Anthony McIntyre remembers his younger brother Martin who died in June.

Cancer, my parents both died of it. A sister fell prey to it but survived only to take her own life two decades later. When I took a call from one of my sisters to tell me that my younger brother Martin had terminal cancer, I immediately made plans to go up and see him. There had been no chance to say goodbye to Rebecca, this time it would be different. The news was crushing, particularly as it came within four months of Rebecca having died.

I spoke to him by phone, his voice was rasping. I found it difficult to make him out. When I arrived in Twinbrook with my two children and a close friend, he sounded much better, even if auditory clarity was aided by face to face and the absence of tinny phone distortion. The time he gave to my children moved me. We had a heart to heart, free from sentiment. He was dying and could live with that. There would be no intervention by way of chemo or radiology. His illness was too far gone for any of that. Of course, we discussed the option of assisted dying: the choice would be his not the state's, the assistance would be provided regardless of what the state held.  He said the only thing that worried him was the ten minutes he felt might trouble him as the brain shut down. He wanted his last thoughts to be peaceful so for that reason when the consultant spelled out his fate and asked him if there was anything he could do Martin answered: make sure there is no priest whispering nonsense about devils and demons in my ear. He had no time for clerics or their superstitious beliefs. He found their hovering around hospitals a distasteful exploitation of the vulnerable.

Martin was acutely intelligent and immensely well read, although there was nothing of the academic about him. He was earthy and refreshingly lacking in airs and graces, being at ease with the ribald and the raunchy. A few of his book recommendations I now have on Kindle and intend reading. They were works about science and evolution. He enjoyed delving into the origins of life and the universe,  and always remained open to ideas other than religious ones. Every time over the years that we spoke on the phone he would discuss something about life, its purpose, origins, the great question of why we are here, always to conclude there is no meaning outside that which we create for ourselves.

Throughout my imprisonment he would visit me: a jail smuggler, endlessly bringing up the capsule of tobacco and other blanket protest necessities. He was always there for me. On my first parole we sat up into the small hours drinking; later paroles would see us do the pubs. 

The loyalists tried to kill him in a girlfriend's house in Dunmurry in 1994, one of the assailants later dying courtesy of his own bomb detonating prematurely along the towpath. Martin avoided death because he could think on his feet. The detectives who came out to the scene were indifferent. The uniformed cops displayed a more understanding attitude. One asked him if he had been able to disarm the loyalist would he have shot him. When Martin replied yes, the cop told him he was right.

Martin was the brother Rebecca had decided to text minutes before she ended her own life. It was two hours before he checked his phone. He blamed himself but there was no basis to that. Nothing could have prevented Rebecca's suicide at that point. Yet it would have an impact. The headaches he was suffering, he put down to the stress of Rebecca's death and delayed doing much about it. A friend eventually forcibly placed him in his van and took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer of the lungs and brain.

He married his long term partner in the Royal Victoria Hospital. It was the same day as the Markle-Windsor wedding in London but we termed his the real Royal Wedding. His partner was Catholic and he acceded to her preference for a religious ceremony. We siblings bantered him that he had lost his marbles but stood around respectfully while the priest performed the ceremony. When the priest asked if he could call and visit him Martin said of course. As soon as he left Martin said, he will never see me, I'll be dead. While uttered in jest he appeared close to the end and at one point we were concerned that he might not make it through the night. I told him to go when he wanted to, and to divest himself of any misplaced sense of obligation that he had to hold on for the rest of us. He rallied and was moved to the Marie Cure Hospice in East Belfast. I had been there before, when a brother in law had succumbed to cancer. Abandon Hope all ye who enter here.

I visited him on a number of occasions. The first time I stayed the night with him. It was the evening Liverpool lost the European Cup Final, which we listened to rather than watched: the TV was not working properly. He was an avid Arsenal supporter and loved the major competitions. Weeks later on a Sunday afternoon we would sit and watch the World Cup game between Mexico and Germany. I promised to bring a bottle of whiskey which we would sip and share during the next game. He told me he might get out for a few hours later in the week to spend some time with his wife. On Tuesday I took the call from my sister to tell me he had died.

