West Belfast & the Spanish Civil War / Corpus Christi Youth Centre

Patrick McAllister [Lower Falls/Ballymurphy]
‘Packy’ as he was known, was a quiet and unassuming man. He rarely spoke of his time in Spain and only in the later years did he begin to share the stories of his exploits. He told the story of how he was smuggled into Spain across the French border and of the effort needed to sneak the soldiers through the Pyrennes. His granddaughter told the group that her grandfather, who was a very thoughtful man, would not tell the bad stories of the war.

William Beattie [Shankill]
William was originally a British Army soldier and was a member of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. He arrived in Spain in December 1936 and served with No1 Company of the XIV International Brigade. He was wounded in Lopera and was eventually killed at Brunete in July 1937.

James Domegan [Leeson Street]
James was killed in action in September 1937. He was a Communist Party member and also had an address in Mornington Cresent, London. He was a member of the British Battalion and was hospitalised after getting injured in the same month as his death.

James Issac Hillen [Shankill]
James was hospitalised on two occasions as a result of injuries in December 1936 and January 1937 and again in July 1937. James was also a member of the Communist Party and was recorded as being a good soldier. He returned to Belfast in August 1937.

William P Loughlin [Conway Street]
William, who was a married man from the Shankill Road, was killed in action on 07/07/1937. He was a member of the union and was a machine gun instructor at Madrigreras. He was British Army trained and served with the Irish Guards for 13 years, but was discharged from promoting communist thinking.

Henry McGrath [West Belfast]
Henry from Tobergill Street was killed on the last day of the war at Sierra Cabals. He also was a trained British Navy personnel and was recruited to the Republican Fleet for some seven months before being moved to the International Brigade in July 1937.

William Falconer [Lower Falls]
William was from the Lower Falls and was a member of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. He was a Socialist who joined up to defend the workers. He was hospitalised in January 1937 before being repatriated on October 1937, possibly due to his age (he was over 40 years old and may have been deemed to old to fight).

Dick O Neill [Falls Road]
Dick was an active Socialist and he too was a member of the Northern Ireland Labour Party. He lived in Colinward Street and died to a stray bullet behind enemy lines at Jamara in 1937. He fought with Frank Ryan in the British Battalion and died in February the same year.

James Stanney [Shankill Road]
Jim was a friend of William O’Hanlon and both men travelled to Spain in September 1937. Jim didn't inform his family that he was going to fight in the war but rather that he was looking for work in England. Jim initially was in the anti-tank battery but was transferred to the infantry in July 1938 and was deemed missing in action in the same month at Cota, Gadensa.

Hugh Pat Dooley [Nail Street, Lower Falls]
Liam arrived in Spain in December 1936. He immediately entered into service with the British Battalion. Apparently he was injured in late 1937 and was returned to Ireland in September 1937.

Rev. Bob Hilliard [Church of Ireland, Derriaghy]
Bob, although originally from Killarney in Co. Kerry, was based as a Church of Ireland cleric in greater West Belfast. He became involved in the War to make a stand against Facism. He died in Barcelona February 1937 during the retreat and was buried with full military honours as a hero.

John Jones [New Barnsley]
Also called Jack, Thomas and Paul (all registered at the same address). Jones was a sergeant in D Company and remained in Spain after the war. He still has family in the community today.

Sean Cunningham [Harrowgate Street]
Sean was a Sergeant Major in the British Army prior to his involvement in the Spanish Civil War. A local republican he had be linked to the defence of Short Strand during the pograms of 1920. In 1922 he became Officer Commanding of the Free State army in Dundalk. In Spain he was a Captain of the Heavy Machinegun Company and was personally thanked by Franco before returning home to settle again on the Falls Road after the war.

Patrick Ward [Grovenor Road]
Patrick was a friend of Sean Cunningham and arrived in Spain in 1936. Although originally from Newry he settled in West Belfast after the war, married and raised a family.