View source for Kieran Doherty (hunger striker)

{{short description|Irish republican hunger striker and politician (1955-1981)}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=April 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Kieran Doherty
| image               = Kieran_Doherty_H-Block.png
| office              = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start          = [[1981 Irish general election|June 1981]]
| term_end            = 2 August 1981
| constituency        = [[Cavan–Monaghan (Dáil constituency)|Cavan–Monaghan]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1955|10|16|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Andersonstown]], [[Belfast]], Northern Ireland
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1981|8|2|1955|10|16|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[HM Prison Maze]], [[County Down]], Northern Ireland
| death_cause         = Died after 73 days on [[1981 Hunger Strike|hunger strike]]
| nationality         = 
| party               = [[Anti H-Block]]
| blank1              = 
| data1               = |
| branch              = [[Fianna Éireann]] <small>(1971–1972)</small><br>
[[Provisional Irish Republican Army|Provisional IRA]] <small>(1972–1981)</small>
| branch_label        = Paramilitary
| rank                = [[Volunteer (Irish republican)|Volunteer]]
| unit                = [[Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade|Belfast Brigade]]
| resting_place       = [[Milltown Cemetery]]
| battles             = [[The Troubles]]
}}

'''Kieran Doherty''' (16 October 1955 – 2 August 1981) was an [[Irish republican]] [[hunger strike]]r and politician who served as a [[Teachta Dála]] (TD) for the [[Cavan–Monaghan (Dáil constituency)|Cavan–Monaghan]] constituency from June 1981 to August 1981. He was a [[Volunteer (Irish republican)|volunteer]] in the [[Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade|Belfast Brigade]] of the [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA).

==Background==
Doherty was the third son in a family of six.<ref name="IHS">{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160627215753/http://www.irishhungerstrike.com/kierandoherty.html |url=https://irishhungerstrike.com/kierandoherty.html |title=Kieran Doherty Biography |work=IrishHungerStrike.com |access-date=2 August 2021 |archive-date=27 June 2016}}</ref> He was born in the [[Andersonstown]] area of [[Belfast]]. He was educated at St. Theresa's Primary School and Glen Road Christian Brothers School (CBS). The Doherty brothers were known cyclists and sportsmen in the Andersontown area; Kieran won an [[Antrim GAA|Antrim]] [[Gaelic football]] medal at minor level in 1971.<ref name="Tírghrá">{{cite book |title=Tírghrá |publisher=National Commemoration Centre |year=2002 |isbn=0-9542946-0-2 |page=242}}</ref>

Doherty joined [[Fianna Éireann]] in Autumn 1971, quickly being recruited into the Provisional IRA thereafter.<ref name="IHS" /><ref name=":0" /> On 6 October 1972, his home was raided by the British Army and he was detained. He was later released after it was proven he was under 17 and couldn't be [[Internment|interned]]. The Army returned again ten days later, when he turned 17, but Doherty had been warned and fled across the border to stay with an uncle in [[Limerick]]. He eventually returned to Belfast in early 1973.<ref name=":0" />

He was interned by the [[British Government]] between February 1973 and November 1975.<ref name="IHS" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Kieran Doherty {{!}} Bobby Sands Trust |url=https://www.bobbysandstrust.com/hungerstrikers/kieran-doherty/ |access-date=11 July 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref> Kieran's brothers Michael and Terence were interned between 1972 and 1974.<ref name="IHS" />

Doherty worked as an apprentice heating engineer.<ref name=oireachtas_db/> His girlfriend was Geraldine Scheiss; although they never became formally engaged, they became very close towards the end of his life. Before his arrest, she had not known that he was in the IRA.<ref>Beresford, David. ''Ten Men Dead''.</ref>

==Paramilitary activity==
In August 1976, while he was out to set a bomb, the van he was in was chased by the [[Royal Ulster Constabulary]] (RUC). During the chase Doherty managed to leave the van and hijack a car. He later ditched the car some streets away and was found {{convert|1|mi|km}} away from the car.<ref name="IHS"/> He was convicted and sentenced to 18 years for possession of firearms and explosives, with another four years for the hijack.<ref name="IHS"/>

