British defied King to let Irish mayor die

December 7th, 2003 | by aobaoill |

It seems King George V appealed for clemency for Terence MacSwiney – the Lord Mayor of Cork who was on hunger strike in 1920 – but was turned down by the British government. [This is a summary of my original piece, after that was deleted due to a flaw in Movable Type].

  1. 3 Responses to “British defied King to let Irish mayor die”

  2. By ian on Jan 19, 2004 | Reply

    If you are stupid enought to starve yourself, then you should die. Just plain dumb. Better to live and fight another day.

  3. By Serenissima on Jan 20, 2004 | Reply

    > If you are stupid enought to starve yourself, then you should die. Just plain dumb.
    Thankfully, Mahatma Ghandi was wiser on this issue.

  4. By Andrew Ó Baoill on Jan 21, 2004 | Reply

    Wow – harsh words.

    Self-immolation is a controversial topic, but it’s important to examine cases in context. MacSwiney would have halted his hunger strike had he been released, and it is notable that the British government refused to do so. Bear in mind, too, that this was in the midst of the Irish struggle for independence. MacSwiney did not recognise the legitimacy of the court, and a hunger strike was (especially at the time) a means to demonstrate the strength of his conviction.

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