Ian Paisley

Paisley’s DUP is currently still the most powerful party in Northern Ireland and ‘The Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster’, which he founded in 1951, now has 12,000 members worldwide.

He exchanged the nuptial vows with Eileen (nee Cassells) on October 13, 1956 and is survived by five children: Rhonda, Sharon, Cherith, Kyle and Ian Junior.

His son Ian Paisley, Jr. succeeded him in 2010 as the Member of Parliament representing North Antrim.

Ian Paisley was born Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, on April 6, 1926, in Armagh, Northern Ireland. His father was a Baptist preacher and his mother was a Christian evangelist.

Paisley gave his first sermon in 1941 when he was only 16. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister five years later.

In 1951, after a conflict with church elders, Paisley formed his own congregation, the ‘Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster’.

Paisley gained national fame, in 1956, after he illegally helped a 15-year-old Catholic girl escape to Scotland.

In 1956, Paisley co-founded of the ‘Ulster Protestant Action’ (UPA), one of several pro-Unionist militant organizations in Northern Ireland which remained active throughout ‘The Troubles’.

In 1959, he urged the UPA to attack Catholic homes in Belfast. Several businesses were ransacked and looted.

Paisley led a march in Belfast to force a local politician to remove the Irish flag from his office, in 1964. His rhetoric march ended in riots and mayhem that injureddozens.

In 1966, he co-founded a second pro-Unionist militant organization, the ‘Ulster Constitution Defence Committee’ (UCDC), which later aligned with the ‘Ulster Protestant Volunteers’ (UPV).

On June 6, 1966, the religious leader spearheadedthe march into Catholic neighborhoods of Belfast that led to riots. He was arrested and sentenced to three months in jail.

Paisley's historic agreement in 2006 to share power with his lifelong rivals is believed to be the key turning point that has led to a lasting and prosperous peace in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Following the change of political stance he was elected Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.