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{{short description|Irish playwright, author and politician (1879–1920)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image         = Terence MacSwiney circle.png
| caption       = MacSwiney in his mayoral robes, 1919
| office        = [[Teachta Dála]]
| term_start    = [[1918 Irish general election|December 1918]]
| term_end      = 25 October 1920
| constituency  = [[Mid Cork (UK Parliament constituency)|Cork Mid]]
| office2       = [[Lord Mayor of Cork]]
| term_start2   = March 1920
| term_end2     = October 1920
| constituency2 = [[Cork County Council]]
| birth_name    = Terence James MacSwiney
| birth_date    = {{birth date|df=yes|1879|3|28}}
| birth_place   = [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1920|10|25|1879|3|28}}
| death_place   = [[HM Prison Brixton|Brixton Prison]], [[London]], England
| death_cause   = [[1920 Cork hunger strike|Hunger strike]]
| party         = [[Sinn Féin]]
| restingplace  = [[St. Finbarr's Cemetery]], Cork
| spouse        = {{marriage|[[Muriel MacSwiney|Muriel Murphy]]|9 June 1917}}
| relatives     = {{Ubl|[[Mary MacSwiney]] (sister)|[[Seán MacSwiney]] (brother)|[[Ruairí Brugha]] (son-in-law)}}
| children      = [[Máire MacSwiney Brugha|Máire]]
}}
'''Terence James MacSwiney''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ə|k|ˈ|s|w|iː|n|i}}; {{langx|ga|Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne}}; 28 March 1879 – 25 October 1920)<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Corkery|first1= Daniel |date= December 1920 |title= Terence MacSwiney: Lord Mayor of Cork|jstor= 30092903|journal= Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review|volume= 9|issue= 36|pages= 512–520}}</ref> was an Irish playwright, author and politician. He was elected as [[Sinn Féin]] [[Lord Mayor of Cork]] during the [[Irish War of Independence]] in 1920.<ref name=oireachtas_db>{{cite web|url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Terence-J-MacSwiney.D.1919-01-21/|title=Terence MacSwiney|work=Oireachtas Members Database|access-date=9 June 2010|archive-date=8 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181108184712/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/members/member/Terence-J-MacSwiney.D.1919-01-21|url-status=live}}</ref> He was arrested by the [[British Government]] on charges of [[sedition]] and imprisoned in [[Brixton Prison]]. His death there in October 1920 after 74 days on [[1920 Cork hunger strike|hunger strike]]<ref>{{Cite news|last=Power|first=Ed|title=What Terence MacSwiney's body went through during his 74-day hunger strike|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/what-terence-macswiney-s-body-went-through-during-his-74-day-hunger-strike-1.4387598|access-date=25 October 2020|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-date=4 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201204235947/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/what-terence-macswiney-s-body-went-through-during-his-74-day-hunger-strike-1.4387598|url-status=live}}</ref> brought him and the [[Irish Republican]] campaign to international attention.

==Background==
Born at 23 North Main Street, [[Cork (city)|Cork]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/details-civil/0aaaf00578963|title=General Registrar's Office|website=IrishGenealogy.ie|access-date=28 March 2017|archive-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004113441/https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/captcha.jsp|url-status=live}}</ref> MacSwiney was one of eight children.<ref name=dib>{{cite web|url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/macswiney-terence-james-a5297|title=MacSwiney, Terence James|work=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]|last=Maume|first=Patrick|access-date=8 January 2022}}</ref> His father, John MacSwiney, of Cork, who had volunteered in 1868 to fight as a [[Swiss Guard|papal guard]] against [[Giuseppe Garibaldi|Garibaldi]], had been a schoolteacher in London and later opened a tobacco factory in Cork. Following the failure of this business, John emigrated to Australia in 1885 leaving Terence and the other children in the care of their mother and the eldest daughter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101055442/|author=Sam Davies|title=MacSwiney, Terence James (1879–1920)|publisher=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography|access-date=17 February 2009|archive-date=21 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521211526/http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101055442/|url-status=live}}</ref>

