Michael Traynor

Michael Traynor (Irish: Miceal Treinfir; 1917 – fl. 1970) was a leading member of Sinn Féin in the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Belfast in an area with a mix of Protestants and Catholics, at an early age, Traynor saw the dead bodies of three Irish Republican Army (IRA) members, all shot in the head. He joined the IRA himself in the 1930s, and served at least two spells in the Crumlin Road Prison, during which he undertook short hunger strikes. By 1938, when the S-Plan was carried out, he was member of its GHQ staff, and for a time, he served as Adjutant-General. Initially known as a bomb maker, alongside Tony D'Arcy, Jack McNeela and Dom Adams, he led agitation for the IRA in the south to lead guerilla raids on the north. When Tomás Ó Dubhghaill suggested raiding the Magazine Store in Phoenix Park, Traynor was his strongest supporter. This was successful, but soon after Traynor was arrested ...