Police in Northern Ireland are to re-open investigations into the sectarian murder of Rory McIlroy’s great uncle at the height of the troubles.
Joseph McIlroy, brother of Rory’s golfing grandfather Jimmy, was targeted by the UVF simply because he was a Catholic living in the Protestant area of Orangefield, near Holywood, where Rory’s side of the McIlroy family still reside.
The father of four was gunned down in his own kitchen in 1972 after loyalist paramilitaries had camped out in his garden.
Jimmy McIlroy was fixing the washing machine when the gunmen opened fire through the back door of the family home as his four daughters slept upstairs.
His young wife Mary had just gone into the living room when the gunmen pounced, aiming at a target visible through the frosted back door but not identifiable as man, woman or child.
The inquest into the November 1972 killing heard that Jimmy staggered into the living room after five rounds of gunfire.
“I put my arms around him and then I noticed my hands were covered in blood. I ran screaming into the street,” Mary McIlroy told the inquest.
Police at the time made it clear that Joseph McIlroy, known to his friends as Joe, was shot merely because he had moved his Catholic family into the Protestant Orangefield area of East Belfast.
No-one has ever been charged and convicted of the killing of Joseph McIlroy, one of hundreds of unsolved murders now being re-examined by the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
The story came to light at the weekend as internet chat-rooms debated Rory McIlroy’s Irishness and the swift disappearance of an Irish tricolor thrown in his direction minutes after his US Open win at Congressional.
Some loyalist fans in the North have claimed the disappearance of the flag as a victory for their cause, others have confirmed that the Catholic McIlroy has no interest in the politics of Northern Ireland’s past.
His parents Gerry and Rosie are both Catholics. Gerry’s father Jimmy, the first McIlroy to grace the fairways of Holywood golf club, was one of the first Catholics to work in the Harlaand and Wolf shipyard.
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Rory was baptized in the very church where his great-uncle Joe was buried and he attended a Catholic primary school – St Patrick’s – but he is not of any political persuasion.
His secondary school – the religiously mixed Sullivan Upper Grammar – preached political moderation in a society torn apart by religious strife.
‘Lámh Foisdineach An Uachtar’ reads the school motto, the Irish for ‘with the gentle hand foremost.’
Aside from a quote which claimed he would play in the Olympics for Britain, Rory McIlroy has never said anything to encourage political debate or divide.
His golfing career blossomed under the auspices of the 32 county Golfing Union of Ireland and he has always acknowledged their help en route to stardom.
He played for Ireland – with fellow Ulsterman Graeme McDowell – at the World Cup in 2009 and one of the first things he did at Congressional last week was commit to the Irish Open in Killarney at the end of July, calling it his ‘national championship.'
If anything, according to comments by noted Ulster observers at the weekend, McIlroy represents a new face of Northern Ireland. He is one of the young people with no time for the politics or the divides of the past and no interest in them.
Two years ago, an internet poster by the name of Paul Moore went online to clarify the McIlroy position.
“I want to challenge some of the misguided crap being written about Rory McIlroy,” wrote Moore, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
“Let’s clear up some things. He grew up in an area which is 90% Protestant, but he is in fact one of the 10% Catholic. He says he is from Northern Ireland, and he has being going with a Protestant for a long time.
“Religion and nationality ain’t massive on his agenda. But if you DO ask him is he Irish, his answer is simple, YES. Hope this clears some things up.”
“I remember hearing the soccer manager Martin O’Neill saying that when someone from Northern Ireland does well, everyone here feels particularly proud of them whether they’re Protestant or Catholic, whether they see themselves as British or Irish,” said Houston.
“That pride is something wonderful. It’s because we’re such a small place, population-wise, and because we’ve been through so much.”
Ironically, on the very day he returned to Northern Ireland with the US Open trophy in hand, East Belfast witnessed some of the worst rioting seen in years as Loyalist thugs laid siege to the Catholic enclave of Short Strand.
“I know that 99.9% of the population doesn’t want to see that,” said McIlroy when asked about the sectarian riots.
“Everyone just wants to live in peaceful times. I am aware that I’m going to be portrayed as a role model. I have to be very careful in what I say and do.”
16 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Chipmanholmes | Sep 04, 2012, 10:26 AM EDT
This might sound trite but I have been wondering If Rory was named after Rory Gallagher?
Chipmanholmes | Jun 29, 2011, 09:58 AM EDT
You only have to widen it out a little to see there is a link to deprivation and unemployment - case in point is another riot flashpoint - the Kilwilkie estate in Lurgan which is a very poor area and a dissident Repubican anti peace process hotspot (Catholic cop Stephen aroll was shot dead nearby a few years back just after the dissident shot the two soldiers (and the pizza delivery men including a polish guy) in Antrim who were going to Afghanistan the next day) - constant riots, hoaxes and attacks on police and the trains / train tracks that run next to the estate
Aughavey | Jun 29, 2011, 08:50 AM EDT
Think your history is a bit wonky Buffalo - Irish President Mary McAleece visited East Belfast today and standing alongside her were prominent Loyalists and Republicans - the problems in the short strand are localised and long running (up to two hundred years ago - long before the creation of Northern Ireland so out goes your `reason`) and you don`t layout why they are envious of the Catholic population? The two housing estates in the short strand area are two of the most deprived areas in NI if you care to look up the stats.
