James (Seamus) Burke

Cabra, Dublin

THE death of our great friend, Seamus Burke (86) earlier this year is still felt by his friends and comrades in Cabra, Dublin and across Ireland, writes Nicky Kehoe.
A quiet shy man with a great sense of humor, Seamus had a great love of all things Irish and was fierce in his belief that all of Ireland should be free of British occupation.
He came into our lives in the year 2001 when I was running in the 2002 Leinster House general election. He joined the Carroll /Ashe Sinn Féin Cumann and work tirelessly for Sinn Féin over the succeeding ten-year period. The joke among republicans in Cabra was that when Seamus started campaigning in 2001, he was five-foot-six; by Mary Lou McDonald’s campaign in 2007, he was five foot two with all the leafleting he’d done.
Seamus was very proud of his father, Mícheál, who was from Buree in County Limerick and who had won two senior hurling league medals in Dublin in 1913, 14 with a club called Rapparees.
Born in the historical area of Dublin’s Arbour Hill in 1924, where the 1916 leaders are buried, it was only fitting that his funeral took place in the Garrison Church where they were laid to rest. It is testimony to his nature that a big turn-out of local people, republicans and members of Naomh Fionnbarra GAA Club attended his funeral.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.