Green Cross appeal to help families of fallen Volunteers

It’s important that republicans remember the families of fallen Volunteers, especially in the run-up to Christmas

THE work of supporting the families of republican activists imprisoned or killed defending their republican beliefs and principles has been carried on down through the decades by very committed people. Today that work is being continued by the Green Cross organisation.

In the aftermath of the Easter Rising and during the Tan War, the Irish Volunteer Dependants’ Fund was founded by Sorcha McMahon, Áine Ceannt and Kathleen Clarke.

Their objective was to raise funds for the families of the 2,500 or so Volunteers jailed or killed in the conflict.

When John R Reynolds, a Volunteer who had escaped from the GPO, signed the first the first cheques on behalf of the Volunteer Dependants’ Fund he was ordered to leave the country by the British military.

From this point on, all fund-raising fell overwhelmingly on female shoulders, a trend that was to continue down through the decades up to the most recent phase of the struggle.

In the aftermath of the pogroms of 1969, when nationalists in the North were faced with the raw sectarianism of the Orange state, a reinvigorated IRA took to the streets.

As a result of the ensuing armed campaign, many thousands of republicans were imprisoned or killed. The hard work of collecting money for the dependants of these republicans became a priority for many people throughout the country and across the globe.

It is impossible to assess how much money was raised and used to alleviate the financial burden of imprisonment that many families faced, mostly working-class nationalist families already starting from a low financial threshold.

In recent years, Pat and Marguerite have become the public faces of the Green Cross, operating out of the Art Shop on Belfast’s Falls Road. And they are quick to remind anyone that the Art Shop is not the Sinn Féin Bookshop – it is a Green Cross shop dedicated to the welfare of prisoners and fallen comrades.

They are also at pains to remind us that the work they do is an ongoing project as they still need funds for the families of fallen Volunteers.

“We still have a duty to the Volunteers’ families,” Marguerite emphasises, “so it’s important that republicans should be reminded of that responsibility, especially in the run-up to Christmas.”

Pat adds an appeal to Irish republicans everywhere “to remember the important work we do and ask them to donate to the Green Cross this year as a way of marking the sacrifice of the families of the men and women who gave their lives for freedom”.

Green Cross: 53 Falls Road, Belfast BT12 4PD. Telephone 02890 243371