteen years of his life in the Lower Falls district of Belfast. His home was at the corner of Peel Street and Mary Street. Nearby lived Gerry Conlon. In 1970, his home in Peel Street was demolished as part of the redevelopment of the area and he and his family moved to Ballymurphy, a new housing estate. At this time, The Troubles was developing. In 1971, the Ballymurphy massacre occurred in which eleven civilians were killed by the British Army. The following year, there was the Battle at Springmartin nearby. As a result of the heightened conflict in the area, O'Rawe got involved in Irish republican politics.^[1] He was later arrested and imprisoned in Crumlin Road gaol and then in Long Kesh prison.^[2]

Role in the hunger strikes

In Long Kesh prison in 1981, he was Provisional IRA press officer. He claims that terms for ending the 1981 hunger strikes, accepted by the prisoners' leadership in the prison, were rejected by IRA commanders outside. He suggests that the IRA rejected the deal as the Irish republican candidate Owen Carron would have a better chance of winning the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election if the hunger strike was ongoing on polling day.^[3]

Publications

2005: Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-block Hunger Strike. New Island Books
2011: Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer that Changed Irish History. Lilliput Press.
2017: In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story. Merrion Press.
2018: Northern Heist. Merrion Press^[4]
2023: Stakeknife's Dirty War: The Inside Story of Scappaticci, the IRA's Nutting Squad and the British Spooks Who Ran the War. Merrion Press.

References

^ "Once upon a time in Northern Ireland". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
^ "From the cradle up". Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
^ "Will IRA ever admit truth over hunger strike?". The Belfast Telegraph. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Northern Heist". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.

[1] "Once upon a time in Northern Ireland". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2023.

[2] "From the cradle up". Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.

[3] "Will IRA ever admit truth over hunger strike?". The Belfast Telegraph. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.

[4] "Northern Heist". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.

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