Liam Pilkington
Irish revolutionary
Liam Pilkington (2 June 1894 – 26 March 1977), also known as William Pilkington and Billy Pilkington, was a member of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence. Pilkington was General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 3rd Western Division, IRA, from 1921 to 1923. After the conclusion of the Irish War of Independence Pilkington joined the Anti-Treaty IRA during the Irish Civil War. He attempted to become a politician for a short while, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Disillusioned due to the Irish Civil War, Pilkington became a Catholic priest for the remainder of his life. He served as a priest in South Africa and Wales before retiring to Liverpool, England, where he died.
Early life
Pilkington was born in Sligo on 2 June 1894 to Margaret Mary Pilkington (née Torsney) and John Pilkington. He was the second of twelve children born to the couple. Only nine of Pilkington's siblings survived into adulthood. He received his education at the local Marist Brothers' convent school and the Day Trades Preparatory School.
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This entry incorporates text from “Liam Pilkington” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.