It might seem strange to say in the context of a funeral, but last Tuesday in Belfast was a great day to be a republican. It is not often that a world famous freedom fighter is laid to rest, so it was understandably a day of pride for the many thousands who gathered to pay their respects to Joe Cahill. Free article

How do you write about Joe Cahill? What words do justice to a man whose lifetime of struggle mapped the turbulent history of the island where he was born? He has already been described as an icon, a colossus of the struggle, a stalwart of republicanism and as a republican veteran, an epithet with which Joe himself was never completely comfortable. Free article

"It's more than just a funeral. It's akin to burying a Fenian Chieftain. He made things happen that might never have happened." Free article

Danny Morrison this week recalled his memories of good times with Joe and Annie Cahill. This is an extract of that article. Free article

Lifelong republican, committed to struggle, IRA leader, supporter of the Peace Process, Honourary Vice President of Sinn Féin. I have heard Joe Cahill quoted as being all of the above, and he was, but most importantly to me, he was 'Uncle Joe', and I loved him. I found him to be witty, strong, yet gentle, grumpy yet hilarious, and he was loving. Free article

Last August, An Phoblacht's JOANNE CORCORAN interviewed Joe Cahill, lifelong republican and honorary vice-president of Sinn Féin, in his sitting room in Belfast, enjoying the warm hospitality of himself and his wife Annie. Free article

As the Republican Movement was being reorganised after the split in 1969, one of the first actions of the leadership was to entrust Joe Cahill with the task of mobilising Irish republicans in the United States. Free article