John Crowley (Irish revolutionary)
John Crowley was an Irish revolutionary and hunger striker, holding the Guinness World Record for the longest hunger strike in history - 94 days.. From 11 August to 12 November 1920 in Cork County Gaol, John, his younger brother Peter William Crowley, and 10 others underwent a hunger strike of 94 days, demanding the reinstatement of their political status and release from prison. Their strike was parallel to that of the Lord Mayor Cork, Terence MacSwiney. He came from the prominent Irish republican Crowley family of Ballylanders, his brothers being the T.D. and Senator Tadhg Crowley and his fellow hunger striker Peter William Crowley.Early Life
John Crowley was born as the third son of Timothy Crowley and Ellen Ryan, in the village of Ballylanders, County Limerick. The Crowley family were staunch Irish nationalists, John's father Timothy having fought in the Fenian Rising of 1867 and all but one of his brothers being members of the Irish Volunteers, and some members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood. He was a graduate of Rockwell College, and grew up in a well off family, his father owning a drapery and being the town postmaster. The Crowley Drapery in Ballylanders is still open today.