MacSwiney's mother, Mary (née Wilkinson), was an English Catholic with strong Irish nationalist opinions. Terence was educated by the [[Congregation of Christian Brothers|Christian Brothers]] at [[the North Monastery]] school in Cork city but left at fifteen to help support the family.<ref name="History's Daughter: A Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney">{{cite book | last = MacSwiney Brugha | first = Máire | title = History's daughter: a memoir from the only child of Terence MacSwiney | publisher = [[O'Brien Press]] | location = Dublin | year = 2006 | url = http://www.obrien.ie/historys-daughter | access-date = 10 April 2015 | archive-date = 13 April 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150413081126/http://www.obrien.ie/historys-daughter | url-status = live }} {{ISBN|9780862789862}}.</ref> He became an accountancy clerk but continued his studies and matriculated successfully. He continued in full-time employment while he studied at [[University College Cork|Queen's College, Cork]], graduating from the [[Royal University of Ireland|Royal University]] with a degree in Mental and Moral Science in 1907.<ref name="ucdarchives">{{cite web |url=http://www.ucd.ie/archives/html/collections/macswiney-ter.htm |title=MacSwiney, Terence |work=UCD Archives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150312024939/http://www.ucd.ie/archives/html/collections/macswiney-ter.htm |archive-date=12 March 2015 |access-date=29 January 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1901 he helped to found the Celtic Literary Society, and in 1908 he founded the Cork Dramatic Society with [[Daniel Corkery (author)|Daniel Corkery]] and wrote a number of plays for them.<ref name="ucdarchives"/> His first play ''The Last Warriors of Coole'' was produced in 1910.<ref name="forumer">{{cite web|url=http://admin2.7.forumer.com/a/october-25th-1920-terence-macswiney-and-joseph-murphy-die_post6629.html|title=Terence MacSwiney and Joseph Murphy Die|work=Irish History|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723092354/http://admin2.7.forumer.com/a/october-25th-1920-terence-macswiney-and-joseph-murphy-die_post6629.html|archive-date=23 July 2008}}</ref> His fifth play ''The Revolutionist'' (1915) took the political stand made by a single man as its theme.<ref name="History's Daughter: A Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney"/> In addition to his work as a playwright, he also wrote pamphlets on Irish history.

==Political activity==
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| image1 = MacSwiney wedding photo, 9 June 1917.jpg
| image2 = Terence, Muriel and Máire MacSwiney, 1919.jpg
| caption1 = The MacSwineys on their wedding day. The best man [[Richard Mulcahy]] can be seen on the right. 
| caption2 = Terence, Muriel and daughter Máire in circa May 1919
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Described as a sensitive poet-intellectual,<ref>p. 361 [[Roy Jenkins]], ''Churchill'', [[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] 2001</ref> MacSwiney's writings in the newspaper ''[[Irish Freedom (Fenian newspaper)|Irish Freedom]]'' brought him to the attention of the [[Irish Republican Brotherhood]].<ref name="forumer"/> In 1913, he was one of the founders of the Cork Brigade of the [[Irish Volunteers]], and was President of the Cork branch of [[Sinn Féin]]. In 1914, he founded a newspaper, ''Fianna Fáil'', which was suppressed after only 11 issues.

At Christmas 1915, MacSwiney spent a night at the home of the [[Tilly Fleischmann|Fleischmanns]]. While there, he met a friend of his sisters, [[Muriel MacSwiney|Muriel Murphy]]. She was from a rich brewing family in Cork with conservative politics, but in 1915 she became a member of the [[Gaelic League]] and [[Cumann na mBan]]. MacSwiney and Murphy continued to see each other after the night at the Fleischmanns.<ref name="Muriel DIB">{{cite web |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/macswiney-muriel-frances-a5296 |title=MacSwiney, Muriel Frances |last=Dolan |first=Anne |date=October 2009 |website=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]] |publisher= |access-date=16 January 2023 |quote=}}</ref>

In April 1916, he was intended to be second in command of the [[Easter Rising]] in Cork and Kerry, but stood down his forces on the order of [[Eoin MacNeill]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Journal of Bromyard and District LHS, no. 19, 1996/7</ref> Amongst the confusion about whether to mobilise his forces or not, Muriel Murphy brought him food and information as his forces held up at Volunteer Hall in Cork City.<ref name="Muriel DIB"/>

Following the rising, MacSwiney was imprisoned until December 1916 in [[Reading Gaol|Reading]] and [[Wakefield Gaol]]s by the [[British Government]], under the [[Defence of the Realm Act 1914|Defence of the Realm Act]]. In February 1917, he was deported from Ireland and imprisoned in [[Shrewsbury]] and [[Bromyard]] internment camps until his release in June 1917. Muriel followed Terence to England to support him and, upon his release, the two were married on 9 June 1917 in [[Bromyard]], England, one day after Murphy's 25th birthday, and one day after she was eligible for her inheritance, ensuring the independence of the couple from the Murphy family, which had disapproved of the relationship every step of the way.<ref name="Muriel DIB"/><ref name="ReferenceA"/> Muriel's bridesmaid was Geraldine O’Sullivan (Neeson), while Terence's best man was [[Richard Mulcahy]].

