Seamus Kearney ✍ remembers the leader of the Blanketmen on the 15th anniversary of his death.

It was approaching Christmas 2007, when I suggested to my son, Thomas, that he accompany me on a visit to meet Brendan Hughes, ( The Dark), and he jumped at the chance.


I immediately phoned Brendan and asked would it be okay if I brought my young son to visit him, as he was interested in the Irish struggle and studying it at GCSE level at school. But to my surprise Brendan said :" I don't think that's a good idea, and anyway you can tell your son our story". 

When I pressed him further and told him that it would be better if my son heard the story from a hero like himself, he replied " Seamus, I am finished and won't be around for much longer. I've had two heart attacks, and I'm sitting here wearing sunglasses due to cataracts". When I interjected and told him I thought he wore sunglasses for 'show', he laughed and explained that his eyes had been irreparably damaged due to the first hunger strike in 1980.

He went on, "I am in poor health and have now got a ' home-help', so I'm on my last legs".

When he mentioned the 'home-help', I was shocked and told him that my mother didn't need a 'home-help' and she was 20 years his senior. I then realised the gravity of the situation and enquired about him leaving behind a testimony for posterity. He replied that he had completed a taped interview, which would be released after his death.

I then changed the tone of the conversation and said:" Dark, did you ever notice that when people reach this point, things need to be said before departure, but are left unsaid?" He concurred and commented that that situation often happens in life, where people are left with the guilt of words left unspoken, once the person has departed this life.

I then said:

Well, rather than wait for that moment, I want you to know that I love you, and the Blanketmen love you. For those who never met you or never had the privilege of getting to know you, they are immaterial and their words mean nothing.

Brendan remained silent on the other end of the phone, and then uttered the words "that means everything to me."

A short time later, in mid February 2008, I was informed that the Dark had taken a turn for the worst and was in a secure unit at the City Hospital in Belfast. After getting through security, I was admitted to the secure unit, by bluffing my way in as a relative. When I saw him in the hospital bed, with a breathing mask covering his face, I broke down and cried like a baby. I was inconsolable as I held his hand and watched as the life drained from him.

On a second visit, hours away from death, my comrade Pat Lavery accompanied me into the secure unit and was visibly shaken when he witnessed the spectre before him. We both were trembling with emotion as Pat held his limp hand and I gently placed the palm of my hand on his forehead.

Pat then said, in a broken voice:

This is so sad and heart breaking. If the Dark had have fought for the other side, he would not be lying like this. He would have been afforded a much more dignified death.

I then turned to the duty nurse and asked was it possible that the Dark could hear us, and she replied, "he can hear you, even though he is heavily sedated - he is dying but the hearing is the last to go".

After hearing this, I leaned over him and whispered into his ear:

Dark, it's Seamus Kearney and Pat Lavery here with you. The Blanketmen are with you, so don't be afraid. We are going to hold the fort down here, until we meet you again in the afterlife. Tell the rest of the lads that we send our love and will meet them in good time. Dark, go to them now and join them. Slan Abhaile.

A few hours later, it wasn't really that long, Brendan Hughes, The Dark, released his last breath and left this world. He was aged 59 and it was February 16th, 2008. The winter was losing its power and the first sign of Spring was in the air. When I left the hospital people were getting on with their lives, oblivious as to what had just happened. But a part of me went with him and I knew that life was never going to be quite the same anymore.

🖎 Seamus Kearney is a former Blanketman and author of  No Greater Love - The Memoirs of Seamus Kearney.

The Final Farewell

Seamus Kearney ✍ remembers the leader of the Blanketmen on the 15th anniversary of his death.

It was approaching Christmas 2007, when I suggested to my son, Thomas, that he accompany me on a visit to meet Brendan Hughes, ( The Dark), and he jumped at the chance.


I immediately phoned Brendan and asked would it be okay if I brought my young son to visit him, as he was interested in the Irish struggle and studying it at GCSE level at school. But to my surprise Brendan said :" I don't think that's a good idea, and anyway you can tell your son our story". 

When I pressed him further and told him that it would be better if my son heard the story from a hero like himself, he replied " Seamus, I am finished and won't be around for much longer. I've had two heart attacks, and I'm sitting here wearing sunglasses due to cataracts". When I interjected and told him I thought he wore sunglasses for 'show', he laughed and explained that his eyes had been irreparably damaged due to the first hunger strike in 1980.

He went on, "I am in poor health and have now got a ' home-help', so I'm on my last legs".

When he mentioned the 'home-help', I was shocked and told him that my mother didn't need a 'home-help' and she was 20 years his senior. I then realised the gravity of the situation and enquired about him leaving behind a testimony for posterity. He replied that he had completed a taped interview, which would be released after his death.