The fifth in a family of nine children he was the third to die. Pauline, Rebecca and Martin in that order. Being the oldest, I remember all three being born and dying. Pauline is the only one to have been buried, parents and siblings all opting for cremation. Leave the land to the living echoes the collective family sentiment.

On a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon, accompanied by my wife, son and daughter I spoke at his cremation service in Belfast as did one of my sisters who delivered the main eulogy. She had been unrelenting in providing comfort to him. It was a humanist event minus the celebrant.  We both referred to his lack of religious faith, his love of live and his unflinching belief in the procurement of knowledge. My then 12 year old son helped shoulder the coffin into the Roselawn chapel. I jested that it would be practice for carrying me. 

My sisters and brothers were devoted to him as he approached the end of his life. As well as his wife and children,  his close friends Robbie and Raymond were with him to the end. Their collective commitment eased his passage from life immeasurably. 

I am not philosophical enough to view death in the way that a character in Gil Courtemanche's breath-taking novel, A Sunday By The Pool In Kigali, did - just something that we do some day. But it is not a mere cliché to say it is part of life. Something that cannot die simply cannot have lived. The ability to die is the one indispensable condition of life. Death is the price of life. Martin died knowing that, and in the end was content to let go. He had lived a life in which he had done much more good than harm. That knowledge rather than Heaven was his reward. 


Anthony McIntyre blogs @ The Pensive Quill.

Follow Anthony McIntyre on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre

Martin McIntyre

Anthony McIntyre remembers his younger brother Martin who died in June.

Cancer, my parents both died of it. A sister fell prey to it but survived only to take her own life two decades later. When I took a call from one of my sisters to tell me that my younger brother Martin had terminal cancer, I immediately made plans to go up and see him. There had been no chance to say goodbye to Rebecca, this time it would be different. The news was crushing, particularly as it came within four months of Rebecca having died.

I spoke to him by phone, his voice was rasping. I found it difficult to make him out. When I arrived in Twinbrook with my two children and a close friend, he sounded much better, even if auditory clarity was aided by face to face and the absence of tinny phone distortion. The time he gave to my children moved me. We had a heart to heart, free from sentiment. He was dying and could live with that. There would be no intervention by way of chemo or radiology. His illness was too far gone for any of that. Of course, we discussed the option of assisted dying: the choice would be his not the state's, the assistance would be provided regardless of what the state held.  He said the only thing that worried him was the ten minutes he felt might trouble him as the brain shut down. He wanted his last thoughts to be peaceful so for that reason when the consultant spelled out his fate and asked him if there was anything he could do Martin answered: make sure there is no priest whispering nonsense about devils and demons in my ear. He had no time for clerics or their superstitious beliefs. He found their hovering around hospitals a distasteful exploitation of the vulnerable.

Martin was acutely intelligent and immensely well read, although there was nothing of the academic about him. He was earthy and refreshingly lacking in airs and graces, being at ease with the ribald and the raunchy. A few of his book recommendations I now have on Kindle and intend reading. They were works about science and evolution. He enjoyed delving into the origins of life and the universe,  and always remained open to ideas other than religious ones. Every time over the years that we spoke on the phone he would discuss something about life, its purpose, origins, the great question of why we are here, always to conclude there is no meaning outside that which we create for ourselves.

Throughout my imprisonment he would visit me: a jail smuggler, endlessly bringing up the capsule of tobacco and other blanket protest necessities. He was always there for me. On my first parole we sat up into the small hours drinking; later paroles would see us do the pubs. 

The loyalists tried to kill him in a girlfriend's house in Dunmurry in 1994, one of the assailants later dying courtesy of his own bomb detonating prematurely along the towpath. Martin avoided death because he could think on his feet. The detectives who came out to the scene were indifferent. The uniformed cops displayed a more understanding attitude. One asked him if he had been able to disarm the loyalist would he have shot him. When Martin replied yes, the cop told him he was right.