In November 1917, MacSwiney was arrested in Cork for wearing an [[Irish Volunteers]] uniform, and, inspired by the example of [[Thomas Ashe]], went on a [[hunger strike]] for three days prior to his release.<ref name="histcoop">{{cite web|url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/nyh/88.3/perlman.html|title=Terence MacSwiney: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hunger Strike|author=Jason Perlman|work=The New York State Historical Association|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204101849/http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/nyh/88.3/perlman.html|archive-date=4 December 2008}}</ref>

In the [[1918 Irish general election|1918 general election]], MacSwiney was returned unopposed as the member for [[Mid Cork (UK Parliament constituency)|Mid Cork]], representing [[Sinn Féin]], succeeding the [[Irish Parliamentary Party|Nationalist]] [[Member of Parliament|MP]] [[D. D. Sheehan]]. However, along with 27 other elected members, MacSwiney joined the first [[Dáil Éireann]] rather than take up his seat in the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|UK Parliament]].<ref name=elecs_irl>{{cite web |url=http://www.electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=951 |title=Terence MacSwiney |work=ElectionsIreland.org |access-date=9 June 2010 |archive-date=22 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222072241/http://electionsireland.org/candidate.cfm?ID=951|url-status=live}}</ref> After the murder on 20 March 1920 of his friend [[Tomás Mac Curtain]], the [[Lord Mayor of Cork]], MacSwiney was elected Lord Mayor. [[Richard Mulcahy]] wrote to MacSwiney on 8 April 1920 to warn him he was in danger and asking him to agree to have Mulcahy's men protect him at all times, "after what has happened in Cork" (likely a reference to MacCurtain's death less than a month earlier).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Letter to MacSwiney | url=https://catholicarchives.ie/uploads/r/irish-capuchin-archives-2/a/a/4/aa4feda3117528861909bb340c1eab4e720747f37c523af9bc3e9ea2f547a2ca/CA_IR-1-5-2-2.jpg |website=catholicarchives.ie |access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref> On 12 August 1920, MacSwiney was arrested in Cork for possession of "seditious articles and documents", and possession of a [[cipher|cypher]] key. He was summarily tried by a court on 16 August and sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Brixton Prison in England.<ref name="ucdarchives"/>

==Hunger strike and death==
{{further|1920 Cork hunger strike}}
On 12 August, the day he was imprisoned in Cork, MacSwiney joined the prisoners there who had started the [[1920 Cork hunger strike]] one day prior. However, he was transferred to [[Brixton Prison]] soon after, where he continued his hunger strike.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dwyer|first=Ryle|date=13 August 2019|title=Death of MacSwiney had enormous significance as prisoners hunger strike drew global coverage|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-30943591.html|access-date=8 December 2021|website=Irish Examiner|language=en}}</ref> On 26 August, the British Government stated that "the release of the Lord Mayor would have disastrous results in Ireland and would probably lead to a mutiny of both military and police in south of Ireland."<ref name="histcoop"/>

