John Kelly (Sinn Féin politician)
| John Kelly | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Mid Ulster |
|
|
In office 25 June 1998 – 26 November 2003 |
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| Preceded by | New Creation |
| Succeeded by | Geraldine Dougan |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
John Kelly 5 April 1936 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 6 September 2007 (aged 71) Maghera, County Londonderry |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Political party | Sinn Féin |
| Spouse(s) | Philomena Kelly |
| Children | Bronagh Kelly |
John Kelly (5 April 1936 – 6 September 2007) was an Irish republican politician in Northern Ireland. He joined the Irish Republican Army in the 1950s, and was a founder member and a leader of the Provisional Irish Republican Army in the early 1970s.
John Kelly was born in Belfast, County Antrim, in 1936. Later in life he moved to Maghera, County Londonderry, where he lived until his death in 2007. He and his wife had a daughter. He was a dedicated member of local Gaelic Athletic Association club Watty Graham's Glen and a keen supporter of Gaelic games and the Irish language.
Kelly joined the IRA in the early 1950s when he was 18 and took part in the Border Campaign of 1956–62, but was arrested in December 1956 and was imprisoned until 1963. He was a member of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association in 1967–69 which led on to sectarian riots in Belfast. A leader of the newly formed Provisional IRA in 1969, he was involved in the formation of "citizens' defence groups" to protect nationalist areas of Belfast from loyalist rioters who were largely unhampered by the police.
He was jailed on three occasions for IRA related activity spending a total of fifteen years in prison in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. His first term was for his activity in the 1956 IRA border campaign, He also served a six-month term in 1973 in the Republic of Ireland for being a member of the IRA.
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