National Graves Association, Belfast

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The National Graves Association, Belfast is a private Irish republican group that looks after the graves of some Irish Republican Army volunteers buried in Belfast. It is separate from the National Graves Association in Dublin. The Belfast branch began in the mid-1930s and has sometimes been quieter when Republicans were imprisoned or interned.

Its main goal is to restore and maintain graves of people who died for Irish freedom, keep records of these graves, and help people show respect for the national dead. Since it started, the association has cared for Belfast graves, rebuilt and restored monuments, and marked many graves. It also supported the re-interment of Tom Williams.

In 1972, the association rebuilt what is known as the New Republican Plot, which contains the remains of 77 Republicans who died in active service or while in prison. It also maintains the County Antrim Plot with 34 IRA volunteers and the Harbinson plot with five volunteers, along with other Republican graves dating back to the 1920s. Many of these graves are marked with the Red Hand of Ulster.

Many Belfast Republicans are buried in family graves and are not under the association’s care. However, the association directs local committees to look after some family graves that may have fallen into disrepair.

The group has an eleven-member committee with members from across the city. The current chairman is Joe Austin, and other members include several long-time supporters and newer appointees.

Most of the work is done in Milltown Cemetery, where the association cares for the three main Republican plots and for IRA volunteers who died in the 1920s and during the Northern Campaign in the 1940s. The graves in Milltown are traditionally marked with the Red Hand of Ulster.

Notable graves under the association’s care include William Harbinson (died 1846) and the five IRA volunteers buried with him. The New Republican Plot includes well-known figures such as James McDade, Bobby Sands, Joe McDonnel, Kieran Doherty, Sean McIlvenna, Mairéad Farrell, Dan McCann, Sean Savage, Pearse Jordan, Thomas Begley, and Pat McGeown. The association alsoMaintains graves such as Seán McCaughey and Winifred Carney.