Tom Williams ( Irish republican ) Thomas Joseph Williams , more commonly known as Tom Williams , ( ; 12 May 1923 – 2 September 1942 ) was a volunteer in C Company , 2nd Battalion of the Belfast Brigade in the Irish Republican Army from the Bombay Street area of Belfast , Northern Ireland . He was hanged in the Crumlin Road Gaol for his involvement in the murder of Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) police officer named Patrick Murphy during the Northern Campaign . Early years . Williams was born at 6 Amcomri Street in the Beechmount area of Belfast in 1923 . He was the third child in a family of six . His brother Richard was the eldest , his sister Mary died of meningitis at the age of three . Williams ' mother Mary died , at the age of 29 , after giving birth to his sister Sheila , who also died shortly after . After the death of his mother , Williams and his brother then went to live with their grandmother at 46 Bombay Street in the Clonard area of Belfast . Williams family had had to leave the small Catholic enclave in the Shore Road area of Belfast before moving to Beechmount , after their house was attacked and burnt . According to Williams ' s biographer , Jim McVeigh , " because of its defencelessness this enclave saw some of the most awful atrocities of the period , the most infamous occurring in February 1922 when loyalists threw a bomb into a group of Catholic children playing in Weaver Street , killing a number of them and grievously injuring many more . The Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor Dr MacRory , remonstrated and was quoted as saying " the butchery of my people " . " Williams ' s uncle Terry Williams was jailed for his part in defending the Shore Road enclave during this period . As a child , Williams suffered from asthma and as a result was often very ill . He attended St Gall ' s Primary School but left at an early age to obtain work , which at the time was difficult due to discrimination . His work therefore consisted of labouring and as a delivery boy . Na Fianna Éireann . As soon as Williams was old enough , he joined Na Fianna Éireann , the republican scout organisation founded by Countess Markievicz in 1909 , becoming a member of the Con Colbert slua in the Clonard area . Alfie Hannaway , a friend of Williams was his OC in Na Fianna , and assigned Williams to the rank of Quartermaster for the company . Williams took his role in Na Fianna very seriously and all who came to know him were struck by his dedication and maturity , even at this early age . Most of his activities in Na Fianna took place in a small hall in Kane Street , just off Bombay Street . There they spent their time drilling , attending lectures in history , and sometimes scouted for the Irish Republican Army ( IRA ) . With their own money the boys were able to equip the hall with a boxing ring , PT equipment and some tables and chairs . IRA activity . At the age of 17 , Williams was old enough to become a volunteer and joined C Company of the IRA in the Clonard area where he lived . C Company ' s area of operations ran the extent of the lower Springfield Road , along the Falls Road from Beechmount to Conway Street , and surrounding the streets in between . Due to his " dedication and his remarkable ability " Williams was appointed to the role of Adjutant of C Company . At Easter 1942 the government of Northern Ireland had banned all parades to commemorate the anniversary of the Easter Rising . An IRA unit of six men and two women staged a diversionary action against the RUC to allow three parades to take place in West Belfast , but in this clash an RUC officer was killed and the six IRA men were captured . The RUC officer , Constable Patrick Murphy , a father of nine children , from the Falls Road , was one of a minority of Roman Catholics serving in the RUC . There has been some debate over the years about who actually fired the fatal shot . The six IRA members were convicted and sentenced to death for murder under the law of common purpose . Five , Henry Cordner ( 19 ) ; William James Perry ( 21 ) ; Sean Terence Oliver ( 21 ) ; Patrick Simpson ( 18 ) ; and Joe Cahill ( 21 ) ( who went on to become a senior figure in the IRA ) had their sentences commuted . Williams , who acknowledged that he was the leader of the IRA unit involved , and took full responsibility for the actions of his men , was not . Execution . Williams was hanged in Crumlin Road Gaol Belfast at 8a . m . on Wednesday 2 September 1942 . The executioner was the official English hangman Thomas Pierrepoint , assisted by his nephew Albert Pierrepoint . Afterwards Williams ' body was interred in unhallowed ground in an unmarked grave within the grounds of the prison . His remains were only released in January 2000 after the closure of the prison in 1996 and a lengthy campaign by the National Graves Association , Belfast . Before Williams was executed he inscribed some messages on the backs of some playing cards . On one he wrote " To ever who receives this to pray for me always & pray for the cause for which I am dying . God Save Ireland … . " Father Alexis who witnessed the execution spoke after to his friends in the prison chapel . " I met the bravest of the brave this morning " , he said , " Tom Williams walked to that scaffold without a tremor in his body . The only people who were shaking were us and the hangman . Father Alexis concluded by saying to the remaining prisoners , " I ’ ve one other thing to say to you . Don ’ t pray for Tom Williams , pray to him , for at this moment Tom is a saint in heaven . " His funeral held on 19 January 2000 was attended by thousands . Joe Cahill , Tom ' s cell mate , and John Oliver , sentenced to death with Tom but later reprieved , as well as Madge McConville , who had been arrested with Tom , Greta McGlone , Billy McKee , Eddie Keenan and perhaps least known , Nell Morgan , Tom ' s girlfriend at the time of his death , were all present . Six senior Sinn Féin members including Gerry Adams were also present in St Paul ' s Church on the Lower Falls Road for the mass . Unfortunately , Tom ' s boyhood friend and the man who introduced him to the Republican Movement , Alfie Hannaway , was unable to attend the funeral due to ill health . < 5 > Tom ' s funeral mass was celebrated by Rev . Fr Paddy O ' Donnell , C . Ss . R . , a Redemptorist Priest from Clonard monastery . In Irish republican culture . He is remembered in a ballad " Tom Williams " . Various recordings have been made , most notably by the Flying Column , and by Éire Óg who preamble their version with the story of the campaign to release his body . The now disbanded , Volunteer Tom Williams Republican Flute Band from Glasgow , Scotland was named in his memory as was the Tom Williams Camogie Club in Belfast References . 5 http : / / republican - news . org / archive / 2000 / April20 / 20obit . html