Patrick Fell

Patrick Fell (Irish: Pádraig Ó Fithchill; 1940 – 18 September 2011) was a Catholic priest who was accused and later convicted in the 1970s of being a commander of a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) active service unit. Fell never admitted to being an IRA volunteer and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In June 1984 he was successful in his action to find the British Government guilty of violating the European Convention on Human Rights. The Government had denied the right of legal representation to prisoners facing internal prison disciplinary charges. The ECHR ordered that "the United Kingdom is to pay to the applicants [Fell and Campbell], in respect of legal costs and expenses, the sum of thirteen thousand pounds sterling (£13,000), together with any value added tax that may be due." [1][2]

Early life

Fell was born in England and was a convert to Roman Catholicism before being ordained as a priest.[3] He was assistant priest at All Souls Church, Chapelfields, Coventry.[4]

Arrest and trial

In April 1973, Fell was arrested with six others alleged to comprise an IRA unit planning a campaign in Coventry. He was tried at Birmingham's Crown Court. The jury found three of the seven not guilty; the remaining four were all found guilty of criminal damage and conspiracy to commit arson. Fell pleaded not guilty. Fell and Frank Stagg, were accused of being the unit's commanding officers.

Upon conviction, Stagg was given a ten-year sentence and Fell twelve years. (Stagg would later die on hunger strike.) Thomas Gerald Rush was given seven years and Anthony Roland Lynch, who was also found guilty of possessing articles with intent to destroy property, namely nitric acid, balloons, wax, and sodium chlorate, was given ten years.[5][6] Fell never admitted IRA membership.

Imprisonment

Fell was eventually sent to the top security Albany Prison on the Isle of Wight. It was here in 1976, following an incident, he was one of six republican prisoners charged with various offences including mutiny, incitement to mutiny, and violence. Fell and the others were involved in a "sitting down" protest against the treatment of another prisoner.[7] As a result of attempts to break up the protest, both prisoners and prison warders received personal injuries. Fell was punished by the Prison's Board of Visitors and given 91 days solitary confinement and 570 days loss of remission.[8]

Release

Upon his release Fell served as a parish priest in rural Frosses, County Donegal.[9] He died in County Dublin on 18 September 2011.[10]

References
  1. IRA men win...; The Times; 29 June 1984, pg. 2, column B.
  2. Campbell and Fell v. United Kingdom (28 June 1984) (appl. n. 7819/77; 7878/77)
  3. "Priest says he...", The Times, 19 October 1973, p. 4, column F.
  4. "Discretion allowed in...", The Times, 7 March 1984, p. 4, column A.
  5. "Man's denial on chemicals", The Times, 25 October 1973, p. 2, column F.
  6. "Priest who 'raised...'", The Times, 2 November 1973, p. 1, column E.
  7. O'Donnell, Ruán (2012). Special Category: The IRA in English Prisons Vol.1: 1968-78. Irish Academic Press. p. 418. ISBN 978-0-7165-3142-5.
  8. "Jailed priest's complaints...", The Times, 24 April 1981, p. 2, column B.
  9. "Three more IRA priests in Claudy link", The Guardian, 22 December 2002.
  10. Announcement of Fell's death Archived 2013-11-08 at archive.today, announce.jpress.ie; accessed 4 November 2015.
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