A Farewell to Irish Warrior Ruairí Ó Brádaigh

by dubaltg8 Wed Jun 05, 2013 18:49

One of the greatest Irishmen of the 20th century. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.

by Twtone Wed Jun 05, 2013 23:10

Rest in peace Ruarí after a life of fighting for Éire.
Ní bheidh a leithéid ann arís.

by newsmedia Thu Jun 06, 2013 01:25

We are balanced on the brink of a cataclysmic precipice.

The word 'freedom' has become synonymous in the land of the status quo with greedy pre-conceived perceptions of gain and all of the crap that goes with such maligned thinking.

As an English-born man who has insight, I cannot see a future for the world of humanity as it stands.

Until we are rid of those who value their ill-determined visuallisation of the one life we are blessed with - well, you tell me, what possible hope is there?

by Sharon. - Individual. Thu Jun 06, 2013 18:40

Hi !

Funeral arrangements : Reposing at Smyth’s Funeral Home, Roscommon on Friday 7th June from 5.30pm to 8.00pm followed by Removal to the Sacred Heart Church. Requiem Mass on Saturday at 11.30am with Burial afterwards in St. Coman’s Cemetery. Family Flowers only. House private Saturday morning. Donations, if desired, to CABHAIR (Irish Republican Prisoners’ Dependants Fund), 223 Parnell St., Dublin 1 and to the Roscommon-Mayo Hospice.
(Please note that a bus will be leaving Dublin at 8.45am for the funeral from 223 Parnell Street on Saturday 8th June 2013 ; please telephone 01 8729747 to inquire re same.)
Thanks,
Sharon.

Ruairí Ó Bradáigh : 2nd October 1932 - 5th June 2013. RIP.

by Sharon. - Individual. Thu Jun 06, 2013 19:25

Hi!

I just received the following via text message -
Ruairí Ó Brádaigh will be waked at the family home in Roscommon from 1pm, Thursday, June 6 to 1pm Friday June7. He will then be taken to Pat Smith's Funeral Home in Roscommon until 8pm when he will be taken to Church.
He will be buried in St Coman's Cemetery after Mass on Saturday. Mass not confirmed but will probably be 12noon.

Thanks,
Sharon.

by Alison Thu Jun 06, 2013 19:53

The man lived to 80 and died peacefully in his bed. Good for him. But the very many often totally innocent victims of the particular campaigns of violence he was involved with, promoted and egged on since the 1950s did not have that choice. Only recently he was on TV effectively excusing the attack on the Mountbatten boating party in Sligo- a sneaky and murderous attack in the Republic of Ireland resulting in the death of two very old people and two young boys. Moreover the bombers would have seen the children in the boat but went ahead anyway. This syndrome of placing lethal militant republican objectives above any consideration of humanitarian and decent values should be questioned before we laud the authors and defenders of that cult too much.

by Jacqueline Fallon Thu Jun 06, 2013 21:31

I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh – a most patriotic man (whenever I thought of him as a young person growing up in Co Roscommon, I could not help but think about that great fenian leader John O’Leary – I admired him for his patriotism and dedication, and perseverance, he fought on, when others in the county abandoned it.

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was a man with a great love for his country and its culture. Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was an intelligent gentleman (and he certainly was a gentleman, always respectful and polite to me on the rare occasions I got to speak to him, a most rare man). I am so glad I got a signed copy of his book with a message on it and got a chance to speak to him at the Ruairí Ó Brádaigh book launch in Cultúrlann, Comhaltas, Monkstown - many thanks to Tim Pat Coogan too for signing it too (if I had known he would have been there too, I would have brought one of my Tim Pat Coogan books :).

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh was a man of courage and conviction, a man with nerves of steel, a fiercely patriotic Irishman, with a fierce determination to bring about an end to British rule in Ireland.

Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis, my heartfelt sympathy to his family, his friends, his comrades in Sinn Féin Poblachtach (and to those who simply feel his loss and like me admired him from a distance).

by proudpaddy Fri Jun 07, 2013 00:16

Alison....

there were equally many atrocities committed by the forces of occupation. I see these don't seem to trouble you anything like as much since you don't mention them at all.

