Rory McIlroy has to be careful
Not to say the wrong thing about sectarian conflict or his identity. Irish? British? Northern Irish?
JUL 15, 2025
Rory McIlroy never knew his dad Gerry’s Uncle Joe. Joe was 30, Gerry was 13 and Rory wouldn’t be born for another 17 years when, on a cold November night in 1972, masked members of the Ulster Volunteer Force shot Joe dead in his kitchen as he repaired the dishwasher.
His four daughters were asleep upstairs. His wife Mary was in the front room of the home in a development they had recently moved into. Joe’s family was one of two Catholic families in the neighborhood called Orangefield.
Bullet casings were found on the kitchen floor. No one was ever arrested and charged with the murder. That it was the work of Loyalist paramilitaries has never been in doubt.
One newspaper reported that Joe was killed because he was gone from his home for a few weeks. Word spread among Protestant shock troops that he had been picked up by British forces and interned without charges. A lot of that was going on then. His absence from home meant he had to be IRA in the twisted logic of the UVF.
Turns out Joe had been in Switzerland on assignment for ICL, the Belfast computer company the worked for as an engineer.
He had no – ZERO – connection to The Troubles other than living in the wrong place at the wrong time. His murder is a cold case. Joe McIlroy is one of hundreds of names found in the Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Northern Ireland 1972 – 1998.
This aspect of the “Rory Story” is seldom told. Why should it be? That was then. 1972 was the worst year of The Troubles. This is now. Since 1998 and the signing of the Good Friday Agreement there’s relative peace in the Six Counties. Rory McIlroy, now 36, is the odds-on favorite to win the world’s most prestigious golf tournament, the British Open Championship, being played this week at Portrush Golf Club, a public golf course that’s a two-hour drive from the crime scene.
In the classic Say Nothing mode that dominates discussion of such incidents in Ireland, Rory never talks about the ancient past.
"I haven't talked about it with my parents. I don’t want to be defined by that. It’s not how my generation thinks." Rory McIlroy 2011
“I know that 99.9% of the population doesn’t want to see that (sectarian riots). Everyone just wants to live in peaceful times. I am aware that I’m going to be portrayed as a role model. I have to be very careful in what I say and do.” Rory in 2012
WATCH - Here in the zone of Pacific Standard Time, you’ll hve to stay up late or get up early to see all the action. NBC will broadcast from Portrush beginning at 1 A.M. Thursday and Friday. Saturday’s round will begin at 5 A.M. and last until 1 P.M. Sunday’s final round is broadcast from 4 A.M. until Noon or whenever someone wins.
WANT TO READ MORE? The New York Times ran a couple of solid background articles. This one covered “navigating the difficulties that can come with being Irish.” This one introduced readers to Portrush Golf Club and marveled that it is open to the public with reasonable green fees. Subscription required.
What had to be a tough call for Rory was deciding whether to golf for Team England or for the Olympic team representing the Republic of Ireland. He explains his decision here. He is set to represent Ireland at the next Summer Olympics in 2028.