Patrick and Dolores McVeigh papers on Northern Ireland political prisoners
Dates
- Creation: 1973 - 1986
- Creation: Majority of material found within 1980 - 1981
Scope and Contents
Contains materials belonging to Americans Patrick and Dolores McVeigh, documenting their involvement with the movement for political prisoners' rights in Northern Ireland. The papers include letters and gifts from prisoners in the Long Kesh Detention Center, as well as a smaller amount from Portlaoise Prison in the Republic of Ireland, many in thanks for the McVeigh's hosting of their children for summer visits through Project Children. Letters also detail life in prison, and many are written on toilet paper or ciagrette papers. Also included are newspaper clippings, political ephemera, and photographs regarding the 1981 Long Kesh Hunger strikes and the Republican movement in Ireland.
Three of the seven prisoner letters are from Joe McDonnell, after his daughter Bernadette's first visit to New York. Her second visit is documented through newspaper clippings, original photographs, and her sketchbook. Gifts from other prisoners include an autograph book, leather wallets, rubber bullets, and wooden sculptures.
Creator
- McDonnell, Bernadette (Person)
- McDonnell, Joseph, 1951-1981 (Person)
- McDonnell, Goretti (Person)
Language of Materials
In English and Irish.
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open for research.
The sculptures should be handled with extra care, as some joints are loose.
Conditions Governing Use
These materials are made available for use in research, teaching and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source. The original authors may retain copyright to the materials.
Biographical Note: McVeigh family
Patrick A. McVeigh (born 1935) and Kathleen Dolores McVeigh (born 1940), who went by Dolores, had one daughter, Catherine (born about 1973). From the 1970s to the 1990s the McVeighs hosted close to a hundred children from Northern Ireland, many of them children of political prisoners in the Long Kesh Detention Center, in their Floral Park, New York home in the summers through Project Children. In 1980 and 1981 the McVeighs hosted Bernadette McDonnell, daughter of Joe McDonnell, a political prisoner at Long Kesh who died in 1981 while participating in the hunger strikes there. Bernadette was the focus of American and British press attention on her second visit, after Catherine McVeigh wrote a letter to American President Ronald Reagan regarding the hunger strikes and Bernadette appeared on ABC television's Good Morning America.
Sources:
Ancestry.com. U.S., Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
McVeigh, Dolores. "Northern Ireland." Letter to the editor, New York Times, 1991 August 4.
McVeigh, Patrick. Donor correspondence, 2019 November 11, on file at John J. Burns Library, Boston College.
McVeigh, Patrick. Letter to the editor. Time 1984 November 19.
Extent
11 Linear Feet (9 containers)
Abstract
These papers document the involvement of Americans Patrick and Dolores McVeigh with the movement for rights for political prisoners in Northern Ireland, especially the McVeighs' role in hosting the children of prisoners in New York for the summer in the 1980s. Materials include letters and gifts from prisoners, as well as clippings, ephemera, and photographs related to the 1981 hunger strikes at Long Kesh Detention Center and groups working to advocate for the political prisoners.
Arrangement
Organized in three series: I. Gifts from prisoners; II. Northern Ireland political activism ephemera; and III. Papers.
Provenance
Gift of Patrick and Dolores McVeigh in 2019.
Source
- McVeigh, Patrick (Person)
- McVeigh, Dolores (Kathleen Dolores) (Person)
- Title
- Patrick and Dolores McVeigh papers on Northern Ireland political prisoners
- Subtitle
- 1973-1986 (bulk 1980-1981)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Lynn Moulton
- Date
- 2023
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the John J. Burns Library Repository
John J. Burns Library
Boston College
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill MA 02467 United States
617-552-4861
library.bc.edu/burns/contact