Matthew O'Hanlon

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Matthew O'Hanlon was a member of the Irish Citizens Army and a soldier of the Irish Republican Army from 1941 to 1962. He was the brother of Francis O'Hanlon, uncle of James, Ann, and Daniel O'Hanlon, and great-uncle of Byron O'Hanlon. He was born in County Armagh, Ireland in 1925.His father was an iron worker in London. He was well known as the rebel fighter who commanded guerilla forces in Belfast in the 1952 Christmas Uprising. It is said that he took down 400 British soldiers in his IRA career. In 1962, when the IRA changed its tactics from military to terrorist, he left and became a powerful force in the Irish Civil Rights movement. When he did this, the head of the IRA, Tadghe O'Connell, took some followers to his house and killed his wife and kids. This angered Matthew greatly, and he eventually shot down Tadghe in a confrontation in London. Finally, in 1969, he was arrested by the British police for crimes against the English establishment, and died in jail in 1993.