IRISH PATRIOT 50 TH ANNIVERSARY

Posted By: March 29, 2013

PATRICK MC MANUS REMEMBERED

CAPITOL HILL. MONDAY, JULY 21, 2008

Recently the president of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus, Fr. Sean Mc Manus, returned to his native Fermanagh for a series of events marking the 50th. Anniversary of his brother Patrick’s death on July 15, 1958.

Patrick Mc Manus was a leading IRA man in the 1956-1962 campaign. He was the OC for South Fermanagh and shortly before his death he was appointed to the IRA Army Council.

Mc Manus was killed in a premature explosion a few miles outside of Swanlinbar in County Cavan. A native of the townland of Clonliff, Kinawley parish (which is divided by the Border). Mc Manus had been on the run since the beginning of the IRA campaign, December 12, 1958.What made his death at 29 all the more traumatic for the Mc Manus family was that he was killed on the same day his sister was married – the first marriage in the family of ten children.

There were a series of events commemorating the young Irish patriot.

On Sunday, July 6, Sinn Fein led a parade from the town of Swanlinbar to Mc Manus’s grave in Killaduff cemetery, two miles away. Michelle Gildernew, MP for Fermanagh and south Tyrone, a constituency represented by Patrick’s brother, Frank, from 1970 to 1974, was one of the two main speakers. The other was the TD for Cavan and Monaghan, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin. (Photo attached).

On July 15, the surviving Veterans of the 56 Campaign laid wreaths on the monument that marks the spot where Mc Manus was killed.

On July 12, the Kinawley GAA Club unveiled a new, striking sign, with Patrick’s photo superimposed, at the Patrick Mc Manus Memorial Park, so named in 1982. (Photo attached).

On Saturday July 19, Republican Sinn Fein unveiled a new roadside monument to Mc Manus, James Crossan and John Duffy near the spot where Crossan was killed by the RUC in 1958 – just across the Border in County Cavan, outside Swanlinbar. (Duffy was killed in Derry in 1960 while training with the IRA). Ruairi O’Bradaigh was the main speaker.

Fr. Mc Manus said: “ My family and I attended all the events to honor our brother Patrick, a noble Irish patriot, of whom we are deeply proud. Our attendance does not imply endorsement of any particular group, only the endorsement of our brother. We all strongly support the Irish peace process, which should ensure that no other young man or woman will ever have to sacrifice their lives for Ireland.”