MacSwiney's hunger strike gained world attention. The British Government was threatened with a boycott of British goods, and a strike by Americans,<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 September 1920 |title=3,000 STRIKE HERE TO HUMBLE BRITAIN; Longshoremen Pledged to Load No English Ship Until Troops Quit Ireland. SAY MOVE IS WORLDWIDE Take Up Cudgels for MacSwiney and Mannix, but Union Repudiates Action. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/09/03/archives/3000-strike-here-to-humble-britain-longshoremen-pledged-to-load-no.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |pages=1–2}}</ref> while four countries in South America appealed to the Pope to intervene. Protests were held in Germany and France as well. An Australian member of parliament, [[Hugh Mahon]], was expelled from the Australian parliament for "seditious and disloyal utterances at a public meeting", after protesting against the actions of the British Government. Two weeks later, the Catalan organization Autonomous Center of Employees of Commerce and Industry (CADCI) sent a petition to the British prime minister calling for his release and the newspaper of the organization, ''[[Acció]]'' (Action in English), began a campaign for MacSwiney.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/4363782/20150610/cork-reviu-solidaritat-catalunya-irlanda.html|title=Cork reviu la solidaritat entre Catalunya i Irlanda|website=VilaWeb.cat|access-date=3 March 2016|archive-date=7 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307220508/http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/4363782/20150610/cork-reviu-solidaritat-catalunya-irlanda.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Food was often placed near him to persuade him to give up the hunger strike. Attempts at force-feeding MacSwiney were undertaken in the final days of his strike.<ref name="histcoop"/> On 20 October 1920 he fell into a coma and died five days later after 74 days on hunger strike. His body lay in [[St George's Cathedral, Southwark]] in London where 30,000 people filed past it.<ref name="histcoop"/> MacSwiney's family planned on having his body taken to Dublin but fearing large-scale demonstrations, the authorities diverted his coffin directly to Cork, reportedly on the insistence of [[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Macardle |first=Dorothy |author-link= |date=1965 |title=The Irish Republic |url= |location=New York |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |page=392 |isbn=}}</ref>  and his funeral in the [[Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne]] on 31 October attracted huge crowds. MacSwiney is buried in the Republican plot in [[St. Finbarr's Cemetery|Saint Finbarr's Cemetery]] in Cork. [[Arthur Griffith]] delivered the graveside oration.<ref name="histcoop"/>

==Legacy==
[[File:Terrence mac swiney.jpg|thumb|175px|A bust of Terence MacSwiney outside [[City Hall, Cork|Cork City Hall]]. The text, written in Irish, translates as: Terence MacSwiney 1879–1920 [[Teachta Dála]] Lord Mayor of Cork 20 March – 25 October 1920]]
A collection of his political writings, entitled ''Principles of Freedom'', was published posthumously in 1921. It was based upon articles MacSwiney contributed to ''Irish Freedom'' during 1911–1912. His collected works, prose, plays and poetry, ''The Art and Ideology of Terence MacSwiney: Caught in the Living Flame'', were published in 2023.

MacSwiney's life and work had a particular impact in India. [[Jawaharlal Nehru]] took inspiration from MacSwiney's example and writings, and [[Mahatma Gandhi]] counted him among his influences.<ref name="History's Daughter: A Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney"/><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Thapar-Björkert | first1 = Suruchi | last2 = Ryan | first2 = Louise | title = Mother India/mother Ireland: Comparative gendered dialogues of colonialism and nationalism in the early 20th century | journal = [[Women's Studies International Forum]] | volume = 25 | issue = 3 | pages = 301–313 | doi = 10.1016/S0277-5395(02)00257-1 | date = May–June 2002 }}</ref> ''Principles of Freedom'' was translated into various Indian languages including [[Telugu language|Telugu]].<ref name="History's Daughter: A Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney"/> The Indian revolutionary [[Bhagat Singh]] was an admirer of MacSwiney and wrote about him in his memoirs.<ref name="Berresford Ellis 1996 254">{{Cite book |last=Berresford Ellis |first=Peter |title=A history of the Irish working class |publisher=Pluto Press |date=1996 |edition=new |location=London |page=254 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOhnSbdD6Q0C&pg=PA254 |isbn=978-0-7453-1103-6 |access-date=7 November 2016 |archive-date=4 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504165429/https://books.google.com/books?id=fOhnSbdD6Q0C&pg=PA254 |url-status=live }}</ref> When Singh's father petitioned the British Government in India to pardon his son, Bhagat Singh quoted Terence MacSwiney and said "I am confident that my death will do more to smash the British Empire than my release" and told his father to withdraw the petition. He was executed on 23 March 1931 with two other men for killing a British officer.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Other figures beyond India who counted MacSwiney as an influence include [[Ho Chi Minh]], who was working in London at the time of MacSwiney's death and said of him, "A nation that has such citizens will never surrender".<ref name="Berresford Ellis 1996 254"/> On 1 November 1920, the Catalan organization CADCI held a demonstration in Barcelona, where the poet and politician [[Ventura Gassol]] delivered an original poem extolling MacSwiney.<ref name=":0" /> Chinese poet [[Guo Moruo]] wrote a poem about MacSwiney.<ref>{{cite book |title=Tagore and Yeats A Postcolonial Re-envisioning |date=2022 |publisher=Brill |page=111}}</ref>

