Gerard Patrick "Gerry" Conlon was an Irish man known for being one of the Guildford Four who spent 15 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of being a Provisional IRA bomber.
11 Facts About Gerry Conlon
2.
Gerard Conlon was born in Belfast and grew up at 7 Peel Street on the corner of Mary Street in the impoverished but close-knit community of the Lower Falls Road.
3.
Gerry Conlon's father was Giuseppe Conlon, a factory worker, and his mother was Sarah Conlon, a hospital cleaner.
4.
In 1974, at age 20, Gerry Conlon went to England to seek work and to escape the everyday violence he was encountering on the streets of Belfast.
5.
Gerry Conlon continued to protest his innocence, insisting that police had tortured him into making a false confession.
6.
Gerry Conlon described his experience of injustice in his book Proved Innocent.
7.
Gerry Conlon was portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis in the film In the Name of the Father.
8.
Gerry Conlon eventually recovered and became a campaigner against various miscarriages of justice in the United Kingdom and around the world.
9.
Gerry Conlon made a cameo appearance in the film Face alongside Robert Carlyle.
10.
Gerry Conlon died of lung cancer on 21 June 2014 in his native Belfast home, surrounded by family members.
11.
Gerry Conlon's funeral was held at St Peter's Cathedral in Belfast: the ceremony was presided by Father Ciaran Dallat and saw the participation of the other members of the Guildford Four, the Maguire Seven, Irish Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore and Conlon's former lawyer Gareth Peirce.