Monsignor Denis O'Beirne Faul (August 14, 1932 – June 21, 2006) was an Irish Roman Catholic priest and civil rights campaigner best known for his role in the 1981 Irish Hunger Strike. Monsignor is an ecclesiastical honorific title for clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. ... is the 226th day of the year (227th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... A mural in Derrys Bogside, commemorating Irish hunger strikers. ...

Civil rights movement

Faul was born in County Louth. He became actively involved in the Northern Ireland civil rights movement in 1968, participating in marches. He protested vigorously against civil rights abuses by the British army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). He railed against killings perpetrated by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Statistics Province: Leinster County Town: Dundalk Code: LH Area: 820 km² Population (2006) 110,894 Website: www. ... The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was an organisation which campaigned for civil rights for Northern Irelands Catholic minority during the 1960s and early 1970s. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. ... Provisional Irish Republican Army (Irish name: Óglaigh na hÉireann) (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the Army or the RA) is an Irish Republican, left wing[2] paramilitary organisation that, until the Belfast Agreement, sought to end Northern...

He also campaigned for the release of the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four before their causes became well-known and vindicated.^[1] The Birmingham Six were six men—Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker—sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 in an infamous miscarriage of justice for two pub bombings in Birmingham, England on November 21, 1974 that killed 21 people. ... The Guildford Four were a group of people (Paul Hill, Gerry Conlon, Patrick Paddy Armstrong and Carole Richardson), who were wrongly convicted in the United Kingdom in October 1975 for the Provisional IRAs Guildford pub bombing — which killed five people and injured sixty-five more — and imprisoned for over...

Irish hunger strike

In 1981, as the Catholic chaplain of the Maze prison Monsignor Faul played a decisive role in ending the hunger strike. He tried to persuade families of the Irish hunger strikers in July 1981 that the campaign would not change the minds of Margaret Thatcher and her ministers and nothing could be gained by more deaths. The families spoke to the prisoners, resulting in two prisoners (Paddy Quinn and Pat McKeown) being moved to the hospital wings where they could be fed. By 6 September, four other participants had joined them and the remaining prisoners agreed to end their campaign on 3 October.^[2] The IRA referred to him as Dennis the Menace at this time.^[3] The personnel gate to the main guard office. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ... Patrick Quinn (Irish: Óglach Pádraic Ó Cuinn) (born, 1962, Belleeks, County Armagh, Northern Ireland) was a member (volunteer) with the 1st Battalion, South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army who took part in the 1981 Irish hunger strike. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Life

Born on August 14 1932 in the village of Louth, Co Louth, he was the son of Joseph and Anne Frances Faul. Educated at St Patrick's College, Armagh, he studied for the priesthood at Maynooth and was ordained in 1956. After a year studying Theology in Rome, he joined the staff of St Patrick's Academy for Boys in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, to teach Latin and religion. He was appointed principal in 1983. Following his retirement from the St Patricks Academy, in 1998 he became Parish Priest of neighbouring Termonmaguirc (Carrickmore), were he is laid to rest. Former hunger strikers and prisoners, Republicans and senior members of Sinn Fein attended the large funeral at St. Colmcilles Church, many having come to respect the work carried out by Faul over his lifetime. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 54. ... Carrickmore (Irish: An Charraig Mhór) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. ... Sinn Féin (in the Irish language ourselves or we ourselves; not as sometimes incorrectly translated, ourselves alone) is an Irish political party. ...

Monsignor Faul died of cancer in Dublin on 21 June 2006, aged 73 ^[4] The Spire at night WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: , Statistics Province: Leinster County: Dáil Éireann: Dublin Central, Dublin North Central, Dublin North East, Dublin North West, Dublin South Central, Dublin South East European Parliament: Dublin Dialling Code: 01, +353 1 Postal District(s): D1-24, D6W Area: 114. ... is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

References

1. ^ Irish Examiner "NI: Human rights campaigner Denis Faul dies " 21 June 2006
2. ^ BBC History "The Troubles - Hunger Strikes - Violence and Negotiations"
3. ^ Taylor, Peter (1997). Provos The IRA & Sinn Féin. Bloomsbury Publishing, p. 220. ISBN 0-7475-3818-2. 
4. ^ BBC News Story of Fr Faul's Death.