In Ireland MacSwiney's sister [[Mary MacSwiney]] took on his seat in the Dáil and spoke against the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] in January 1922. His brother [[Seán MacSwiney]] was also elected in the [[1921 Irish elections|1921 elections]] for another Cork constituency. He also opposed the Treaty.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.irishnewsarchive.com/Olive/APA/INA/SharedView.Article.aspx?href=IPR%2F1942%2F01%2F23&id=Ar00115&sk=CB2D285C|title=Death Of Sean MacSwiney, Of Cork|work=[[The Irish Press]]|access-date=22 September 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Remember the Hunger Strikers Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin.JPG|thumb|Hunger Strikers Memorial Glasnevin Cemetery Dublin]]
MacSwiney's hunger strike set an example for future hunger strikers with nationwide strikes taking place during the [[1923 Irish Hunger Strikes]].

In 1945 his only child, [[Máire MacSwiney Brugha|Máire MacSwiney]], married [[Ruairí Brugha]], son of the nationalist [[Teachta Dála]] [[Cathal Brugha]]. Ruairí later became a TD, [[Member of the European Parliament]], and [[Seanad Éireann|Senator]]. Máire MacSwiney is the author of a memoir ''History's Daughter: A Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney'' (2006). She died in May 2012.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0521/maire-macswiney-brugha-dies-aged-94.html |title=Máire MacSwiney Brugha dies aged 94 |publisher=[[RTÉ News]] |date=21 May 2012 |access-date=26 August 2013 |archive-date=23 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923174554/https://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0521/321757-maire-macswiney-brugha-dies-aged-94/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

A collection of artefacts relating to MacSwiney's life is held at [[Cork Public Museum]]. His portrait, and a painting of his funeral mass, by [[Sir John Lavery]], are exhibited in Cork's [[Crawford Art Gallery]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Crawford Art Gallery | date = March 2022| url = https://crawfordartgallery.ie/27-february-5-march-1922/}}</ref>

There is also a secondary school named after him on the north side of Cork City, with a room dedicated to his memory.<ref>{{cite web | title = Terence MacSwiney Community College | url = http://tmscc.ie }}</ref>

On 28 October 2012, there was a friendship tree planting in memory of MacSwiney in Southwark.<ref>{{cite web | title = CRAIC – Fighting the Cuts (blog) | date = 26 October 2012 | url = http://craicfightingcuts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/dear-allalthough-i-have-not-received.html | access-date = 10 April 2015 | archive-date = 15 April 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150415201300/http://craicfightingcuts.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/dear-allalthough-i-have-not-received.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

The Paris-based Irish-American composer [[Swan Hennessy]] (1866–1929) dedicated his String Quartet No. 2, Op. 49 (1920) to the memory of MacSwiney ("à la Mémoire de Terence McSwiney, ''Lord Mayor de Cork''"). It was first performed in Paris, on 25 January 1922, by an Irish quartet led by [[Arthur Warren Darley|Arthur Darley]].<ref>Reviewed in ''Comoedia'', 30 January 1922. The score is available online at [http://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No.2,_Op.49_%28Hennessy,_Swan%29 imslp.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005184333/http://imslp.org/wiki/String_Quartet_No.2,_Op.49_(Hennessy,_Swan) |date=5 October 2015 }}. See also Axel Klein: "Music for MacSwiney", in: ''History Ireland'' vol. 26 no. 5 (September–October 2020), pp. 32–34.</ref>

==Writings==
* ''The Music of Freedom'', by 'Cuireadóir' (poems; Cork: The Risen Gaedheal Press, 1907).
* ''Fianna Fáil: The Irish Army: A Journal for Militant Ireland'', a weekly publication edited and mainly written by MacSwiney; Cork, 11 issues (September to December 1914).
* ''[https://archive.org/details/revolutionistap00macsgoog The Revolutionist; a play in five acts]'' (Dublin & London: Maunsel and Co., 1914) [[Internet Archive]].
* ''The Ethics of Revolt: A Discussion from a Catholic Point of View as to When it Becomes Lawful to Rise in Revolt Against the Civil Power'', by Toirdhealbhach Mac Suibhne (pamphlet, 1918).
* ''[https://archive.org/details/BattleCriesTerenceMacSwiney Battle-cries]'' (poems, 1918).
* ''[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028168924 Principles of Freedom]'' (Dublin: The Talbot Press, 1921).
* ''Despite Fools' Laughter. Poems by Terence MacSwiney''; edited by B. G. MacCarthy (Dublin: M. H. Gill and Son, 1944).