I guess killings are far more heinous when committed by paddies fighting to free their country from foreign occupation forces than when committed by the british army

When I see you posting about those too then I'll consider taking your comments more seriously instead of viewing them as just more tasteless pro british useful idiot propaganda on a thread intended to pay respects to a brave man who recently passed away.

by Sharon. - Individual. Sat Jun 08, 2013 22:48

Hi !

Ruairí Ó Bradáigh was buried today in a manner befitting his stature , despite the efforts of the State , armed and unarmed representatives of which repeatedly attempted to disrupt proceedings , disgracefully so.
The 'Related Link' , below (from 'Facebook') , shows , amongst other pictures, how uniformed State representatives attempted to block the grave and prevent mourners from showing their respect.

Thanks,
Sharon.

Ruairí Ó Bradáigh in 1954.

by Brian Clarke - AllVoices Sun Jun 09, 2013 01:56

Sometimes words fail but this brought more than a tear to my eye. I extend my profound sympathies
to his wife Patsy and the O Bradaigh family. Ar dheis de go raibh a
anam dilis.

Ruairi O' Bradaigh Saoirse with Old Fenians

Caption: Video Id: vDyMFP6yzfk Type: Youtube Video
Caoineadh cu Chulainn

by Lizbeth Sun Jun 09, 2013 04:43

I offer my sympathy and sincere condolences, to the familie of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh and his friends.

by An Draigneán Donn - Páirtí Cummanach na Poblachta Sun Jun 09, 2013 12:36

Once again, the Blueshirt Zionist, Alan Shatter, comes away disgraced and defeated. It was incredible to see a gang of police Emergency Response Unit (ERU) thugs taking up position at the mouth of Ruairí's grave. They thought to hem in the funeral proceedings and make the mourners peak past them to see both priest and speaker. It was even more incredible to see the mourners, young and old, without command or discussion, descend on this paltry gang like the great waves of the ocean, and lift the violent crew, like so much trash, before them. The ERU gang would have been pushed across the cemetery wall and out onto the road, if it wasn't for the riot squad running, in panic, to their rescue. The mourner linked arms and stopped the advance of the riot squad - holding all the ground won. Instead of the funeral being hemmed in, it was the ERU gang and the riot squad that found themselves hemmed out and excluded, with the mourners still linking arms and backs turned in contempt towards the free state lackeys, and in respect towards Ruairí Ó Brádaigh. Indeed, I would go so far as to thank Alan Shatter for, once again, demonstrating the weakness of the lackey free state and its mercenary gangs before the power of the risen people. No better tribute could be paid to Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

Shatter's Riot Squad is stopped and contained

Riot Squad run to save ERU chickens

by Nico Sun Jun 09, 2013 19:47

Yesterday, I awoke like many others to a sun lit shimmering sky, its vibrancy fluctuating with anticipation, between lofty white clouds.

As I prepared for the day, I adorned my traditional republican attire of black and white, befitting, I pondered, as I straightened my tie in the mirror, to bid a final adieu to a legendary republican.

Outside the church we waited for the bell chimes to signal the start of the proceedings. There was a certain ambiance lofting amid the blistering heat, people of all ages chatted amongst each other, their softly murmurs delicately reverberating off the chapel walls.

Inside the chapel, heads bowed and hands clasped. The resonant chants of a man rang through, as the priest spoke with the tongue of our ancient language that echoed among the illuminated, stained glass walls.

As the proceedings came to an end, we again found ourselves outside in the sweltering heat, waiting for our dear patron to embark on one last journey through the heartland of his home town.

But the dominating heat we endured that day was overbearing in more than one way.

Never in my mind did I think that such extreme forces of coercion at a funeral, perpetrated by the armed forces of the State could have ever manifested, in such a fashion.

The irrational behaviour of degenerate gun toting thugs, striding around freely as they impertinently mingled with the congregation, and sought to agitate and cause as much distress as possible, was a truly vile and wicked display of authoritarian State repression and injustice.

As we disembarked from the chapel grounds, scores of people followed slowly behind the coffin, flanked on either side by a guard of honour, and led by a lone piper lamenting airs of resistance that were carried for miles around by the hot blustering breeze.

