Edmund Moloney

Edmund "Ed" Moloney passed away on October 17, 2025 at the age of 77 in New York City after a brief illness. Ed was an award-winning Irish journalist, author and film-maker best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA. He was a survivor of Polio as a child – an experience that shaped his personality and world view. He remained an advocate for disability rights and of the National Health Service to which he owed his life.
Ed was born and educated in England, as well as Germany, Gibraltar and Malaysia. He moved to Belfast to attend Queens University, where he was introduced to Irish politics and republicanism. During those early years in Belfast, he briefly joined the Official IRA, which focused on political rather than military activities. Later in his life, Ed survived several assassination attempts by that same group. Following university, he spent two years in Libya, teaching English as a foreign language, before returning to Belfast. Following his return from Libya, he quickly made his name with his writing which illustrated an astute understanding of the complexity of the Irish political scene. He remained in Belfast for most of his life until moving to New York in 2000 to help care for his mother-in-law in Riverdale, the Bronx.
His daily news articles, weekly columns, books, and films focused on Irish politics, featured in depth analysis of politicians and the politics of Northern Ireland. Ed made the 30 -year war against British rule in Northern Ireland – known as 'The Troubles' – his specialty. Not only did Ed's journalism open him to attack from both sides and a close-up view of the worst horrors of the Troubles, it also brought him close to the victims and their families. Ed worked for the Hibernia magazine and Magill before going on to write for The Irish Times, then working as Northern Editor,1980 to 1985, and subsequently serving as Northern Editor for the Sunday Tribune. In 1999, he was voted Irish Journalist of the Year. Ed also wrote articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Daily News, The New York Post, The Economist, The Independent, The Guardian and The New Statesman.
In 1999, Ed successfully overcame the threat of fines and a prison sentence when the authorities sought access to his interview notes relating to the murder of lawyer Pat Finucane. Backed by an Irish and international campaign of support, he successfully argued that handing over his notes, besides destroying his own reputation as a journalist, would do irreparable harm to all of journalism in Northern Ireland. Ed was also a respected author. His first book, Paisley, is an unauthorized biography of Unionist leader Ian Paisley, co-authored by Andy Pollak and published in 1986 (Poolbeg Press). This was followed, in 2008, by a new edition of Paisley: From Demagogue to Democrat?, of which Ed is the single author. In 2002, he published a best-selling history of the Provisional IRA, A Secret History of the IRA (W.W. Norton). A second edition of the book was published in July 2007. The Guardian book review in 2002 stated, "Ed's book is undoubtedly the best history of Ireland's most enduring paramilitary movement ever to be written. It is a brave and mercilessly honest project that will stand the test of time."
Ed directed Boston College's Belfast Project, which collected oral interviews with republican and loyalist militants who had been active during the Troubles. The interviews were to be released only after the interviewees died. The book Voices from the Grave, published in 2010, (Faber & Faber) featured some of these interviews notably with republican Brendan Hughes and unionist David Ervine. Excerpts from the book published by The Sunday Times featured Hughes discussing his and Gerry Adams' roles in the Provisional IRA. A documentary titled Voices From the Grave, Two Men's War in Ireland aired on Irish broadcaster RTÉ in 2010. In February 2011, the film won the best television documentary prize at the annual Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) in 2011. In 2011, the PSNI, with support from the US Department of Justice, sought confiscation of the project's interviews. Following a many years long legal and political battle, the project was ultimately closed and the interviews returned to the participants. In 2018, Ed co-wrote and co-produced the award-winning documentary I, Dolours, which told the story of IRA volounteer and hunger striker Dolours Price.
Ed met and married his wife of nearly 50 years, Joan McKiernan, in Belfast. Their son, Ciarán was born and raised there and now lives in Montreal with his wife, Stephanie. Ed was an enthusiastic pet lover. He and his first rescue dog, Brochen played frisbee for hours in Belfast's Botanic Gardens to the awe of onlookers. Brochen was followed by four more rescue dogs, most recently Kobe, who was adopted in New York. The family asks that donations be made in Ed's honor to the Polio Global Eradication Initiative (polioeradication.org) based in Geneva, Switzerland. A memorial service will be held in NYC later this year; details will be made available on Ed's blog thebrokenelbow.com.