==Hunger strike==
[[File:Remember the Hunger Strikers Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin.JPG|thumb|Hunger Strikers Memorial Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin]]
Doherty began his strike on 22 May. He died at the age of 25 in the [[1981 Irish hunger strike]] in the [[HM Prison Maze|Maze Prison]] (known to republicans as ''[[RAF Long Kesh#Long Kesh Detention Centre|Long Kesh]]''). He lasted 73 days on hunger strike, the longest of the 1981 hunger strikers, and only one day short of [[Terence MacSwiney]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/27895 |title=Remembering the Past – Kevin Lynch and Kieran Doherty laid to rest |work=AnPhoblacht.com |date=31 July 2020 |access-date=2 August 2021}}</ref>

==Election to Dáil Éireann==
While on hunger strike he was elected as an [[Anti H-Block]] [[Teachta Dála|TD]] for the [[Cavan–Monaghan (Dáil constituency)|Cavan–Monaghan]] constituency at the [[1981 Irish general election|1981 general election]], which was held in [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] on 11 June.<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Kieran-Doherty.D.1981-06-30/|title=Kieran Doherty|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=4 February 2013}}</ref> He received 9,121 (15.1%) first preference votes and was elected on the fourth count.<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web|url=http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=3268|title=Kieran Doherty|work=ElectionsIreland.org|access-date=3 February 2013}}</ref> Doherty is the shortest-serving Dáil deputy ever, having served as a TD for two months. The two seats gained by Anti H-Block candidates denied [[Taoiseach]] [[Charles Haughey]] the chance to form a government,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/doherty-kieran-a2659 |title=Doherty, Kieran |last=Maume |first=Patrick |date=October 2009 |work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] |access-date= 30 November 2023 |quote=}}</ref> and the [[22nd Dáil]] saw a [[Fine Gael]]-[[Labour Party (Ireland)|Labour Party]] coalition government come to office, with [[Garret FitzGerald]] as Taoiseach.

==Legacy==
[[File:Kieran Doherty.jpg|thumb|right|Kieran Doherty memorial in [[Milltown Cemetery]]]]
He is commemorated on the Irish Martyrs Memorial at [[Waverley Cemetery]] in [[Sydney]], Australia.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--not stated--> |date=3 August 2021|title=40th anniversary of hunger striker Doherty TD marked |url=https://www.anglocelt.ie/2021/08/03/40th-anniversary-of-hunger-striker-doherty-td-marked/|work=[[The Anglo-Celt]] |location=[[Cavan]] |access-date=23 November 2023}}</ref> Decades earlier, another hunger striker, [[Joseph Whitty]] (aged 19), likewise died on 2 August, during the [[1923 Irish Hunger Strikes]]. In October 2016, a painting of him was unveiled in [[Leinster House]] by [[Sinn Féin]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.anphoblacht.com/contents/26466 |title=Mural to Hunger Strike TD Kieran Doherty unveiled in Dáil |work=AnPhoblacht.com |date=29 October 2016 |access-date=2 August 2021}}</ref>

He is buried in the republican plot at [[Milltown Cemetery]] in West Belfast.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 February 2007 |title=Republican graves vandalised at Belfast's Milltown Cemetery |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republican-graves-vandalised-at-belfasts-milltown-cemetery/28420442.html |access-date=11 July 2024 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of members of the Oireachtas imprisoned since 1923]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Cavan-Monaghan (Dáil constituency)/TDs}}
{{1981 Hunger Strike}}
{{PIRA}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Kieran}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:1981 deaths]]
[[Category:Anti H-Block TDs]]
[[Category:Irish republicans]]
[[Category:Irish republicans interned without trial]]
[[Category:Members of the 22nd Dáil]]
[[Category:People who died on the 1981 Irish hunger strike]]
[[Category:Politicians from Belfast]]
[[Category:Provisional Irish Republican Army members]]