Frank Stagg

Frank Stagg (; 4 October 1941 – 12 February 1976) was an Irish militant and Republican activist. He was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) hunger striker from County Mayo, Ireland who died in 1976 in Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, England after 62 days on hunger strike. Stagg was one of 22 Irish republicans to die on hunger strike in the twentieth century.

Background Frank Stagg was the seventh child in a family of thirteen children. He was born in Hollymount, County Mayo, in 1941. His father, Henry, and his uncle had both fought in the Irish War of Independence and Irish Civil War. His brother, Emmet Stagg became a Labour Party politician and a Teachta Dála (TD) for Kildare North. Stagg was educated to primary level at Newbrook Primary School and at CBS Ballinrobe to secondary level. After finishing his schooling, he worked as an assistant gamekeeper with his uncle before emigrating to England in search of work. Once in England, he gained employment as a bus conductor in North London and later became a bus driver. Whilst in England he met and married fellow Mayo native, Bridie Armstrong from Carnacon in 1970.

Stagg was initially sent to the top security Albany Prison on the Isle of Wight. In March 1974, having been moved to Parkhurst Prison, he and fellow Mayo man Michael Gaughan joined a hunger strike begun by the sisters Marion Price and Dolours Price, Hugh Feeney and Gerry Kelly.

Hunger strike In 1975 he was transferred to Wakefield Prison, where it was demanded that he again do prison work. He refused and was placed in solitary confinement. On 14 December 1975, Stagg embarked on a hunger strike in Wakefield, along with a number of other republican prisoners, after again being refused repatriation to Ireland during the IRA/British truce. An end to solitary confinement No prison work Repatriation to prison in Ireland

The British government refused to meet any of these demands. Stagg died on 12 February 1976 after 62 days on hunger strike. The IRA swore revenge over his death, warning the British public it was going to attack indiscriminately.

The three funerals of Frank Stagg Frank Stagg's burial caused considerable controversy in Ireland. Republicans, his mother and two of his brothers sought to have Stagg buried in the republican plot in Ballina beside the grave of Michael Gaughan, in accordance with his wishes which he had added to his will in prison during his hunger strike. His widow, his brother Emmet Stagg and the Irish government wished to have him buried in the family plot in the same cemetery and to avoid republican involvement in the funeral.

His body was taken to the parish church in Hollymount by helicopter and buried near the family plot. This first burial was attended by thousands of Republicans while 1,600 members of the Irish Defence Forces and the Garda Síochána were deployed by the government to keep order at the funeral. Despite their presence, members of the Provisional IRA attended this first burial, firing volleys of shot over his coffin, in the style of a military funeral.

Following the first burial, a requiem mass was held in Mayo for Stagg by Republicans. Once again a mass deployment of Gardai was ordered, and once again large numbers of Republicans and Provisional IRA members attended. Joe Cahill, who had formerly been a Chief of Staff of the IRA, attended the ceremony and vowed during it that at some point in the future there would be another funeral for Stagg, with his body being laid to rest beside that of Gaughan's.

Following the final burial, an anonymous letter was sent to the Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave, the Minister for Justice Patrick Cooney, the Minister for Post and Telegraphs Conor Cruise O'Brien and Minister for Foreign Affairs Garret FitzGerald, informing them each that they had been "marked out for assassination" because of their government's involvement with Stagg's burial(s). Stagg's widow Bridie and his brother Emmet were reported to have been intimidated by members of the Provisional IRA due to their opposition to his burial in a Republican plot.