Pat Harte

Pat Harte

Pat Harte was laid to rest on the sunny, warm day of 6 June 2006. His funeral was attended by an 80-strong guard of honour and the whole local community came out to pay their respects. The graveside oration was given by Sinn Féin Councillor Patrick McDonald.

Pat was born in 1931, into a family of nine. The ‘30s were hard times for all with an economic depression and the Tan War and Civil War not long ended. Both Pat’s parents died within a year of each other, leaving Pat, aged 12, and the rest of the family parentless and homeless.

Pat had five sisters – Mary-Anne, Kathleen, Bridie, Philomena and Margaret and, and three brothers – Tommy, Neill and Peter. Margaret and Philomena have since passed away. These nine children were dispersed to various foster homes. Pat ended up in a home in Newry, which he ran away from many times. It was at this time that his affinity with the Bell family and Bells’ Castle began. He started to live and work there and in his own words, they treated him like one of their own. This continued in later years with the Savage family, whom he also spoke of with great praise. It was from this difficult background that Pat Harte’s personality and character were shaped.

He was always on hand to do a good deed, help the less privileged and he made friends wherever he went. He always left an impression as cheerful, witty and a pleasure to be with. Pat was renowned for his reliability. If he took a task on, he would stick to it. In 1954, Pat and Tommy Thornton went to work in England.

It was no surprise that in the late 1960s when Pat seen the injustice that was inflicted upon the nationalist people of the Six Counties, he came forward to play his part to achieve a more just and equal society. He was always there on hand to do whatever he had to. Many times he found himself in some very risky situations, as Pat and his car were one of the few means of transportation in the area at the time.

Pat’s friendly manner and broad smile often took him through British army checkpoints, when it was vital not to raise suspicions. His kindness and generosity also shone through and his concern for those on the run or in prison was well known. He would continually arrive, with whatever food and clothes he could gather up to those living away from home, to make their situation more bearable.

He was a regular visitor to the jails and in particular did all he could for Liam Townson, during the many years that Liam spent in prison. It has to be said that when Pat needed Liam’s help, Liam gave us an example of how we should look after our friends and comrades in their time of need.

Pat was responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the Edentubber memorial and for many years he looked after it single-handedly. The condition he kept it in was a credit to him. He was  a regular sight at all commemorations with his friend, the piper Donal Duffy. At the Edentubber commemoration, in 2004 he and Donald were presented with a beautiful plaque in recognition of their contribution to the struggle. I remember him travelling around his friends’ homes, showing them his award and you could see that it was indeed the proudest moment in his life, and no one deserved it more.

It has been a long 35 years since Pat first became involved in the republican struggle and Pat stayed with us until his life’s journey came to an end. While visiting him in hospital, he loved to talk about the many escapades he had during those years.

In one of our last conversations he stated to me that looking back, he had no regrets and given the chance, he would do it all again. Surely this is what we would like to say, as we look back on or lives and our contribution to the struggle for Irish freedom.

On behalf of the Republican Movement, we offer our deepest sympathy to Betty, Bridget, Eamon and Eamon óg, to his brothers and sisters and all his family circle.

BY PATRICK McDONALD