east tyrone brigade members

[42] Whereas the previous ambushes of IRA men had been well planned by Special Forces, the Clonoe killings owed much to a series of mistakes by the IRA men in question. E arly on the evening of Friday, May 8, 1987, eight members of the East Tyrone Brigade, among the most militant units of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA), steered two stolen vehicles toward the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) station in Loughgall, Northern Ireland. [16] Additionally, most of the attacks which took place in County Fermanagh during this period of the Troubles were also launched from south Tyrone and Monaghan. (In the first four In July 1983, the East Tyrone Brigade carried out a landmine ambush on an Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) mobile patrol near Ballygawley, killing three UDR soldiers (a fourth UDR soldier died later). Just four days after killing two RUC officers with AR-15 rifles & then destroying the RUC base at Ballygawley the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade carry out another. The IRA men were intercepted by the SAS as they were trying to dump the lorry and escape in cars in the car park of Clonoe Roman Catholic church, whose roof was set on fire by Army flares. IRA volunteers had been lying in wait outside the barracks and, as the officers left, two gunmen stepped out of concealed positions and shot both officers in the head from close range. were heroes, freedom fighters, peace soldiers. They had sacrificed what the Republican writing of history had deemed to be an officially Even one pound a month can make a big difference for us. 14 March 1972: A two-man IRA unit armed with sub-machine guns ambushed a joint British Army/RUC patrol on Brackaville Road outside Coalisland, County Tyrone. tempered with a largely unarticulated anger at the British government minds stories of reprisal killings in the old days, once again The support team sprayed the installations with a burst of gunfire, but the mortar overshot the compound, damaging an adjacent church. For though it was clear that the IRA had The British government pronounced itself well the gut reaction was in danger of becoming the prevailing reaction. hyped up to be, that it had not made a difference. Fifty people were evacuated. The SAS shot dead eight IRA members and a civilian who had accidentally driven into the ambush. A soldier was seriously wounded. Margaret Thatcher and [77], On 19 January 1993 the brigade claimed that their volunteers uncovered and destroyed a British army observation post concealed in a derelict house in Drumcairne Forest, near Stewartstown. The second attack was on the part-time station at The Birches, County Armagh, and it began by driving a JCB digger with a 200lb (91kg) bomb in its bucket through the reinforced fences the RUC had in place around their bases, and then exploding the bomb and raking the police station with gunfire. Six IRA members from a supporting unit managed to escape. collapsing time, compressing the historical moment, impelling [21] They had mounted a heavy DShK machine gun on the back of a stolen lorry, driven right to the RUC/British Army station and opened fire with tracer ammunition at the fortified base at point-blank range, when the long-range of the weapon would enable them to fire from a safe distance. loved his family, his Irish culture and his country. (That sermon, [12], The eight volunteers killed in the ambush became known as the "Loughgall Martyrs" among many republicans. McKearney was buried thirteen years to the day that his A five-mile (8km) chase followed before the IRA volunteers managed to escape on foot. operatives, and with the IRA for once again forcing constitutional After being caught he was put up against a fence and killed. Two IRA men got away from the scene, but the four named above were killed. Two IRA men escaped from the scene, but the four named above were killed. Another street fracas on 17 May between a King's Own Scottish Borderers platoon and a group of nationalist youths in Coalisland resulted in the theft of an army machine gun and a new confrontation with the paratroopers. Lynagh's strategy was to start off with one area which the British military did not control, preferably a republican stronghold such as east Tyrone. The IRA responded by killing senior UVF man and former UDR member Leslie Dallas on 7 March 1989, but the UVF shot dead three IRA members and a Catholic civilian in a pub in Cappagh on 3 March 1991. Michael Ryan was the same man who according to Moloney had led the mixed flying column under direct orders of top IRA Army Council member 'Slab' Murphy two years before. The priest presiding over the requiem mass for administration. Loughgall happened because the British needed [95][58][96], A major ambush occurred on 12 December 1993 in Fivemiletown, when an RUC mobile patrol received intense cross fire from a brigade's active unit on the town's main street, and two constables were slain. prison crisis; the question now was whether the British government was remembered. They were legends. The legends would never die. They British troops manning the outpost returned fire. [105] On 30 July 1993, a 20 pounds (9.1kg) device was uncovered by security forces in Pomeroy, and one man was arrested. Sniper Assault Kills A British Soldier in Belfast", "Thousands join peace protest in Greysteel", "Geograph:: Cookstown Courthouse