Máire Drumm
| Máire Drumm | |
|---|---|
| Born | Máire McAleer November 22, 1919 Newry, County Down |
| Died | October 28, 1976 (aged 56) Belfast, County Antrim |
| Cause of death | Assassinated by Loyalist paramilitaries |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Known for | Civil rights leader, Public Orator and figurehead of Republican Movement |
| Title | Vice President of Provisional Sinn Féin |
| Term | 1972 - 1976 |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Spouse | James Drumm (1946-Death) |
Máire Drumm (22 November 1919-28 October 1976) was the vice president of Sinn Féin and a commander in Cumann na mBan. She was assassinated by loyalists while recovering in Belfast's Mater Hospital.
Born in Newry, County Down to a staunchly republican family. Drumm's mother had been active in the War of Independence and the Civil War. Drumm grew up in the village of Killean, County Armagh, where she played camogie (the female form of hurling). She was active in the republican movement after meeting her husband, a republican prisoner, and became involved in the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s and worked to rehouse Catholics forced from their homes by loyalist intimidation.
She was jailed twice for 'seditious speeches'. After she was released from Armagh Prison, raids on her house by the security forces escalated, her health began to fail and she was admitted to the Mater Hospital, Belfast.
On 28 October 1976, Maíre Drumm was assassinated in her hospital bed by Loyalist paramilitaries. [1]
[edit] Quotes
Drumm's speeches and quotations can be found on murals across Northern Ireland. These include:
- "The only people worthy of freedom are those who are prepared to go out and fight for it every day, and die if necessary."
- "We must take no steps backward, our steps must be onward, for if we don't, the martyrs that died for you, for me, for this country will haunt us forever."
[edit] References
- ^ 307 killed in Troubles' second bloodiest year, Belfast Telegraph, 29 December, 2006
[edit] External links
- Tribute Press release issued by Ruairí Ó Brádaigh on the death of Máire Drumm.
- Mural Directory CAIN Web Service (Conflict Archive on the Internet) - Mural Directory
- Ed Moloney (2007-03-28). "A secret History of the IRA". W. W. Norton & Company. http://books.google.com/books?id=5PNAtCeYpgYC&pg=PA204&lpg=PA204&dq=maire+drumm&source=web&ots=5lA1g4WTXe&sig=iX0RbQ3eCufhcnFnyTrlBxL7t_0#PPA204,M1. Retrieved 2002.
- MÁIRE mp3
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Dáithí Ó Conaill and Joe Clarke |
Vice-President of Sinn Féin with Dáithí Ó Conaill 1972–1976 |
Succeeded by Dáithí Ó Conaill and Joe Cahill |
