Raymond McCreesh
| Raymond McCreesh | |
|---|---|
| Born |
25 February 1957 Camlough, County Armagh |
| Died | 21 May 1981 (aged 24) |
| Cause of death | Hunger strike |
| Organization | Provisional IRA |
| Known for | Hunger strike of 61 days, from 22 March 1981 |
| Children | 1 |
Raymond McCreesh (Irish: Réamonn Mac Raois, 25 February 1957 – 21 May 1981) was a volunteer in the South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). In 1976 he and two other IRA volunteers were captured while attempting to ambush a British Army observation post. McCreesh was one of ten Irish republicans who died on hunger strike in the Maze Prison.
Raymond Peter McCreesh, the seventh in a family of eight children, was born in St Malachy's Park, Camlough, on 25 February 1957. He was born into a strong Irish republican family, and was active in the republican movement from the age of 16. McCreesh attended the local primary school in Camlough, St Malachy's, and later attended St Colman's College in Newry. Raymond first joined Fianna Éireann, the IRA's youth wing, in 1973, and later that year he progressed to join the Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade. McCreesh had worked for a short time as steelworker in a predominately Protestant factory in Lisburn. However, as sectarian threats and violence escalated, he switched professions to work as a milk roundsman in his local area of South Armagh: an occupation which greatly increased his knowledge of the surrounding countryside, as well as enabling him to observe the movements of British Army patrols in the area.
On 25 June 1976, McCreesh (aged 19) and three other IRA volunteers attempted to ambush a British Army observation post (OP) in South Armagh. It lay opposite the Mountain House Inn, on the Newry–Newtonhamilton Road. As the armed, masked and uniformed IRA volunteers approached the OP, they were spotted by British paratroopers on a hillside. The paratroopers opened fire on the volunteers, who scattered. Two of them, McCreesh and Paddy Quinn, took cover in a nearby farmhouse. The paratroopers surrounded the house and fired a number of shots into the building. After some time, McCreesh and Quinn surrendered and were taken to Bessbrook British Army base. The third volunteer, Danny McGuinness, had taken cover in a disused quarry outhouse but was captured the next day. The fourth member of the unit managed to escape despite being shot in the leg, arm and chest. Local Catholic priests facilitated their surrender.
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