Aidan Martin McAnespie was born on 22nd June 1964 to John McAnespie from Glencull, Ballygawley, Co Tyrone and Liz nee Crush Treanor from Dundayon, Co Monaghan. He spent the early years of his life living in Moore Street, Aughnacloy with his older siblings Sean, Eilish, Gerald, Margo and Vincent. He was a very shy young fella, the quietist in the house.
Aidan attended primary school at St Mary’s P.S, Aughnacloy on Moore Street, Aughnacloy and then onto St Ciaran’s High School, Ballygawley.
Aidan had his introduction to Gaelic Games early on, when Fr. Kerr started the juvenile training in the Parish. He would attend training every Saturday, taking week about between Aughnacloy and Caledon. He also attended Irish dancing every Sunday in Aughnacloy hall, although he wasn’t as keen on this!
A young Aidan’s first knowledge of the Troubles began with watching bombings and the British Army’s presence in Belfast on the TV. The family became hardened to the Troubles from an early age, having to regularly evacuate the house and run up the street due to bomb scares, before the house was eventually bombed in.
The McAnespies moved to the house on the Tullyvar Road around the time Aidan started secondary school in Ballygawley with his friends Mark Sherry, Declan Mohan, Padraig and Martin Muldoon. Apart from playing football, Aidan had very little interest in school life. Aidan was often on crutches due to a reoccurring knee injury sustained at football.
Along with football, Aidan had a keen interest in motorbikes and scramblers, and would have attended rallies with the Todd’s, who lived on the Monaghan side of the checkpoint. He would also have called with Tom Cassidy Snr and Tom Jnr and spent a few evenings a week tinkering with motorbike engines. Aidan travelled to and from work at Monaghan Poultry Products, Emyvale until he got himself a motorbike and could travel himself.
Like most young fellas, Aidan enjoyed going to discos and a few drinks with his girlfriend at the time, Ita Arthurs from Dungannon. Ita was Aidan’s girlfriend for a number of years until shortly before his death. She has only good things to say about him, remembering happy times, despite the harassment from the British Army that Aidan was enduring at the time, travelling the country attending circuit rallies and Tyrone matches, and spending time with family and friends.
Ita first spotted Aidan at a meeting in St Patricks Hall in Dungannon. She asked her friends who he was after admiring him from across the room and when her friend didn’t know, Ita used the register for signing in to get his name. The following Saturday night was St. Patrick’s night, 1985, and Ita was in the Glenavon disco in Cookstown, and who should come across the floor asking for a dance, only Aidan. Ita fell head over heels with him that night. The following day, Ita was in her bedroom with a few of her girlfriends, telling them all about this man who she was crazy about and who left her home with no word of seeing her again. She was midflow through her drama when there was a knock at the door and low and behold, it was Aidan, who was ‘just passing’ from Aughnacloy through the White City in Dungannon, as you do, and asked if she wanted to go for a spin. Ita, very cool and calm, explained that her friends were there but were just leaving, and she went upstairs, closed the door and squealed and had a little dance, before kicking the girls out!
Ita described Aidan as a very respectful man, who would sit and play chess in the house with her sick father. She remembers him very much as a family man, who had great time for children, especially his nieces and nephews.
Monaghan was always a home to Aidan. He felt he had more freedom there with no British Army and no checkpoints. At the later stage of his life, Sean, Vincie and Margo shared a house together in Emyvale, and often asked Aidan to move in with them, but Aidan would always reply “sure how would stay with Mum and Dad?’.
Aidan was godfather to his nephew, Margo’s son, Caolan. Aidan doted on him and would always have him away in the car. The evening on Caolan’s christening was the same of that of the Ballygawley Barracks bombing, which led to no electricity in the chapel, and they had to Baptise him by candlelight. The family recalls Aidan returning to football training after a short spell away from it, and someone asking him why he was bothering going back. Aidan replied, “We have to keep the club going, not for me, but for Caolan and his generation.”
Whilst being a quiet, shy youngster, Aidan came out of his shell in his late teens, during the time he began work in Monaghan and socialising with friends. He developed the McAnespie trait of a bit of devilment in him and enjoyed the craic.
Aidan came from a strong Republican family, who did not censor their nationality. Aidan’s father John had a black flag flying outside the house as a mark of respect after the Bloody Sunday atrocity, one of only a handful of black flags to be seen in the town at the time. Eilish would have the record ‘Men Behind the Wire’ blaring from the house.
As a young man, Aidan could see the injustice his people were suffering throughout the six counties. He knew his rights. He attended various protests and marches, particularly those in support of the 1980 and 1981 Hunger Strikers. He would have travelled the length and breadth of Tyrone taking part in demonstrations and candle lit processions.
When Eilish stood as the Sinn Fein candidate in the area, Aidan worked tirelessly on her campaign, putting up posters and canvassing. Aidan would have been known for wearing his Celtic scarf. It was a long running joke that Aidan couldn’t have named a single Celtic player, he just knew that they were a Nationalist team and that he supported them! Aidan often wore the Lark badge, a symbol of the Spirit of Freedom that was taken from the writings of Bobby Sands.