I then changed the tone of the conversation and said:" Dark, did you ever notice that when people reach this point, things need to be said before departure, but are left unsaid?" He concurred and commented that that situation often happens in life, where people are left with the guilt of words left unspoken, once the person has departed this life.

I then said:

Well, rather than wait for that moment, I want you to know that I love you, and the Blanketmen love you. For those who never met you or never had the privilege of getting to know you, they are immaterial and their words mean nothing.

Brendan remained silent on the other end of the phone, and then uttered the words "that means everything to me."

A short time later, in mid February 2008, I was informed that the Dark had taken a turn for the worst and was in a secure unit at the City Hospital in Belfast. After getting through security, I was admitted to the secure unit, by bluffing my way in as a relative. When I saw him in the hospital bed, with a breathing mask covering his face, I broke down and cried like a baby. I was inconsolable as I held his hand and watched as the life drained from him.

On a second visit, hours away from death, my comrade Pat Lavery accompanied me into the secure unit and was visibly shaken when he witnessed the spectre before him. We both were trembling with emotion as Pat held his limp hand and I gently placed the palm of my hand on his forehead.

Pat then said, in a broken voice:

This is so sad and heart breaking. If the Dark had have fought for the other side, he would not be lying like this. He would have been afforded a much more dignified death.

I then turned to the duty nurse and asked was it possible that the Dark could hear us, and she replied, "he can hear you, even though he is heavily sedated - he is dying but the hearing is the last to go".

After hearing this, I leaned over him and whispered into his ear:

Dark, it's Seamus Kearney and Pat Lavery here with you. The Blanketmen are with you, so don't be afraid. We are going to hold the fort down here, until we meet you again in the afterlife. Tell the rest of the lads that we send our love and will meet them in good time. Dark, go to them now and join them. Slan Abhaile.

A few hours later, it wasn't really that long, Brendan Hughes, The Dark, released his last breath and left this world. He was aged 59 and it was February 16th, 2008. The winter was losing its power and the first sign of Spring was in the air. When I left the hospital people were getting on with their lives, oblivious as to what had just happened. But a part of me went with him and I knew that life was never going to be quite the same anymore.

🖎 Seamus Kearney is a former Blanketman and author of  No Greater Love - The Memoirs of Seamus Kearney.

12 comments:

  1. Touching tribute Seamus - powerfully evocative.

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  2. Even though I'm from the otherside I reckon I would have liked to have had a pint with him.

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  3. I know a bit about his life within the IRA...Outside of the IRA....What music did he listen to, footy team did he support....types of movies would he watch.....

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  4. Beautifully written.. Never forgotten Brendan ,loyal and loved .

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  5. Seamus
    Many thanks for a very moving insight into the last days of a true icon of the republican movement.
    The Blanketmen are with you , so dont be afraid....
    That brought a tear to my eye.
    Loyal and loved by Seamus o says it all.
    Anthony, a subject very close to your heart no doubt
    Ar Dheis De go raibh a anam

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  6. Brian Nelson had The Dark's details, and he was considered as a target for UDA C Coy, as was Billy Mckee.

    Wonder why they never tried to kill either

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    Replies
    1. In both cases I guess they must have considered it. It would be interesting to understand how many targets they had and how many of them they went after.

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  7. Someone described the west Belfast UDA to me as totally lacking the ability to match their ambitions.

    They might well not have gone after The Dark because they, with justification, would have been frightened of being personally targeted in reprisal.

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    Replies
    1. I would say there is much in that. In the Brendan case he would not have been that easy to pin down. Would the fear of reprisal seriously have put Adair or McCrory off? The reprisal temperature was already at a seriously high level.

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  8. The Nelson diaries cover 85 to 89ish, prior to Adair's era. Adair in fact is not mentioned in them and neither is Skelly. Winkie Dodds is repeatedly though, and Matt Kincaid.

    Brendan was subject to attempts at surveillance for two weeks, before it was called off. Nelson states that Brenden was on a lecture tour of America at the time.

    The pre Stevens inquiry UDA leadership were demonstrably frightened of IRA reprisal and a number of operations were called off for this reason.

    Interestingly, Nelson's brother-in-law was attacked once each by the INLA but survived. This was the Adair era, and the man was UFF, but I have wondered at why risky operations were launched to kill less lethal UFF personnel.

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  9. Don't know about the wombles but I'm pretty sure there was an agreement among main UVF and Provo players that they wouldn't target each other. This went sideways when King was taken out on the Shankill.

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