Kevin Lynch: Fallen Comrade of the IRSM -- The Irish Voice

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: Tuesday, July 31, 3:06:21
Author: IRSCNA
Subject: Kevin Lynch: Fallen Comrade of the IRSM

Fallen Comrade of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement

Kevin Lynch
Volunteer - Irish National Liberation Army
Died on Hunger Strike on 1 August 1981

Kevin Lynch was born on 25 May 1956 in the Occupied Six Counties, in
the small village of Park, County Derry. He was raised in the nearby
town of Dungiven, which was primarily a nationalist area but was
garrisoned by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army,
thus he grew up experiencing the prejudice and sectarianism existing
under such conditions.

As a youth, his athletic pursuits included boxing, Gaelic football,
and hurling. In 1972, he was the captain of the Derry hurling team
when it won the All-Ireland title in the Under-16 category.

He joined the INLA in August 1976 and was arrested three months
later during an RUC roundup of suspected INLA activists in Dungiven.
He was charged with conspiring to disarm members of the RUC and the
taking of 'legally held' shotguns.

He spent most of 1977 on remand in Crumlin Road Jail in Belfast,
until December when he was convicted and sentenced to ten years in
Long Kesh Prison. In prison he immediately joined the blanket protest
against the loss of political prisoner status for republican
activists.

He took part in the first hunger strike of 1980, saying "if they
took everything else away, they'd never take my principles. I'll die
before they take them from me."

The first hunger strike was called off before anyone died, but after
the British government reneged on its promises, a second hunger
strike was called in 1981. Ten men, including Lynch and two other
INLA volunteers, died on the second strike.

While on the second strike, he stood as a candidate in the South of
Ireland's general election from his prison cell, coming within 300
votes of winning a seat in the southern parliament.

He was 71 days on hunger strike, finally succumbing to death at 1 AM
on 1 August 1981.

He died as he lived: a Republican Socialist. Remember him with honour
and pride.

<a rel=nofollow target=_blank href="http://www.irsp.ie/Background/fallen/lynch.html">http://www.irsp.ie/Background/fallen/lynch.html</a>

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]