GERRY Adams unveiled a plaque and planted an oak tree in the grounds of Cumann Uí Dhonnabháin Rossa CLG on the Shaws Road at the weekend in memory of one of Rossa’s sons – Andrew McGovern. Andy played for Rossa and in the mid-1930’s was chair of the club. He was an IRA Volunteer during the 1920s and a hunger-striker.
Andy McGovern was originally from Fermanagh. He and his brother Joe were interned on the infamous prison ship Argenta in 1922 where they endured the most horrendous conditions. The Argenta was a wooden hulled ship launched as a cargo vessel in May 1919. However it was quickly found to have a serious problem with leakage and was declared “unseaworthy” by US Authorities. It was then sold to the British as a prison ship in May 1922.
That same month the Stormont Unionist regime introduced internment under the Special Powers Act. Within a short period over 700 men were interned in Crumlin Road Prison, the Larne Workhouse, Derry Gaol and on the Argenta.
Over 250 were on the Argenta where conditions were appalling. Internees were confined below decks in cages which each held 50 internees. The prisoners were forced to use broken toilets that frequently overflowed into their communal area. There were no tables and the men had to eat off the floor. Internees were routinely beaten by their gaolers and suffered from poor health and disease as a result their inhumane and cruel treatment.
There were several hunger strikes against the conditions. In the winter of 1923 Andy McGovern and 200 other republican prisoners across Ireland embarked on a mass hunger strike. He suffered greatly from this experience.
Addressing the Rossa members and the family circle of Andy McGovern who were present at the Rossa event on Sunday, Gerry Adams thanked Micky McGovern, Andy’s nephew who first proposed the event, and Philip McGovern, Andy’s grandson who provided much of the family history.
Gerry Adams said: “After his release in 1924 Andy McGovern married Ardoyne woman, Mary ‘Minnie’ Skillen and they had 11 children. Andy worked as a bread server in Kennedy’s bakery before opening his own shop on the Whiterock Road. He joined Rossa and played for the club. In 1936 he became its chairperson making a valuable contribution to its growth. He died in September 1943 aged 44.
"Andy McGovern was a proud Irish patriot who dedicated his life to the republican cause, the well-being of his clan and neighbours and to Rossa. I have no doubt that if we keep doing the right things that the oak tree we planted on Sunday will grow tall and strong in a free and united Ireland.”