Upon arriving at the graveyard, the tyrannical police force yet again displayed another abuse of authority. Family members where nearly thrust into the open grave by the armed ERU, who by that stage, had provoked some of the crowd into mobilising, gradually forcing the armed police to the outskirts of the graveyard, and creating the space needed for people to mourn.

The armed police force is based on the fear of a seemingly omnipotent Free State oligarchy, whose impious actions that day, certainly left a lasting mark on me and the crowd, one that will not be washed away so easily by falsified news reports, or forgotten so quickly!

As the main orations came to a conclusion, Ruairí Ó Brádaigh, that noble passionate man, the man who lived a simple life and was never bought off by riches, was finally laid to rest by his family, friends and comrades.

To say I was pleased to have taken part in the sending off of a true republican would be somewhat of an understatement. It was an honour, not only to have been there, but also to have been there among my own stock, of republicans, socialists, revolutionaries; the working class!

Rest in Peace Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

Beirigí Bua!

~ Nico

SS Gardaí

by Brian Clarke - AllVoices Mon Jun 10, 2013 08:39

Imagine if you will, being taken from your home, without a reason or charge, by paramilitary police, who regularly collude in murder of lawyers and journalists. You are then imprisoned for three years without being told how long you will remain kidnapped, by these scum state thugs.When a judge is informed about the details of your kidnap, he orders your immediate release. You are taken to the front gate to be released, where you are about to embrace your loved ones, when another dictatorial order, from an unelected English Viceroyal, who inherited her appointed position, from her great, great grandfather, who disappeared millions of your people in a holocaust, orders your kidnap perhaps for the rest of your life, again.

Is this mental torture ? Is this a breach of your human rights. In the instance of Martin Corey, bearing in mind the trauma and his elderly 63 years, it may well be in fact a death sentence, with the history of considerable torture, suffered previously by Martin, at the hands, boots and batons of sectarian state kidnappers who imprison you. The last time Britain introduced internment without trial in the early 1970's, Britain was found guilty by the European Court of Human Rights of torture, when Martin Corey was also battered and tortured at that time.

Now 40 years later, they are torturing him again. How can there be peace with such injustice in British Occupied Ireland? How can the Peace Process work, with the British Tories systematically undermining and breaching it? With British internment without trial last time, the Nationalist Constitutional Party of the SDLP, was forced to withdraw from a parliament, dubbed by their arrogant scum state establishment, as a Protestant Parliament for Protestant people. How then can a supposed Irish Republican Party, now stay in the very same Parliament, even when their own peace loving members, the latest being John Downey, are also being imprisoned for the death of horses, long before the Agreement.

The internment of Marian Price, like the internment of Martin Corey, demonstrated further divisions in the criminal justice system in British Occupied Ireland, following the devolution of policing and criminal justice, after the Hillsborough Agreement of 2010, which was part of the Peace Process.

Marian's case demonstrated the ongoing, all embracing dictatorial power, of the English Viceroyal for British Occupied Ireland, in matters of social control and in controversial internment cases, such as Martin Corey. The reliance by the British on closed material procedures, in alleged terrorist cases, is simply internment without trial and of particular concern to human rights groups, in that the Parole Commissioners, are not members of an independent judiciary in British Occupied Ireland, but are in fact British appointed officers, who were the internment agents, determining the conditions in the first instance.

The role of the Parole Commissioners in Marian and Martin's case and their lack of accountability and authority, should have been put to the scrutiny of the Political Stormont Assembly Justice Committee of the Peace Process a long time ago. The Parole Commissioners in effect gave authority to the decision of judges made years ago, that Marian Price and Martin Corey should be released on bail pending investigations of the PSNI.

It was these decision that the the Viceroyal for British Occupied Ireland ignored, in evoking dictatorial powers, in relation to categories of individuals released or interned under cover of licence, thereby directly interfering with the independence of the judiciary of British Occupied Ireland who ruled years ago, that both Marian and Martin Corey should be released.

The powers that could have released Marian Price on compassionate grounds, were not exercised or supported by the supposed Minister of Justice, who misled the Assembly and the public, after being bullied by MI5 and sectarian power brokers in the Assembly.

