Richard O'Rawe

Richard O’Rawe (born 1956) is a former Irish republican activist and author of several books about The Troubles.

Background

Richard O'Rawe was born in 1956 and spent the first fourteen years of his life in the Lower Falls district of Belfast. His home was at the corner of Peel Street and Mary Street. Nearby lived Gerry Conlon. In 1970, his home in Peel Street was demolished as part of the redevelopment of the area and he and his family moved to Ballymurphy, a new housing estate. At this time, The Troubles was developing. In 1971, the Ballymurphy massacre occurred in which eleven civilians were killed by the British Army. The following year, there was the Battle at Springmartin nearby. As a result of the heightened conflict in the area, O'Rawe got involved in Irish republican politics. He was later arrested and imprisoned in Crumlin Road gaol and then in Long Kesh prison.

Role in the hunger strikes

In Long Kesh prison in 1981, he was Provisional IRA press officer. He claims that terms for ending the 1981 hunger strikes, accepted by the prisoners' leadership in the prison, were rejected by IRA commanders outside. He suggests that the IRA rejected the deal as the Irish republican candidate Owen Carron would have a better chance of winning the Fermanagh and South Tyrone by-election if the hunger strike was ongoing on polling day.

Publications

• 2005: Blanketmen: An Untold Story of the H-block Hunger Strike. New Island Books
• 2011: Afterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer that Changed Irish History. Lilliput Press.
• 2017: In the Name of the Son: The Gerry Conlon Story. Merrion Press.
• 2018: Northern Heist. Merrion Press
• 2023: Stakeknife's Dirty War: The Inside Story of Scappaticci, the IRA's Nutting Squad and the British Spooks Who Ran the War. Merrion Press.