Richard O'Rawe - Wikipedia

Richard O’Rawe (born 1956) is a former Irish republican activist and author of several books about The Troubles.

Background[edit]

Richard O'Rawe was born in 1956 and spent the first fourteen years of his life in the Lower Falls district of Belfast. His home was at the corner of Peel Street and Mary Street. Nearby lived Gerry Conlon. In 1970, his home in Peel Street was demolished as part of the redevelopment of the area and he and his family moved to Ballymurphy, a new housing estate. At this time, The Troubles was developing. In 1971, the Ballymurphy massacre occurred in which eleven civilians were killed by the British Army. The following year, there was the Battle at Springmartin nearby. As a result of the heightened conflict in the area, O'Rawe got involved in Irish republican politics.^[1] He was later arrested and imprisoned in Crumlin Road gaol and then in Long Kesh prison.^[2]

Role in the hunger strikes[edit]

In Long Kesh prison in 1981, he was Provisional IRA press officer. He claims that terms for ending the 1981 hunger strikes, accepted by the prisoners' leadership in the prison, were rejected by IRA commanders outside. He suggests that the IRA rejected the deal as the Irish republican candidate Owen Carron would have a better chance of winning the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election if the hunger strike was ongoing on polling day.^[3]

Publications[edit]

2005: Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-block Hunger Strike. New Island Books
2011: Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer that Changed Irish History. Lilliput Press.
2017: In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story. Merrion Press.
2018: Northern Heist. Merrion Press^[4]
2023: Stakeknife's Dirty War: The Inside Story of Scappaticci, the IRA's Nutting Squad and the British Spooks Who Ran the War. Merrion Press.

References[edit]

^ "Once upon a time in Northern Ireland". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
^ "From the cradle up". Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
^ "Will IRA ever admit truth over hunger strike?". The Belfast Telegraph. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 24 April 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
^ "Northern Heist". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 4 December 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General

Organisation

Actions

1970–1979	Battle of St Matthew's Falls Curfew 1970 Crossmaglen bombing Scottish soldiers' killings Red Lion bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Abercorn bombing Donegall Street bombing Battle at Springmartin Battle of Lenadoon Bloody Friday Claudy bombing Newry customs bombing Old Bailey bombing Honey Trap killings King's Cross & Euston bombings Coleraine bombings 1973 Westminster bombing M62 bombing Clogher attack Houses of Parliament bombing Tower of London bombing Guildford pub bombings Harrow School bombing Brooks's Club bombing Woolwich pub bombing British Airways bombing attempt Birmingham pub bombings London pillar box bombings Talbot Arms bombing Bristol bombing Telephone exchange bombings 1974 Oxford Street bombing Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings Mountainview attack Bayardo Bar attack Forkhill attack Caterham Arms bombing Tullyvallen massacre London Hilton bombing Piccadilly bombing Trattoria Fiore bombing Scott's Oyster Bar bombing Walton's Restaurant bombing Drummuckavall ambush Balcombe Street siege Kingsmill massacre Cannon Street train bombing West Ham station attack Olympia bombing Store bar shooting Stag Inn attack Garryhinch ambush Jonesborough Gazelle downing La Mon restaurant bombing Crossmaglen ambush Warrenpoint ambush Brussels bombing Dungannon attack
1980–1989	Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle attacks Glasdrumman ambush 1981 Bessbrook attack Chelsea Barracks bombing Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings Harrods bombing Royal Artillery Barracks bombing Brighton hotel bombing Ballygawley land mine attack Newry mortar attack Ballygawley attack Enniskillen mortar attack RUC Birches barracks attack Rheindahlen bombing Loughgall ambush Operation Flavius Corporals killings Lisburn bombing Aughanduff Lynx shootdown 1988 Netherlands attacks Glamorgan barracks bombing Inglis Barracks bombing Ballygawley bus bombing Jonesborough ambush Clive Barracks bombing Deal barracks bombing Mayobridge attack Derryard attack
1990–1991	Derrygorry Gazelle downing South Armagh sniper Downpatrick roadside bomb Operation Conservation Carlton Club bombing 1990 Eltham bombing 1990 Wembley bombing Honourable Artillery Company bombing Lichfield gun attack RFA Fort Victoria bombing Proxy bombings Downing Street mortar attack Paddington & Victoria station bombings Mullacreevie ambush Glenanne barracks bombing Coagh ambush Musgrave Park Hospital bombing Crumlin Road Prison bombing
1992–1997	Teebane bombing Clonoe ambush London Bridge bombing Staples Cnr bombing Baltic Exchange bombing Sussex Arms bombing Cloghoge attack Coalisland riots Forensic Science Laboratory bombing Stoke Newington Road bomb 1992 Manchester bombing Night of the Long Knives 1993 Harrods bombing Warrington bombings Cullaville occupation Camden bombing Bishopsgate bombing Finchley Road bombings Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing 1993 Fivemiletown ambush Heathrow attacks Crossmaglen Lynx downing Drumcree conflict Docklands bombing Aldwych bus bombing 1996 Manchester bombing Hammersmith Bridge bombing Osnabrück mortar attack Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)

Espionage and
Supergrasses

Eamon Collins
Denis Donaldson
Joseph Fenton
Kevin Fulton
Raymond Gilmour
Martin McGartland
Sean O'Callaghan
Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates

Derivatives

Prominent
killings

Authority control databases
International	VIAF
Other	IdRef