Martin was the brother Rebecca had decided to text minutes before she ended her own life. It was two hours before he checked his phone. He blamed himself but there was no basis to that. Nothing could have prevented Rebecca's suicide at that point. Yet it would have an impact. The headaches he was suffering, he put down to the stress of Rebecca's death and delayed doing much about it. A friend eventually forcibly placed him in his van and took him to the hospital where he was diagnosed with cancer of the lungs and brain.

He married his long term partner in the Royal Victoria Hospital. It was the same day as the Markle-Windsor wedding in London but we termed his the real Royal Wedding. His partner was Catholic and he acceded to her preference for a religious ceremony. We siblings bantered him that he had lost his marbles but stood around respectfully while the priest performed the ceremony. When the priest asked if he could call and visit him Martin said of course. As soon as he left Martin said, he will never see me, I'll be dead. While uttered in jest he appeared close to the end and at one point we were concerned that he might not make it through the night. I told him to go when he wanted to, and to divest himself of any misplaced sense of obligation that he had to hold on for the rest of us. He rallied and was moved to the Marie Cure Hospice in East Belfast. I had been there before, when a brother in law had succumbed to cancer. Abandon Hope all ye who enter here.

I visited him on a number of occasions. The first time I stayed the night with him. It was the evening Liverpool lost the European Cup Final, which we listened to rather than watched: the TV was not working properly. He was an avid Arsenal supporter and loved the major competitions. Weeks later on a Sunday afternoon we would sit and watch the World Cup game between Mexico and Germany. I promised to bring a bottle of whiskey which we would sip and share during the next game. He told me he might get out for a few hours later in the week to spend some time with his wife. On Tuesday I took the call from my sister to tell me he had died.

The fifth in a family of nine children he was the third to die. Pauline, Rebecca and Martin in that order. Being the oldest, I remember all three being born and dying. Pauline is the only one to have been buried, parents and siblings all opting for cremation. Leave the land to the living echoes the collective family sentiment.

On a beautiful sunny Friday afternoon, accompanied by my wife, son and daughter I spoke at his cremation service in Belfast as did one of my sisters who delivered the main eulogy. She had been unrelenting in providing comfort to him. It was a humanist event minus the celebrant.  We both referred to his lack of religious faith, his love of live and his unflinching belief in the procurement of knowledge. My then 12 year old son helped shoulder the coffin into the Roselawn chapel. I jested that it would be practice for carrying me. 

My sisters and brothers were devoted to him as he approached the end of his life. As well as his wife and children,  his close friends Robbie and Raymond were with him to the end. Their collective commitment eased his passage from life immeasurably. 

I am not philosophical enough to view death in the way that a character in Gil Courtemanche's breath-taking novel, A Sunday By The Pool In Kigali, did - just something that we do some day. But it is not a mere cliché to say it is part of life. Something that cannot die simply cannot have lived. The ability to die is the one indispensable condition of life. Death is the price of life. Martin died knowing that, and in the end was content to let go. He had lived a life in which he had done much more good than harm. That knowledge rather than Heaven was his reward. 


Anthony McIntyre blogs @ The Pensive Quill.

Follow Anthony McIntyre on Twitter @AnthonyMcIntyre

16 comments:

  1. Sorry for your loss Anthony. A rough few years for you.

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  2. Very sorry to read this, AM. 2018 has been a rough year for you and the family. I'm sure you're glad to see the back of it.

    "Being the oldest, I remember all three being born and dying."

    That was always associated with being a parent's nightmare, but there was very little (if any) talk about how it affected siblings. Aside from the obvious, it must feel incredibly strange and ruminant to think how the lifespan of three people (let alone brothers and sisters) began and ended in your lifetime: being there when they were born, watching them grow into school children, then teenagers with a life of their own and then death. All while you're still compos mentis.

