Peter Barnes (Irish republican)

Peter Barnes (c. 1907 – 7 February 1940) was a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and, along with James Richards (also known as James McCormack), participated in the 1939 Coventry bombing which killed five people on 25 August 1939. Although he and McCormack admitted constructing the bomb, which was intended to be used to destroy a power station, they claimed not to be involved in planting the bomb.[1]

Seán MacBride, a former Chief-of-Staff for the IRA and Irish barrister, attempted to secure their release claiming they were being illegally held without a writ of habeas corpus.[2] However, charged with murder along with McCormack, Brigid O'Hara, Joseph and Mary Hewitt on 12 December, all five pleaded not guilty before the court at Birmingham Assizes.[3] Brigid O'Hara issued statements between 28 August and 4 September to Scotland Yard and Birmingham police denying any knowledge of the bombings,[4] and later provided evidence for the prosecution.[5] Found guilty of murder on 15 December, Barnes and Richards were hanged at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham on 7 February 1940.[6] Their remains were flown to Dublin in 1969.[7]

Their trial and execution resulted in a public outcry in Ireland against Neville Chamberlain and the British Government as Peadar O'Donnell and other prominent Irish writers signed a petition campaigning for leniency towards the condemned men.[8]

Further reading
  • Fairfield, Letitia. Trial of Peter Barnes and others: the I.R.A. Coventry explosion of 1939. William Hodge & Co., Ltd. 1953. ISBN 1-56169-184-4.
  • "Ireland's Latest Martyrs, Peter Barnes and James McCormack 'Richards'". Irish World. 2 March 1940.
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References
  1. Anderson, Brendan (2002). Joe Cahill: A Life in the IRA. O'Brien Press. p. 29. ISBN 0-86278-836-6.
  2. Coogan, Tim Pat. On the Blanket: The Inside Story of the IRA Prisoners' "Dirty" Protest. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. ISBN 0-312-29513-8 (p. 38).
  3. "Five Charged with Murder by Bomb". Irish Press. 12 December 1939.
  4. "Bomb Murder Charge. Belfast Woman's Statement Read". Irish Press. 13 December 1939.
  5. "Accused Man's Story in Bomb Murder Trial". Irish Press. 13 December 1939.
  6. Tarpey, Marie Veronica. The Role of Joseph McGarrity in the Struggle for Irish Independence. New York: St. John's University, 1969. (p. 331).
  7. "Remembering the Past: Re-interment of Barnes and McCormack". An Phoblacht. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
  8. Ó Drisceoil, Donal. "Peadar O'Donnell". Cork: Cork University Press, 2001. ISBN 1-85918-310-7 (p. 107).
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