John Kelly’s name will be writ ‘brave and bold’ in Derry’s ‘true history’

The life of the late Bloody Sunday campaigner was characterised by ‘hope, justice, courage, perseverance, love, faith and the dignity of every human being’, Fr. Daniel McFaul told the congregation at St. Mary’s in Creggan.

Fr. McFaul spoke of how John gave much of his life to the campaign for justice for the victims of Bloody Sunday when on January 30, 1972, his brother Michael, aged 17, was one of the innocent men and boys murdered by the British Parachute Regiment.

"He and his family suffered the injustice of his brother being cruelly taken from him and through the suffering and the trauma he and his family experienced, found a reason to seek justice for his brother Michael and those killed on Bloody Sunday and for the families,” said Fr. McFaul.

Tony Doherty, chairperson of the Bloody Sunday Trust, addressing mourners, said: "He got his strength, which carried him through the darkest of times, from the realisation that he now spoke for Michael, the innocent teenager who fell dead in Rossville Street, and in speaking for Michael and declaring his brother's innocence, often challenged, he wasn't going to be cowed down by anyone friend or foe.”

Mr. Doherty observed: “When we are all dead and gone future generations of scholars will write the true history of the city of Derry and how we forced the British to admit their terrible deeds. John's name will be writ brave and bold into that history. Brave and bold for that is what he was.”

Mr. Kelly, who was a former chair of The Bloody Sunday Campaign and was Honorary Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, sadly passed away following a battle with illness on Saturday.

At his Funeral Mass in Creggan on Monday Mr. Doherty told mourners how his late friend – ‘the boy from Creggan’ – had been a driving force in the campaign for justice for the Bloody Sunday victims and their families which culminated in 2010 when they were declared innocent following the Saville inquiry and report.

"The working class man from Dunmore Gardens, Creggan, became the leader of our campaign for truth and justice at a time when leadership was badly needed.

"From humble, uncertain and unsteady beginnings in 1992 he guided, encouraged, nurtured and lit the pathway for what would become an epic battle for our human rights against all the odds,” the Bloody Sunday Trust chair maintained.

Mr. Doherty joked about how John used to quip that during one early meeting he had left the room for a smoke and upon returning to his chair he found he had become the chair of the campaign.

Under his chairmanship, however, the achievements were ground-breaking.

"So what did this boy from Creggan achieve?” asked Mr. Doherty. “He led one of the most successful family campaigns ever to have impacted on these islands, a campaign which has become the benchmark for others in Ballymurphy, Springhill, the Stardust in Dublin, Liverpool and further afield.

“He was largely responsible for bringing about the second inquiry into the murders on Bloody Sunday, which established the innocence of all the dead and wounded.

"He forced the British Prime Minister [David Cameron] to apologise for the murders and mayhem on the streets of Derry on Bloody Sunday and along with Jean Hegarty, he literally tore the despised Widgery report into shreds on the steps of the Guildhall,” said Mr. Doherty who declared that put simply Mr. Kelly ‘changed the history of the city’.

Fr. McFaul spoke of how John was ‘a proud Derry man and an even prouder Creggan man’ from Dunmore Gardens who had met his late wife Margaret at a streetlamp on Greenwalk

“She was from Inishowen Gardens, just the next street. It was love at first sight,” the congregation was told.

The couple wed in 1969 and raised six boys John, Michael, Emmet, Mark, Niall and Martin.

John was sadly predeceased by his wife of 52 years in 2021.

Fr. McFaul spoke of how the couple had been devoted to their sons and grandchildren and their future.

"He had a desire to make our city a better place for you his children and grandchildren's generation.

"He, and your mammy, fought hard to bring justice and peace into future generations in our city,” he said.

Addressing John’s grandchildren directly the parish priest reflected: “Your granda was a part of an extraordinary chapter in the history of our city. He was your granda. As you grow older you will hear people speak about his courage and his determination, loyalty and commitment to justice, you will show your friends around the museum he helped to make and you will continue to tell his story.”

Mr. Doherty spoke of John’s role in putting the Museum of Free Derry in the heart of the Bogside on the map.

“He had a magical way with people using skills honed in Springtown training centre or in Westend Park and finally in the now famous Museum of Free Derry.

"He did, of course, make the museum famous, greeting delegations from all over the world, and taking great pride in showing people around and telling them his story.

"The young museum staff love him, simply because he was courteous, took time with them to explain this point or to point that out to them.

“He is a grandfather to them all,” said the Bloody Sunday Trust chair.

And John’s voice and memory will live on in the museum itself, Mr. Doherty told mourners.

“We have now framed his museum jumper and have it hanging in the reception. As well as the jumper we have his unmistakeable, cool voice guiding visitors through the city's history. As well as the jumper and the voice his image will live forever in the Museum of Free Derry,” he said.

Fr. McFaul said that throughout his life John carried the memory of his brother Michael, the hopes of his family and the responsibility of securing justice for the Bloody Sunday victims with him.

He observed that John had ‘fought the good fight’ and encouraged his sons and grandchildren to ‘above all carry forward the best of what he stood for – hope, justice, courage, perseverance, love, faith and the dignity of every human being’.

During his remarks Mr. Doherty said: “As a measure of the man I don't know one single person who has a bad word to day about John because he was a gentleman and had been around a few corners in his day he had a way of disarming people.”

John Kelly is mourned by his children John, Michael, Emmett, Mark, Niall and Martin and wider family circle.

Following his Requiem Mass at St. Mary’s Creggan on Monday his remains were taken for interment in the City Cemetery.