Terry ‘Cruncher’ O’Neill: “a stalwart in the struggle for Irish freedom”

It was with profound sadness that I heard on Easter Sunday of the death of my friend and comrade Terry ‘Cruncher’ O’Neill. 

Terry was a former political prisoner, an Óglach, a musician, an actor and a community and political activist. 

As his remains were being taken from the house on a bright Friday morning, his distinctive voice singing – ‘Something Inside So Strong’ – sounded out across the quiet of the cul-de-sac. It is a song he was particularly associated with.

Cruncher was an incomparable singer of Irish songs of resistance. Type his name into google and you will discover videos and audio recordings of Cruncher singing.

My memory is full of occasions when he enthralled an audience. There is a great Frankie Quinn photo of himself, Joe Cahill, me and Gerry Kelly singing ‘Something Inside So Strong’ at the tops of our voices outside the old Sevastopol Street office. Cleaky is in the foreground looking after us.

Cruncher, who was named Terry after his father, was originally from the Lower Falls area but his family moved to the New Lodge, in the North of the City when he was five. Despite living there almost all of his life he often joked that to the people of North Belfast he was still a wee Westie. But he loved the New Lodge people and they loved him. 

His father could play guitar, and music was an integral part of his family growing up.

The family was also strongly republican and he remembered watching the local IRA out defending his area in 1969/70 and later. At the age of ten he started to learn guitar and he never looked back. He tortured anyone who could play guitar to teach him more. He also enjoyed acting and participated in plays by Doublejoint Theatre Group.

• ACTOR: In Doublejoint Theatre Group production of Brian Moore’s, ‘Paddy on the Road’ exploring the times and music of the Christy Moore

Terry was a committed Irish Republican. Like so many of his generation Cruncher joined the ranks of the Irish Republican Army to defend his community during the darkest days of the conflict.

As Pat Sheehan MLA and former hunger striker said in his oration Cruncher’s “commitment to the Republican struggle was unwavering. He was dedicated and respected by his comrades. He was a stalwart in the struggle for Irish freedom.”

Pat also remembered Terry as “someone who believed strongly that young people needed opportunities and a voice – especially in communities facing social and political change. In areas like the New Lodge, where many young people could feel disconnected, he saw engagement as essential.”

• Ulster Hall, 2003

Cruncher was a hard-working activist. He was a huge part of the growth of Sinn Féin in North Belfast following the Good Friday Agreement. Above all Cruncher was a United Irelander. He knew it will not just happen that we have to make it happen. 

Terry was also a devoted family man. I want to extend my condolences to his wife Doreen and his children Paula, Aoife, Orfhlaith and Brendan, and to his brothers Paul, Jim and Liam and to the wider family circle.

His death is a huge loss to his family and also to his wider republican family. Tá sé at slí an fhirinne anios.

• ELECTION: Cruncher, Gerry Kelly and Paddy McManus, 1997