==Quotes==
* "It is not those who can inflict the most, but those who can suffer the most who will conquer."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/an-irishman-s-diary-on-a-prophetic-play-by-terence-macswiney-1.1996717 |title=An Irishman's Diary on a prophetic play by Terence MacSwiney |last=Maye |first=Brian |date=12 November 2014 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=26 March 2018 |language=en |archive-date=27 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084316/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/an-irishman-s-diary-on-a-prophetic-play-by-terence-macswiney-1.1996717 |url-status=live }}</ref> (Some sources replace "conquer" with "prevail")
* "I am confident that my death will do more to smash the British Empire than my release."<ref name="Bennett2010">{{cite book|last=Bennett|first=Richard|title=The Black and Tans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AiTOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|access-date=26 March 2018|year=2010|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=9781848843844|page=90|archive-date=3 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503211716/https://books.google.com/books?id=AiTOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90|url-status=live}}</ref> (On his hunger strike)
* "I want you to bear witness that I die as a Soldier of the Irish Republic."<ref>Bennett (2010), p. 108</ref> His last words to a visiting priest.
* "If I die the fruit will exceed the cost a thousand fold. The thought of it makes me happy. I thank God for it."<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/1916/thinkers-talkers-doers/terence-macswiney-triumph-of-blood-sacrifice-34495537.|title=''Terence MacSwiney: Triumph of blood sacrifice'' |last=Billings |first=Cathal |work=The Irish Independent |access-date=2 October 2021|date=3 March 2016|language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Families in the Oireachtas]]
* [[Kevin Barry]]
* [[List of members of the Oireachtas imprisoned during the Irish revolutionary period]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
* Francis J Costello, ''Enduring the Most: The Biography of Terence McSwiney''. Dingle: Brandon Books, 1996.
* Robert Welch (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
* Máire MacSwiney Brugha ''History's Daughter: a Memoir from the Only Child of Terence MacSwiney''. Dublin: O'Brien Press, 2006.
* Terence Mac Swiney's private papers are held in the [[University College Dublin School of History and Archives|University College Dublin Archives]] (IE UCDA P48b, P48c). There are also manuscript papers and copies of his published writings in the [[National Library of Ireland]] (MSS 35029–35035).

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author |id=4854}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Terence Joseph MacSwiney}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13132/13132-h/13132-h.htm ''Principles of Freedom''] at Project Gutenberg
* [https://www.jstor.org/pss/30092903 Terence MacSwiney: Lord Mayor of Cork, by Daniel Corkery]
* {{PM20|FID=pe/019103}}

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{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before = [[D. D. Sheehan]]}}
{{s-ttl|title  = {{nowrap|[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Mid Cork (UK Parliament constituency)|Cork Mid]]}}
       |years  = [[1918 Irish general election|1918]]–1920}}
{{s-vac}}
{{s-par|ie/oi}}
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[Teachta Dála]] for [[Mid Cork (UK Parliament constituency)|Cork Mid]]
       |years  = 1918–1920}}
{{s-vac}}
{{s-civ}}
{{s-bef|before = [[Tomás Mac Curtain]]}}
{{s-ttl|title  = [[Lord Mayor of Cork]]
       |years  = 1920}}
{{s-aft|after  = [[Donal O'Callaghan]]}}
{{end}}
{{IRA}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macswiney, Terence}}
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1920 deaths]]
[[Category:People educated at North Monastery]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal University of Ireland]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College Cork]]
[[Category:Brugha family|Terence]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Irish male dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:Irish people of English descent]]
[[Category:Irish republicans]]
[[Category:Irish Republican Army (1919–1922) members]]
[[Category:Irish Republicans killed during the Irish War of Independence]]
[[Category:Early Sinn Féin TDs]]
[[Category:Lord mayors of Cork]]
[[Category:Members of the 1st Dáil]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Cork constituencies (1801–1922)]]
[[Category:Irish prisoners who died on hunger strike]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Cork]]
[[Category:History of Cork (city)]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1918–1922]]
[[Category:MacSwiney family|Terence]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish male writers]]
[[Category:Irish male poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish poets]]