In 1920, a crowd of 12,000 people attended the funeral of Father Michael Griffin after he was brutally murdered by the Black and Tans in County Galway. His body was dumped in an unmarked grave in a bog, with the Black and Tans disposing of him in such a cruel and brutal manner not atypical of the time. Only weeks earlier, they had carried out a murder on a pregnant woman in the same county. Such was the fear of the Black and Tans, that the locals had to leave Father Griffin there for a number of days until they could reclaim the body in a disguised horse and cart afterwards.
The outrageous violence that brought Father Griffin to a premature end has echoes of two other acts of wickedness that hit the headlines once again this week.
The first was the murder of Father Hugh Mullan in 1971 during the Ballymurphy Massacre. An inquest this past week finally made an official statement that cleared those killed of any wrong doing, something that the families of the victims had to wait 50 years for. Father Hugh was trying to minister to a 19 year old who had been shot when British soldiers took aim and shot him dead, even as he waved a white flag to signal that he wished only to help the young man.
His brother Patsy said this week, ‘It made me very angry that he had died and nobody seemed to care that this young priest’s life had been taken away from him’.
He received the call early in the morning and said, ‘I said how am I going to tell my mother? I couldn’t tell her’.
‘So I phoned the doctor and said will you come down because my brother has been shot…I find this difficult to talk about’.
‘My brother was a man whose life was dedicated to helping the community in which he served. I am sorry that my parents and sister are not alive to hear this result today, that their son and our brother was killed by the British army and then they lied about it to cover up their injustice’.
"After 50 years, the truth we we always knew was finally being told. Moving on from today’s findings, I know my brother will wish for continued peace and prosperity in Ballymurphy and Northern Ireland."
A year later, Father Noel Fitzpatrick was shot dead in Belfast also, waving a white flag in the same fashion that Father Hugh Mullan had done when he was shot.
There are constant bombardments regarding the supposedly entirely negative impact of the Irish clergy upon their land, yet these portrayals are simply not accurate. The Irish clergy were overwhelmingly good natured, sacrificial and some were even martyrs. In fact, even in recent memory there are a remarkable number of Irish martyrs including Father Anthony Collier who was assassinated by North Korean Communists and Sister Clare Crockett from Derry, who died while assisting children in escaping an earthquake in South America only 5 years ago. These figures are what religious are meant to be, other Christs, Our Lord amongst us, beacons amongst the Mystical Body of Christ, sacrificial victims.
Please pray for all of those who died in the Ballymurphy and Springhill Massacres, please pray especially for the priests who died and also for Father Michael Griffin.
Below is a prayer written by Father Paddy McCafferty who now works in the same parish that Father Mullan and Father Fitzpatrick did. It is a reminder that we are not called to be successful or rich or powerful, just to love and justice. Even if no inquest had ever found Father Mullan innocent of wrong doing, God would’ve rewarded him for his sacrifice.
Father,
You look with compassion on all your people; Your Son has united us inseparably, in the Holy Spirit, with your infinite love and mercy.
Nothing can separate us from your love, neither terror nor violence; nor even death itself.
Inspired by the courageous fidelity of your priests, Fr Hugh Mullan and Fr Noel Fitzpatrick, who, in the midst of great danger, gave their lives as they ministered to the injured and dying, may we, strengthened by your Word and your Sacraments, love you and all our brothers and sisters, carrying each other's burdens, until we all come to Eternal Life.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.