Sinn Féin to mark 50th anniversary of death of Mayo hunger striker

A commemoration to mark the 50th anniversary of the death of Mayo hunger striker, Frank Stagg will take place in Leigue Cemetery in Ballina next weekend.

Hollymount native Frank Stagg was 34 years of age when he died on February 12, 1976 in Wakefield Prison in England after 62 days without food. The death of the IRA member remains one of the most controversial episodes involving Irish prisoners held in Britain during the 1970s.

To mark the 50th anniversary of his death, a commemoration will take place in Leigue Cemetery, Ballina on Saturday, February 14 at 2pm with Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly, who was himself imprisoned in England during the same period, among the main speakers. This will be followed by a social gathering at 7pm at the Great National Hotel Ballina. 

Frank Stagg was born in 1941, the seventh of 13 children in a large rural family in Hollymount and later emigrated to England in search of work.

While in England, Stagg became politically active and joined Sinn Féin in Luton in 1972 and later the IRA. In April 1973, he was arrested in Coventry and subsequently convicted of conspiring to commit arson and received a ten-year prison sentence.

From the outset of his imprisonment, Stagg insisted on being treated as a political prisoner and refused to carry out prison work. This led to repeated punishment, including long periods in solitary confinement. He was held in several prisons, including Albany on the Isle of Wight and Parkhurst, where conditions were particularly severe.

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In March 1974, Stagg joined a hunger strike alongside fellow Mayo man Michael Gaughan from Ballina and other Irish prisoners, demanding transfer to a prison in Ireland. The protest coincided with a wider hunger strike involving the Price sisters, Hugh Feeney and Gerry Kelly. All were subjected to force-feeding, a practice that was increasingly condemned at the time by human rights organisations.

Frank Stagg endured force-feeding for more than two months while Michael Gaughan died as a result of complications arising from the procedure.

Following his death, negotiations were opened and the hunger strike was ended, but the promises made were not honoured. Instead, Stagg was returned to solitary confinement and held under near-constant lockdown, deprived of normal contact and basic comforts, including uninterrupted sleep.

By December 1975, after repeated broken assurances and deteriorating conditions, Stagg began his fourth hunger strike in two years. His demands were limited - an end to solitary confinement, access to education without compulsory prison labour, and a realistic date for transfer to a prison in Ireland.

As the strike progressed, his health declined rapidly. During this period, Stagg persuaded another prisoner to abandon his own hunger strike for the sake of his family. One week later, after 62 days without food, Frank Stagg died.

In a final message written shortly before his death, he expressed the hope that his sacrifice might contribute to 'peace with justice'.

The controversy surrounding his burial ensured that his story would remain prominent in Irish public life. Stagg had requested to be buried in the Republican Plot in Ballina beside Michael Gaughan. However, the Fine Gael-Labour government intervened, diverting the plane carrying his remains and arranging a burial under heavy security in a separate grave.

Concrete was poured over the coffin to prevent its removal, and most of his family boycotted the funeral in protest. In November 1977, his remains were removed and reinterred beside Gaughan, in accordance with his wishes.