Joseph MacManus

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Not to be confused with the American diplomat Joseph Macmanus.
"Joe McManus" redirects here. For the baseball pitcher, see Joe McManus (baseball).

Joe MacManus
Born23 May 1970
Harlesden, London, England
Died5 February 1992(1992-02-05) (aged 21)
Belleek, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland
AllegianceProvisional Irish Republican Army
Years of service1987–1992[1]
RankVolunteer[2][3]
UnitSligo Brigade[citation needed]
ConflictThe Troubles

Joseph Edward "Joe" MacManus (often incorrectly spelt Joe McManus) (Irish Seosamh Mac Mághnais; 23 May 1970 – 5 February 1992), was a volunteer in the Sligo Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. He was killed during a shoot-out after his unit attempted a killing in Mulleek near Belleek, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.[4]

Background

MacManus was born in

Seán MacManus, a native of Gubaveeney, near Blacklion, County Cavan, had moved to London in the 1960s to find work. There he met and married Helen McGovern, a native of Glenfarne, County Leitrim. In 1976, the family returned to Ireland to live in the working-class Maugheraboy area of Sligo town so that the boys could be educated in Ireland.[5]

He was educated to primary level at Scoil Ursula Primary School, Strandhill Road, Sligo and St. John's Marist Brothers National School, Temple Street, Sligo to secondary level at Summerhill College and at third level at Sligo RTC. MacManus played football for local junior teams Collegians and Corinthians, and Gaelic football for both Saint Mary's GFC of Maugheraboy and Coolera GFC of Strandhill.[1]

His father Seán, who at the time was a leading republican, later became Mayor of Sligo. He was the secretary of the

Good Friday Agreement. Joe's younger brother, Chris, was a Sinn Féin Councillor for Sligo Borough Council and Sligo County Council for many years and is an MEP since March 2020.[6][7]

Paramilitary activity

In 1987, MacManus attended the funeral of

Provisional IRA's Sligo Brigade.[1]

In 1991, he joined a Ballyshannon-based active service unit which replaced the West Fermanagh Brigade, disbanded after the Enniskillen bombing. Initially, he carried out minor operations including moving munitions between arms dumps, passing intelligence between operatives and attending training camps in the region.[8] On 2 February 1992, he and the rest of his unit, James Hughes, Conor O'Neill and Noel Magee, met at a safe house in Ballyshannon, County Donegal to make final arrangement for an operation which was to take place later in the following week. [citation needed]

MacManus' headstone at Sligo City Cemetery

Mulleek ambush

On 3 February, MacManus and his unit crossed the border and took over the house of farmer Pat Loughran. Loughran was ordered to lure Eric Glass, an Ulster Defence Regiment soldier and part-time Fermanagh District Council dog warden, to his home on the pretence that his dog had attacked a family member.[4]

Corporal Eric Glass of the

Belfast News Letter.[10]

Eric Bullick, Alliance Party spokesman for Fermanagh-South Tyrone, commenting on the shooting said:

...the fact that an active service unit of the IRA had been taken out of operation should be a relief to the whole community because it meant that further loss of life would be avoided. Within four days of a meeting between senior members of the Alliance Party and senior officers of the Garda Siochana in Phoenix Park in Dublin, we have an example of cross border security co-operation at its very best.[11]

Monument issue

In 2002, a dispute resulted after a monument to Joe MacManus and fellow volunteers Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde and Kieran Fleming was sited close to the place where Protestant workmen William Hassard and Frederick Love were murdered by the IRA in 1988.[12][13][14]

A Sinn Féin spokesman stated that "The families of Ciaran Fleming, Joseph MacManus and Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde, the three IRA men commemorated by the monument, had given the go-ahead for the structure to be moved".[15]

Legacy

The Sligo Town Cumann of Sinn Féin is named the Noble Six/O'Flanagan/MacManus Cumann in honour of MacManus and in previous years lectures have been held in his name which has been addressed by Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin, Pat Doherty, Pearse Doherty, Aengus Ó Snodaigh and Gerry Adams.[16][17][18]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 0-9542946-0-2
    p. 343
  2. ISBN 0-312-15632-4
    p.334
  3. ^ CAIN Web Service (Conflict Archive on the INternet)
  4. ^
    ISBN 0-312-15632-4
    p.334
  5. ^ Unknown. "Sorrowful Homecoming for a Brave Young Irishman" Archived 2007-01-27 at the Wayback Machine The Irish People 1992-02-22. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  6. ^ Alderman Sean MacManus Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Liam Ferrie. "Northern News" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine Irish Emigrant 1992-02-10. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
  8. ISBN 0-312-15632-4
    ; p. 337
  9. ^ Potter 2001, pp. 366–69
  10. ^ "Ex-UDR man recalls gun battle with IRA gang - Local - News Letter". Archived from the original on 12 June 2011.
  11. ^ Fermanagh Herald, 15 February 1992.
  12. ^ Northern News Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ The Impartial Reporter Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Cowan, Rosie (20 July 2002). "Republicans make conciliatory move over IRA memorial". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  15. ^ Family’s relief at plans to remove IRA monument Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Ninth annual Joe McManus/Kevin Coen lecture – Adams slams faceless securocrats
  17. ^ "Peace strategy 'still strong and viable'". republican-news.org.
  18. ^ Irish government must demand answers from British on murder of Irish citizens Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine

Sources

  • Kevin Toolis, Rebel Hearts, p. 333-65
  • Piaras F. MacLochlainn, Last Words, p. 19–22
  • A Testimony to Courage – the Regimental History of the Ulster Defence Regiment 1969 – 1992, John Potter,
    ISBN 0-85052-819-4

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_MacManus&oldid=1216746130"