THE story of hunger striker Frank Stagg will be told in a new play coming to Belfast at the end of the month.
'We have him back! The Frank Stagg Story' tells the tale of Mayo man and IRA volunteer Frank Stagg, who died in 1976 after sixty-two days on hunger strike in Wakefield Prison.
Two of Frank's brothers, his widow and his mother wished for him to be buried in the republican plot in Ballina. However, the Irish government of Liam Cosgrave blocked these efforts, and diverted a repatriation flight to Shannon while Frank's mother and other family members waited at Dublin.
Playwright Brían MacSuibhne was born in Donegal and raised in Glasgow, and now lives in County Mayo.
"What really caught my attention was a photo of Frank Stagg's mother," he said. "I was doing some research into Michael Gaughan, his fellow hunger striker, when I came across a photo of Frank Stagg's mother at the airport just after being told that the Aer Lingus plane had been diverted from Dublin to Shannon.
"She'd been through it before with her brother who had died in the Tourmakeady ambush. She came from a republican family, she married into a republican family. Her husband was in the Old IRA. So this photo just took me down this rabbit hole," he said.
"Even though the play is about Frank Stagg, it's kind of about the family. A mother's love. A brother's love. The promise made by Frank's brother George.
Brían had met Frank's brother George before. He started drafting a script with his two daughters as his first proofreaders.
"By about draft three I thought I would send it to George. I was really nervous for those couple of hours after him getting it by email, that he was going to be angry at me.
"Then my phone rang and it was George Stagg, and he was in tears. We both cried. It just brought back so many memories for him. He never forgot his brother, but with it being the fiftieth anniversary for him it just stirred up a lot of memories. He just loved his big brother."
Brían worked closely with the family in writing the play, and sought their input on issues to include or to take out. The result is a play in which "ninety per cent" of what is said on stage "was actually said".
This is despite the unique challenges faced by Brían, including those posed by Section 31, which forbade broadcast interviews or reports of interviews or statements by anyone speaking on behalf of a number of organisations, the most prominent of which was Sinn Féin.
Frank Stagg was initially buried in Leigue Cemetery, against his wishes to be buried in the Republican Plot. His grave was covered with concrete and Gardaí were posted to guard it around the clock.
George Stagg made a promise to his brother that he would fulfil his wishes and bury him in the Republican Plot, and the story of his efforts is told honestly and openly in the play.
Brían said that feedback from the audience has been hugely positive, with venues selling out across the country since the plays initial run in May.
"A dear friend of mine from the Falls Road now lives in Westport. He sent me a message saying he was blown away by the play. He said what was done to Frank Stagg felt like your protective big brother turning on you.
"There's a scene in which Frank's sister – Martha but we call her Rosaline in the play – writes him a letter, where she just wants him to stop."
Brían said the letter was used against Frank by authorities when he was on his hunger strike, to the point were, "Frank said to his mother to 'ask Martha not to write any more letters'.
"On Saturday just past, Martha stood on the stage afterwards and read out a different letter she had just written. It almost takes away that fifty years of regret she has from writing that first letter. There's a hell of a lot of healing in this play for the family."
Speaking about the play, Frank Stagg's brother George said it tells his story with “honesty, dignity and accuracy".
"It honours not only his sacrifice, but the pain, courage and determination of our family in the face of Frank’s treatment, even after his death."
"We Have Him Back! – The Frank Stagg Story" will be on in St Comgall's on the 24 and 25 October. Tickets are available for purchase online at stcomgalls.org/events.
