Death of prominent Irish language activist Tomás Ó Monacháin

The death has taken place of prominent Irish language activist Tomás Ó Monacháin.

Born in Co Down in 1927, Mr Ó Monacháin moved to Belfast with his family in 1932. He was schooled in Co Antrim during the second World War when 350 schoolchildren were evacuated from Belfast as a result of German air raids over the city.

His uncle, the artist Ailbhe Ó Monacháin, helped organise the 1916 Easter Rising in Galway. Another uncle of his, Cathal Ó Monacháin, was drowned along with two other volunteers, Con Keating and Daniel Sheehan, in Co Kerry on Good Friday 1916 as they were en route to meet and assist Roger Casement in his ill-fated gunrunning attempt.

After completing secondary school, Mr Ó Monacháin studied architecture and spent a period working in Dublin before returning to Belfast, where he practised his trade with various companies until he got a job as a project architect with the Northern Ireland Housing Trust.

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He married Belfast woman Brighid Nic a’ tSionnaigh in 1963.

Prominent in Irish language circles from an early age he was secretary of the non-political Irish language group Cumann Chluain Ard in Belfast’s Lower Falls.

He taught Irish to hundreds of learners who travelled to Cumann Chluain Árd from across Belfast. He helped organise cultural activities including dance and singing classes while many outings were organised to Rann na Feirste, Gaoth Dobhair, Cloich Chionnaola and Ros Goill in the Donegal Gaeltacht.

In 1969, when loyalist mobs burned Bombay St in the Lower Falls, the Irish language community from Cluain Árd helped to rebuild the street.

Tomás was able to call upon his skills as an architect to assist in the efforts.

He had a long-standing interest in language rights and in 1966, he participated in a hunger strike organised by the activist group Misneach in Belfast and in Dublin to highlight government failures regarding the Irish language and the lack of official support for Gaeltacht areas.

In 1969, along with several other Irish speaking families, Tomás helped plan and fund an Irish language housing scheme in Belfast. Soon after the families moved into their new homes, Bunscoil Feirste became the first Irish-medium school to be built in Northern Ireland.

Tomás and his family moved to Gaoth Dobhair in 1973. In 1976, while awaiting planning permission to build a house, Mr Ó Monacháin parked a caravan on a closed road with the permission of the landowner. Another individual complained and the case went to court in January 1976.

Mr Ó Monacháin insisted that his case should be heard in Irish.

His request was denied and he was fined. Three months later he was back before the court and refused to accept the jurisdiction of the court.

He was fined again and refused to pay the fine. He was subsequently imprisoned in Mountjoy Prison. He was released after four days and his case was heard by the High Court in 1979. Mr Ó Monacháin insisted that the State failed in its duty to appoint an Irish-speaking judge in the Gaeltacht.

In the autumn of 1982, the High Court refused Mr Ó Monacháin’s claim. The case was thrown out and he was left to pay the costs.

It is considered to be a landmark case in the history of legal language rights in Ireland.

He is survived by his wife and six children.