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  3. That's serious hard whack to endure. Deepest sympathies and good wishes to you and yours.

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  4. Beautiful article ....sorry for your loss Anthony

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  5. Steve - Christopher - Unknown and Wolfe Tone

    thanks for the thoughtful comments.


    Wolfe Tone - our discussions this year on Repeal the 8th were a great soother at an otherwise trying time.

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  6. "The ability to die is the one indispensable condition of life. Death is the price of life." Too true. May Rebecca and Martin rest in peace. In writing about your sister and brother, you've given us all a peak into the life of the McIntyre family. Thank you for that. Your siblings are lucky to have a brother who remembers and writes with such honesty and poignancy. Like Martin, my old pal Billy Curran was "earthy" with "nothing of the academic about him" - just smart, especially street smart, and immensely curious. Belfast may have had something to do with that. I spent many hours by Billy's bedside and several times like Lazarus he cheated death at the Royal Vic. One time he reached under his bed in Derriaghy and pulled out a battered copy of Voices from the Grave and said, "Read this." Martin's love of books, his wanting to share them, to talk about them, that's an endearing thing about so many Belfast people. It's a beautiful tribute you've written. Condolences, Mackers.

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  7. Sorry for your loss Anthony , losing a sibling , in your case 2 is not easy , Christopher is very much on the ball with his comment , I read your piece yesterday but couldn't bring myself to leave a comment about it as it was my Sisters anniversary on Boxing Day , we lost her in Belfast in 88 , I feel guilt but I don't know why , perhaps if I had been there she would still be with us , but I wasn't and she isn't.

    Memories of them will last our whole lives and I often ask myself , " Who will remember them when we are gone "

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  8. AM

    As I have said elsewhere so sorry to hear of your latest loss.

    It makes me grateful to have my four siblings and father still around although losing my brother-in-law Eamon, father of my youngest sister's three sons, to a sudden heart attack just before the Brexit vote in June 2016 was a terrible shock for me. Grief at his death (Leeds United stalwart like myself; that's four of us gone in the last six years) was definitely a big factor in my reaction to the Leave victory.

    But as a humanist I have to accept death as part of the life cycle.

    A very profound piece as always.

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  9. As someone above wrote AM you have had a rough year; we come we go it’s the price of life, but your obits to Rebecca and Martin are lovely, and I mean that in every sense.

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  10. A powerful piece Anthony,I,m glad you got the chance to see Martin before his passing, Hopefully putting your thoughts down on print will now ease the loss of your bro and sis,As a friend all I can offer is to be here for you if needed a chara ,

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  11. Staffenberg - for the vast majority of us, we have a limited amount of time to live and a limited amount of time to be remembered. Some may even cherish the right to be forgotten rather than be remembered for the wrong reasons.

    I see even after so long you still have difficulties coping with the loss of your sister. Time can numb but does not always heal.

    Thanks for your thoughtful comment.

    Barry - again, thanks for your kind comment. We are all born to die otherwise we would not have been born. Getting our heads around that is not easy but probably one of the more useful mechanisms for coping with our own end.

    Mike - as always thank you for your input. I would like to be able, like your friend Billy, to read up until I go.

    Marty and Rage - thank you for such warm comments.

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  12. Anthony , I am only reading this now even though you posted it in early January, yes you are right , time has not healed for me , to say I am numb doesn't quite describe my feelings on a daily basis , anger , hopelessness and sheer pain are with me constantly but I also understand the pain of others.

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  13. Staffenberg - really intense emotions after so long. I am fortunate in that I don't experience that numbness, anger, pain you are gripped by. 31 years is a long time to be living with that cross so to speak.

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  14. Anthony , my sisters loss was sudden and unexpected, she was very young , given our country's history I really should have come to terms with it by now

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    Replies
    1. Staffenberg - we are each affected in different ways. My view is not to forget but forgo in some unarticulated manner that denies death its wider victory.

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