Buffalobrave | Jun 29, 2011, 06:33 AM EDT
Loyalists will always be angry and envious of the Catholic population. Because unionists by sharing power negate the very reason the insisted on the state being created in the first place. Rory McIlroy knows which side his bread is buttered on. He has to live among these animals. Eddie Ervine's (ex-F1 driver) family was threatened by loyalists because he considered himself Irish , not British. Eddie by the way was a prot from the six counties.
hancock | Jun 28, 2011, 11:48 AM EDT
What a bunch of Irish morons in Belfast.
Aughavey | Jun 28, 2011, 10:03 AM EDT
sorry mamaginnty but you are wrong - I wasn`t posting my opinion I was posting facts. Rory and his dad held up Northern Ireland flags and a quick Google of `Rory McIlroy Graeme McDowell Northern Ireland flag` and hit images shows both players standing together with the NI flag held up. And the Belfast Telegraph article published on the 25th if you google `attack on girl blamed for trouble belfast telegraph` you will see it is not my opinion but a Tele report - this is a poor area on both sides with high unemployment and social disadvantage so your explanation is just plain wrong - it`s an interface area that has had tit-for-tat low key criminality against each other for hundreds of years.
Aughavey | Jun 28, 2011, 09:21 AM EDT
sorry mamaginnty but you are wrong - I wasn`t posting my opinion I was posting facts. Rory and his dad held up Northern Ireland flags and a quick Google of `Rory McIlroy Graeme McDowell Northern Ireland flag` and hit images shows both players standing together with the NI flag held up. And the Belfast Telegraph article published on the 25th if you google `attack on girl blamed for trouble belfast telegraph` you will see it is not my opinion but a Tele report - this is a poor area on both sides with high unemployment and social disadvantage so your explanation is just plain wrong - it`s an interface area that has had tit-for-tat low key criminality against each other for hundreds of years.
Aughavey | Jun 28, 2011, 09:20 AM EDT
sorry mamaginnty but you are wrong - I wasn`t posting my opinion I was posting facts. Rory and his dad held up Northern Ireland flags and a quick Google of `Rory McIlroy Graeme McDowell Northern Ireland flag` and hit images shows both players standing together with the NI flag held up. And the Belfast Telegraph article published on the 25th if you google `attack on girl blamed for trouble belfast telegraph` you will see it is not my opinion but a Tele report - this is a poor area on both sides with high unemployment and social disadvantage so your explanation is just plain wrong - it`s an interface area that has had tit-for-tat low key criminality against each other for hundreds of years.
seanaci | Jun 27, 2011, 09:00 PM EDT
The IRFU (Irish Rugby Football Union) continues to field an “all-Ireland” team as it has done since the Union was formed in 1879. Many of its great players are from the “six counties” – that is, Northern Ireland. However, the IRFU Council recognizes the original provinces - Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connaught, with Ulster being the nine counties – not just the six forming Northern Ireland. Whether this is because they are mired in the past or were far-sighted visionaries I don’t know – but it has produced great teams, exciting games and a string of victories by keeping politics out of sport and vice versa. I feel sure Rory McIlroy will follow their example.
cillowen | Jun 27, 2011, 04:29 PM EDT
whether he likes it or not he'll undoubtably take the proddy & UK side of things - there being gold and safety for he and family for doing so. Sad but let's get real.
mamaginnty | Jun 27, 2011, 02:50 PM EDT
Aughavey, you like " to return to that " with your comments, and lies about the riots last week, loyalists 20s and 30s have been building up to this for months. Loyalists do not want the peace process because they can see that nationalist are finally able to get work.. (catholics need not apply) does not apply now, nationalists can get a decent education now, nationalist can choose who gets into government now, nationalists are able to get on in life now. Not downtrodden as before. All this along with the peace process does not go down well with loyalists. As you can see ...I did not mention any killings that the UDF were involved in. Rory did nothing to the irish flag, he was to overcome at winning. He does not get involved with any ( side ) in the north of Ireland because since an early age his life has been golf balls and determination to be the best.
snakehips | Jun 27, 2011, 11:59 AM EDT
God bless the new generation of young people in their 20's & 30's who seem to see beyond the horrors created by previous generations in many nations, not just Ireland.
Aughavey | Jun 27, 2011, 11:26 AM EDT
The other question is , whats the point since justice has been overrided by the peace process and all such crimes are subject to the eraly release scheme of the Good Friday Agreement that now sees terrorists in government jobs and such like?
Aughavey | Jun 27, 2011, 11:13 AM EDT
I`m sure he didn`t `dis` your flag golffan but his flag of choice is the Northern Ireland flag not the British Union jack or Republic of Ireland tricolour. The rioting in East Belfast is unfortuantely a common occurance at this interface area with this particular riot on Manday apparently being kicked of by an attack on a protestant girl and Loyalist houses by Nationalists on the saturday (reported in the Belfast Tele the other day) and sectarian killings nothing new either with the IRA being implicated last week by a report into the Kingsmills massacre where 10 protestant textile workers had their van stopped on their way to work, the 1 Catholic told to run away and the 10 protetants shot dead. Nobody wants to return to that.
sham1977 | Jun 27, 2011, 10:45 AM EDT
Thanks for clearing that up golffan. I thought he threw it. I feel silly now for jumping to conclusions. It just goes to show how a situation could be completely misread.
golffan | Jun 27, 2011, 10:05 AM EDT
To whom it concerns, On a jubilant 18th green that Sunday, I, along with hundreds of other irish golf fans were celebrating 'our' irishness. I threw my flag at Rory as he passed by to sign his scorecard. It did not get his attention and was whisked immediately by the security man on his right who then ran to the barrier and returned it to me. Stories about how Rory 'dissed' the flag or 'threw the flag to the ground' are all UNTRUE . Sorry to the McIlroy family for my action.