Padraic Mac Coitir shared his thoughts on a former blanketman when he died in September. 

It goes without saying the older we get the more people we know who die. This was unfortunately the case today when I heard Seamy Martin died.

I didn't know Seamy well in gaol except to see. He was captured with Joe McDonnell, Bobby Sands and their other comrades on an operation in 1976. I was on remand in A wing in the Crum at the time and I remember them coming into prison. After they were sentenced the following year they were in the same block as me in H5 and I'd have seen them at mass.

Seamy was a quiet fella and the wing he was on was full of characters so I can imagine him trying to get a word in.

I didn't get to know Seamy better until years later when we were running about and we'd have a good few yarns. As time wore on we drifted apart but whenever we met we'd always talk about this, that and the other.

In more recent months I'd see him regularly and during one of those times he told me he had cancer.

This photo was taken at Easter and for anyone who knew Seamy it's obvious to see he was a changed man. Yes his appearance may have changed but his personality hadn't and he was very philosophical about his illness.

Padraic Mac Coitir and Seamy Martin
It's sad to see another comrade die but as he said himself when we were talking he saw his comrades, Bobby, Joe and others die at a young age and there's us still walking about.

Padraic Mac Coitir is a former republican prisoner and current political activist.


Seamy Martin

Padraic Mac Coitir shared his thoughts on a former blanketman when he died in September. 

It goes without saying the older we get the more people we know who die. This was unfortunately the case today when I heard Seamy Martin died.

I didn't know Seamy well in gaol except to see. He was captured with Joe McDonnell, Bobby Sands and their other comrades on an operation in 1976. I was on remand in A wing in the Crum at the time and I remember them coming into prison. After they were sentenced the following year they were in the same block as me in H5 and I'd have seen them at mass.

Seamy was a quiet fella and the wing he was on was full of characters so I can imagine him trying to get a word in.

I didn't get to know Seamy better until years later when we were running about and we'd have a good few yarns. As time wore on we drifted apart but whenever we met we'd always talk about this, that and the other.

In more recent months I'd see him regularly and during one of those times he told me he had cancer.

This photo was taken at Easter and for anyone who knew Seamy it's obvious to see he was a changed man. Yes his appearance may have changed but his personality hadn't and he was very philosophical about his illness.

Padraic Mac Coitir and Seamy Martin
It's sad to see another comrade die but as he said himself when we were talking he saw his comrades, Bobby, Joe and others die at a young age and there's us still walking about.

Padraic Mac Coitir is a former republican prisoner and current political activist.


1 comment:

  1. Thanks Chopper - Seamy was a really quiet guy on the wings after the blanket. His idea of relaxation was to watch the TV and read novels whereas many of us would hit the yard for soccer. He consumed novels. He would often go to the cell at night with these thick novels. He always struck me as one of the jail's great readers. Simply loved books. A guy who simply got in the way of nobody, happy to let others do their thing and he did his. Another blanket man down.

    ReplyDelete