Unwilling to create another martyr like Thomas Ashe, British authorities had taken to releasing hunger strikers and then re arresting them when they recovered. When released IRA prisoners would often go on the run and RIC morale was crumbling as they lost faith in the British government to protect them. When the Lord Mayor of Cork began a hunger strike, fully expecting to be released in a few days, the British felt they had to make a stand. Over 74 days the spectacle played out in the world media, punctuated by the court martial of 18 year old Kevin Barry.
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References:
Moirin Chavasse - “Terence MacSwiney”
Kevin Grant - “Hunger Strikes and Fasts in the British Empire”
Dermot Keogh - “The Vatican, the Bishops and Irish Politics”
Holy Office documents concerning Terence MacSwiney’s hunger strike - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339032175_Holy_Office_documents_concerning_Terence_MacSwiney's_hunger_strike_1920
The life of MacCurtain and MacSwiney - https://www.corkcity.ie/en/cork-public-museum/visit/upcoming-events/suffering-the-most-the-life-and-times-of-terence-macswiney.html
French newspaper coverage of the death of Terence MacSwiney - http://oliverohanlon.blogspot.com/2019/10/french-newspaper-coverage-of-death-of.html
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Main Sources:
Military Archives - http://www.bureauofmilitaryhistory.ie
Century Ireland - https://www.rte.ie/centuryireland
Diarmuid Lynch, Irish Revolutionary - http://diarmuidlynch.weebly.com/
The Auxiliary Division - https://theauxiliaries.com/
Atlas of the Irish Revolution - https://amzn.to/3npOEFj
Maurice Walsh - “Bitter Freedom” - https://amzn.to/30Dtutx
Charles Townshend - "The Republic" - https://amzn.to/33AJ0IC
Michael Hopkinson - ”The Irish War of Independence” - https://amzn.to/2Sxif1l
Diarmuid Ferriter - “A Nation and not a Rabble” - https://amzn.to/2SFUiF7
Ronan Fanning - “Fatal Path” - https://amzn.to/3lmswKq
Richard Abbott - “Police Casualties in Ireland 1919 - 1922” - https://amzn.to/3lmsMJo
Photos:
Military Archives
NLI Flickr account
Wiki Commons