Mick Fitzgerald talk at UCC Cork Men’s Gaol, and the Political Hunger Strike, 1920-2020 Conference

It was a pleasure to do a talk for UCC’s conference Terence MacSwiney, Cork Men’s Gaol, and the Political Hunger Strike, 1920-2020 marking the hunger strike of republican prisoners in Cork Gaol in 1920. It is remarkable they were able to pull the conference together under the covid-19 restrictions. Most notably, this resulted in the death of Terence MacSwiney, Lord Mayor of Cork and leader of IRA’s Cork No. 1 Brigade. Little remembered are the deaths on IRA Volunteers Joseph Murphy (on the same same day) and Mick Fitzgerald (on 17th October 1920). I do a talk on the latter, noting his involvement in the Cork No. 2 Brigade and the impact his martyrdom had on his friend and IRA leader, Liam Lynch.

The full talk can be viewed below or by way of the link here.

‘Tell my people I want to be buried with Fitzgerald of Fermoy’: The impact of Michael Fitzgerald’s martyrdom on Liam Lynch (starts at approx 58mins in).