David Ford therefore exacerbated the medical and psychological conditions of both Marion Price and the elderly Martin Corey, as their internment was illegally prolonged.without charge or time frame, which after three years in Martin Corey's instance, is torture and a blatant breach of his human rights, even by the tinpot dictator's standards of Viceroyal kidnap, in British Occupied Ireland.

Martin Corey is a fragile old man, who did his bit for his country years ago, like our recently deceased Ruairí Ó Brádaigh. He is a patriot in every sense of the word, of war that had a peace Agreement which the British signed. Martin in his old age, deserves respect, along with the peace and justice he craves for the community threatened with extinction, that he guarded zealously with his life and paid so dearly, with 22 long years of imprisonment, torture and abuse by the British regime found guilty at the European Court. of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Enough is enough, the supremacist British and their sectarian, fascist orange prison regime, have had their pound of flesh, many times over with Martin already. Before the funeral of Ruairí Ó Brádaigh last week, Martin spent 19 years, before being interned for the last three years, lovingly, hand carving the Celtic cross in the photo above, as a mark of the esteem, which he held Ruairi, during those long years of hardship. I am asking all people with compassion, across the sectarian divide, who have respect for their elders and international standards of justice, to campaign on twitter and facebook internationally for Martin Corey. Campaign to Release Martin Corey. Do it for peace with justice.
Do it for Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

by Hawthorn Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:31

They send the thick trunked riot squad and the wide bottomed plain clothes sorts to a funeral and when you need a Garda for anti-social behaviour or when you see burglars running across your field it takes them an age to arrive if they even come at all. I know there are decent people in the Garda , the behaviour of the guards however at the funeral was deplorable it came across as a brutish show of power and the height of disrespect. How could you live with yourself for behaving this way at a funeral what kind of a human being would not feel ashamed?. Whether the instructions came from the very top remains to be seen. Any alternatives to the Status Quo and the vision of the comprador class must be smeared and made untenable at every opportunity. This was designed to ensure that a false impression went out to the world media , I only hope that people have more savvy and cop on to know dirty tricks when they see them.

by billy nolan Mon Jun 10, 2013 21:54

a brave warrior of ireland Rest In Peace Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

My tribute to Ruairí Ó Brádaigh.

by Derek - Zero Wed Jun 12, 2013 16:52

What exactly was the purpose of all these 'police' turning up at a funeral, what an appalling lack of respect, no matter what I think of his politics.

by fear ag caiteamh tabac sa chistin Thu Jun 13, 2013 03:00

er, I think they wanted to discourage a volley of handgun shots over the grave.

by Turing Fri Jun 14, 2013 00:21

they still fear Ruairi. It reminds me of the time Sean McBride died, The Sunday Telegraph had an editorial: Death Of An Evil Man. Yes, they still feared him, you couldn't ask for a better send off.

Same with Ruairi, the Free State turnout was a great send off. He was an unbroken and unbreakable Fenian.

by leagle eagle Fri Jun 14, 2013 08:42

When the 1937 constitution was enacted Sean MacBride felt that the link with the British crown had been broken. He stopped being a member of the IRA from that time and concentrated on constitutional politics. He refused to lend his name to the H-Blocks protest campaign in the early 1980s saying that he didn't understand the military campaign then being waged by the provisional associates of the dirt strike protesters. [See his book of essays: A Message to the Irish People] As a shrewd criminal lawyer he represented several individuals appearing before the special courts on arms related charges, in spite of his dislike for gun politics. During the time c.1970 until his death in January 1988 MacBride nationally and internationally maintained that the Irish struggle for freedom in the period 1916-1921 had been a legitimate one, and disagreed with Conor Cruise O'Brien's and other historians' views that there had been a 'mistake'.

by Mick. Fri Jun 14, 2013 16:21

1981 - 2013 No change.
Republican, Frank Driver of Kildare who died 1981, notable feature of his funeral was the presence of over 100 Gardai and detectives including members of the Special Branch. Some took up duty on all approach roads, and scores flanked the cortege and later encircled the hillside cemetery where he was laid to rest. The attendance included Ruari Ó Brádaigh,

“Objection is when I say: this doesn't suit me. Resistance is when I make sure that what doesn't suit me never happens again.” ― Ulrike Meinhof