'BLOODY SUNDAY' BISHOP WHO WAVED HANDKERCHIEF DIES
The retired Catholic Bishop of Derry has died aged 82.
Bishop Edward Daly leaves the Guildhall after hearing the findings of the Saville Inquiry into 'Bloody Sunday', Londonderry, Northern Ireland, June 15, 2010. Bishop Daly died on Monday.OLI SCARFF/GETTY IMAGES
Dr Edward Daly, the retired Catholic Bishop of Derry who was filmed waving a bloodstained handkerchief on “Bloody Sunday” in 1972, died Monday, aged 82.
Daly was recognized for his peacekeeping efforts during the Troubles; the three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland that claimed an estimated 3,600 lives.
On January 30, 1972, British troops opened fire on a protest march in Derry against internment, killing 13 civilians. Daly, then a 38-year-old curate at St Eugene’s Cathedral, waved his white bloodstained handkerchief as he led a group of people carrying the lifeless body of one of victim John “Jackie” Duddy, 17, away from the scene.
The footage of Daly and his handkerchief became one of the iconic images of the massacre, known as Bloody Sunday.
“I went in front with this handkerchief in my hand and they carried Jackie behind me,” Daly told a BBC reporter on the day of the shooting. “All hell was let loose. We were very nervous and frightened, and when we laid him down on the pavement he had died.”
Throughout his life, Daly was critical of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the paramilitary group that fought the British security forces and the unionist segments of Northern Ireland’s population during the Troubles. In 1987, he refused to preside over requiem masses at IRA funerals after members of the group fired shots to cheers over a coffin during a service. He also refused to hold any formal meetings with IRA members until 1992.
“Bishop Daly served, without any concern for himself, throughout the traumatic years of the Troubles, finding his ministry shaped by the experience of witnessing violence and its effects,” the current Catholic Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, said in a statement.
Liberal-minded, Daly spoke out in favor of allowing priests to marry in 2011.
“As the bishop who ordained me to the priesthood in 1987, I had huge admiration for Bishop Edward. I shall always be grateful for his pastoral guidance, kindness and support,” said Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Catholic Primate of All Ireland. “Bishop Edward will be remembered as a fearless peace-builder—as exemplified by his courage on Bloody Sunday in Derry—and as a holy and humble faith leader. Bishop Edward’s bravery was also apparent in his lived conviction that violence from any side during the Troubles was futile and could never be morally justified.”
Daly retired in 1994 after he suffered a stroke. He acted as the chaplain to Derry’s Foyle Hospice, offering reassurance to the terminally ill, until February 2016.
“He was an iconic figure in civic life, and he will long be remembered as a cleric who worked tirelessly to promote peace for all,” said James Brokenshire, Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Bishop Edward Daly leaves the Guildhall after hearing the findings of the Saville Inquiry into 'Bloody Sunday', Londonderry, Northern Ireland, June 15, 2010. Bishop Daly died on Monday.OLI SCARFF/GETTY IMAGESDr Edward Daly, the retired Catholic Bishop of Derry who was filmed waving a bloodstained handkerchief on “Bloody Sunday” in 1972, died Monday, aged 82.
Daly was recognized for his peacekeeping efforts during the Troubles; the three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland that claimed an estimated 3,600 lives.
On January 30, 1972, British troops opened fire on a protest march in Derry against internment, killing 13 civilians. Daly, then a 38-year-old curate at St Eugene’s Cathedral, waved his white bloodstained handkerchief as he led a group of people carrying the lifeless body of one of victim John “Jackie” Duddy, 17, away from the scene.
The footage of Daly and his handkerchief became one of the iconic images of the massacre, known as Bloody Sunday.
“I went in front with this handkerchief in my hand and they carried Jackie behind me,” Daly told a BBC reporter on the day of the shooting. “All hell was let loose. We were very nervous and frightened, and when we laid him down on the pavement he had died.”
Throughout his life, Daly was critical of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the paramilitary group that fought the British security forces and the unionist segments of Northern Ireland’s population during the Troubles. In 1987, he refused to preside over requiem masses at IRA funerals after members of the group fired shots to cheers over a coffin during a service. He also refused to hold any formal meetings with IRA members until 1992.
“Bishop Daly served, without any concern for himself, throughout the traumatic years of the Troubles, finding his ministry shaped by the experience of witnessing violence and its effects,” the current Catholic Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, said in a statement.
Liberal-minded, Daly spoke out in favor of allowing priests to marry in 2011.
“As the bishop who ordained me to the priesthood in 1987, I had huge admiration for Bishop Edward. I shall always be grateful for his pastoral guidance, kindness and support,” said Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Catholic Primate of All Ireland. “Bishop Edward will be remembered as a fearless peace-builder—as exemplified by his courage on Bloody Sunday in Derry—and as a holy and humble faith leader. Bishop Edward’s bravery was also apparent in his lived conviction that violence from any side during the Troubles was futile and could never be morally justified.”
Daly retired in 1994 after he suffered a stroke. He acted as the chaplain to Derry’s Foyle Hospice, offering reassurance to the terminally ill, until February 2016.
“He was an iconic figure in civic life, and he will long be remembered as a cleric who worked tirelessly to promote peace for all,” said James Brokenshire, Britain's Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
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