3.2.05
An Phoblacht
Death of Billy Herity
An Phoblacht
Death of Billy Herity
The death has occurred in Belfast of 82-year-old Billy Herity, who lived in Dundalk for much of the past 28 years. Billy was a great supporter of the Republican Movement long before the conflict re-erupted in August 1969. In the early 1970s his family were intimidated out of their home in the Springfield area by loyalist paramilitaries and moved to Beechmount.
It was there that Billy - 'the TV man' as he was affectionately called (he was a TV engineer) - opened his doors to the IRA, held a dump for the local unit and became close friends with Paul Fox, Seán Bailey and Dan McCann, all of whom later lost their lives in the struggle. Billy's house was eventually raided and he was arrested, charged and remanded to Crumlin Road Jail. There, he shared a cell with the young Mickey Devine who, in 1981, later became the tenth republican to die on hunger strike.
By then, Billy had made bail, was forced to move south of the border and lived in many towns until he settled in Dundalk. He was friends with Joe and Annie Cahill, who then lived there, and with another elderly, middle-aged Belfast man, Sonny McDermott, who also had to flee Belfast after a raid. Billy always pined for home and justifiably feared the vengefulness of the British, who would have re-arrested him on foot of a live warrant.
However, when he realised last year that he was seriously ill, he returned to the city and was nursed to the end by his good friend Teresa Burt.
Speaking at the funeral on behalf of the Beechmount Commemoration Committee, Danny Morrison praised Billy's contribution to the struggle and for the sacrifice that he had made without once complaining or boasting. He said that had it not been for people like Billy Ferrity, the nationalist people would still be on their knees and would never have found the strength and confidence which they subsequently developed.
Danny also praised those in the hospice who had tended Billy and those who had been as his bedside vigil and were there at the end.
I measc laochra na nGael a raibh a hanam dílis.
The death has occurred in Belfast of 82-year-old Billy Herity, who lived in Dundalk for much of the past 28 years. Billy was a great supporter of the Republican Movement long before the conflict re-erupted in August 1969. In the early 1970s his family were intimidated out of their home in the Springfield area by loyalist paramilitaries and moved to Beechmount.
It was there that Billy - 'the TV man' as he was affectionately called (he was a TV engineer) - opened his doors to the IRA, held a dump for the local unit and became close friends with Paul Fox, Seán Bailey and Dan McCann, all of whom later lost their lives in the struggle. Billy's house was eventually raided and he was arrested, charged and remanded to Crumlin Road Jail. There, he shared a cell with the young Mickey Devine who, in 1981, later became the tenth republican to die on hunger strike.
By then, Billy had made bail, was forced to move south of the border and lived in many towns until he settled in Dundalk. He was friends with Joe and Annie Cahill, who then lived there, and with another elderly, middle-aged Belfast man, Sonny McDermott, who also had to flee Belfast after a raid. Billy always pined for home and justifiably feared the vengefulness of the British, who would have re-arrested him on foot of a live warrant.
However, when he realised last year that he was seriously ill, he returned to the city and was nursed to the end by his good friend Teresa Burt.
Speaking at the funeral on behalf of the Beechmount Commemoration Committee, Danny Morrison praised Billy's contribution to the struggle and for the sacrifice that he had made without once complaining or boasting. He said that had it not been for people like Billy Ferrity, the nationalist people would still be on their knees and would never have found the strength and confidence which they subsequently developed.
Danny also praised those in the hospice who had tended Billy and those who had been as his bedside vigil and were there at the end.
I measc laochra na nGael a raibh a hanam dílis.
Death of Billy Herity
An Phoblacht
Death of Billy Herity
The death has occurred in Belfast of 82-year-old Billy Herity, who lived in Dundalk for much of the past 28 years. Billy was a great supporter of the Republican Movement long before the conflict re-erupted in August 1969. In the early 1970s his family were intimidated out of their home in the Springfield area by loyalist paramilitaries and moved to Beechmount.
It was there that Billy - 'the TV man' as he was affectionately called (he was a TV engineer) - opened his doors to the IRA, held a dump for the local unit and became close friends with Paul Fox, Seán Bailey and Dan McCann, all of whom later lost their lives in the struggle. Billy's house was eventually raided and he was arrested, charged and remanded to Crumlin Road Jail. There, he shared a cell with the young Mickey Devine who, in 1981, later became the tenth republican to die on hunger strike.
By then, Billy had made bail, was forced to move south of the border and lived in many towns until he settled in Dundalk. He was friends with Joe and Annie Cahill, who then lived there, and with another elderly, middle-aged Belfast man, Sonny McDermott, who also had to flee Belfast after a raid. Billy always pined for home and justifiably feared the vengefulness of the British, who would have re-arrested him on foot of a live warrant.
However, when he realised last year that he was seriously ill, he returned to the city and was nursed to the end by his good friend Teresa Burt.
Speaking at the funeral on behalf of the Beechmount Commemoration Committee, Danny Morrison praised Billy's contribution to the struggle and for the sacrifice that he had made without once complaining or boasting. He said that had it not been for people like Billy Ferrity, the nationalist people would still be on their knees and would never have found the strength and confidence which they subsequently developed.
Danny also praised those in the hospice who had tended Billy and those who had been as his bedside vigil and were there at the end.
I measc laochra na nGael a raibh a hanam dílis.
The death has occurred in Belfast of 82-year-old Billy Herity, who lived in Dundalk for much of the past 28 years. Billy was a great supporter of the Republican Movement long before the conflict re-erupted in August 1969. In the early 1970s his family were intimidated out of their home in the Springfield area by loyalist paramilitaries and moved to Beechmount.
It was there that Billy - 'the TV man' as he was affectionately called (he was a TV engineer) - opened his doors to the IRA, held a dump for the local unit and became close friends with Paul Fox, Seán Bailey and Dan McCann, all of whom later lost their lives in the struggle. Billy's house was eventually raided and he was arrested, charged and remanded to Crumlin Road Jail. There, he shared a cell with the young Mickey Devine who, in 1981, later became the tenth republican to die on hunger strike.
By then, Billy had made bail, was forced to move south of the border and lived in many towns until he settled in Dundalk. He was friends with Joe and Annie Cahill, who then lived there, and with another elderly, middle-aged Belfast man, Sonny McDermott, who also had to flee Belfast after a raid. Billy always pined for home and justifiably feared the vengefulness of the British, who would have re-arrested him on foot of a live warrant.
However, when he realised last year that he was seriously ill, he returned to the city and was nursed to the end by his good friend Teresa Burt.
Speaking at the funeral on behalf of the Beechmount Commemoration Committee, Danny Morrison praised Billy's contribution to the struggle and for the sacrifice that he had made without once complaining or boasting. He said that had it not been for people like Billy Ferrity, the nationalist people would still be on their knees and would never have found the strength and confidence which they subsequently developed.
Danny also praised those in the hospice who had tended Billy and those who had been as his bedside vigil and were there at the end.
I measc laochra na nGael a raibh a hanam dílis.
