From IRA gunman to Catholic deacon: The amazing journey of Mark Lenaghan

From Sunday World:

A Catholic clergyman whose funeral took place earlier this week was once a ruthless IRA gunman, the Sunday World has learned.

But in jail where he was serving a lengthy sentence, Mark Lenaghan rejected violence and dedicated his life to serving others and he eventually became a Deacon in the Catholic Church

Reverend Lenaghan (65) passed away peacefully on September 4 surrounded by his wife and family.

And on Monday, Bishop Alan McGuckian SJ of Down and Connor Diocese officiated at his funeral in St Malachy’s Church in Castlewellan.

Rev Lenaghan was later buried at St Mary’s Cemetery, Aughlisnafin, in the Co Down town.

But as a teenager growing up on Belfast’s Twinbrook estate, Mark joined the IRA and became a member of a so-called punishment squad, dishing out summary justice to anyone deemed to have broken republican law and order.

And he later graduated to an IRA active service unit which waged war on British soldiers and police officers on the streets of Belfast.

“There was exaltation as well as fear when you held the gun. A buzz. A hype,” he once told the Los Angeles Times.

“All I thought was: Get the job done. Do it right. Make sure it is done well,” Lenaghan said during an interview about his days as a republican gunman.

Lenaghan said he became involved with the IRA after his family had been forced from their home by a Protestant gang and a school teacher had been killed by the British army.

During his 15 years as a member of the IRA, he never wavered about the use of violence.

“Then on February 15, 1982, we went to shoot two soldiers on the Falls Road,” Lenaghan recalled.

“Instead, we hit a civilian in the street by mistake. I was arrested with a rifle.”

Lenaghan and another man were stopped by soldiers as they tried to escape on a motorbike which crashed at Iveagh Street, off the Falls Road.