MacSwiney immediately began a hunger strike in protest against his conviction. Terence James MacSwiney with two friars in October 1920. Officiating republican funerals had been an issue for the Irish Catholic Church since the mid-19th century. Front page of French newspaper Le Petit Journal depicts Terence MacSwiney’s hunger strike in September 1920. His three funerals also became a blueprint for IRA funerals, especially those during the 1981 hunger strike in Long Kesh/Maze Prison.

Source: The Irish Times October 24, 2020 04:52 UTC