Kenneth Allen", "Lords Chamber - Wednesday 8 June 1994 - Hansard - UK Parliament", "3 RUC Officers Wounded in Tyrone Ambush", "Sinn Fein politician caught in IRA gunfire | The Independent | The Independent", "Armed guard at hospital bed of IRA suspect", "Off-duty soldier killed by IRA booby-trap bomb: Car attack follows", "CAIN: Peter Heathwood Collection of Television Programmes - Search Page", "British soldier shot dead Massive Strabane landmine", "South Armagh Brigade claims sniper attack", Cousin of bomb suspect was top Provo; But gun victim denies being a terrorist, "Militants Angry About Police's Defense Of Protestant March". The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack. Sean O'Farrell was wounded and attempted to escape. Her extradition from Northern Ireland was eventually denied in 2007 due to discrepancies in the claims against her. 1 Battalion: Unit strength on 11 July 1921 was 265 all ranks, and the strength on 1 July 1922 was 312 all ranks.The companies of the 1st. [2] [22] On 16 September 1989, a British Sergeant of the Royal Corps of Signals was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while he was repairing a radio mast at Coalisland Army/RUC base. [23], A major IRA attack in County Tyrone took place on 20 August 1988, barely a year after Loughall, which ended in the deaths of eight soldiers when a British Army bus was destroyed by a bomb at Curr Road, near Ballygawley. The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. [22] However, many of their remaining members were young and inexperienced and fell into further ambushes, leading to high casualties by the standards of the low intensity guerrilla conflict in Northern Ireland. [18] In August 1988, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin. 3 Tipperary Brigade (South-Tipperary) - 2 Southern Division. The Irish Republican Army's East Tyrone Brigade was one of the most active over the course of the last 30 years. [34] On 3 June, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Michael Ryan and Tony Doris, died in another SAS ambush at Coagh, where their car was riddled with gunfire. wanton murders of nine young Irishmen by the soldiers of a foreign [51], Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992. 10 February 1997: a horizontal mortar fired by an IRA unit hit an RUC armoured vehicle leaving a security base. thousands and thousands of Irish people shocked and angered at the Ken Maginnis, Official Unionist M.P. The UDA retaliated by shooting dead five Catholic men in a betting shop on Ormeau Road, Belfast. The ambush took place outside the village of Pomeroy. The volunteers, An Phoblact/Republican News said, had fifty RUC personnel, and at least five civilians since it began On 30 August, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment member near Carrickmore. 12 November 1983: a RUC officer (Paul Clarke) was killed and several others were injured in an IRA mortar bomb attack on Carrickmore British Army/Royal Ulster Constabulary base. [61][62] Among the killed were two constables who were shot dead while driving a civilian type vehicle in Fivemiletown's main street on 12 December 1993. G. Adams (SF) has written to the Prime Minister asking for new political contact. [42][43] On 26 March, an IRA unit firing a light machine gun disrupted a UDR mobile checkpoint at Lurgylea road, north of Cappagh. It is believed to have drawn its membership from across the eastern side of County Tyrone as well as north County Monaghan and south County Londonderry.[2]. 13 July 1984: IRA Volunteer Willie Price was killed by the SAS while carrying out an incendiary bomb attack on a factory in Ardboe. [22] The checkpoint was stormed using an improvised armoured truck and two British soldiers (James Houston and Michael Patterson) were killed in action. In Jim Lynagh (Samus Laighneach; 13 April 1956 - 8 May 1987) was a member of the East Tyrone Brigade of the . They are believed to have drawn the The East Tyrone Brigade & the Loughgall Ambush - I.R.B.B. O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons on two different occasions in the past. Whereas the previous ambushes of IRA men had been well planned by Special Forces, the Clonoe killings owed much to a series of mistakes by the IRA men in question. After the shooting they drove past the house of Tony Doris, the IRA man killed the previous year, where they fired more shots in the air and were heard to shout, "Up the 'RA, that's for Tony Doris". This was denied by the dead man's family. in Cork, but the following month it rebounded: far from being defeated He was a brilliant fighter and he 2032 member. Please support IRN now to help us continue reporting and campaigning so that justice prevails. The Loughgall Ambush. [17] The eight volunteers killed in the ambush became known as the "Loughgall Martyrs" among many republicans. See this British Commons account about the NI violence for the first month of 1990: See the 12 May and 17 May entries at the 1992 CAIN chronology: "New wave of North death bids blamed on loyalists". fluttered in every window, thousands lined the funeral routes: country Tommy, had been in the H-blocks for eleven years. One RUC officer was injured. [88] The facilities came under attack once again on 7 November, when a supporting team armed with automatic weapons secured the area around the barracks, allowing an Isuzu Trooper carrying a "Barrack Buster" to be driven just outside the base. army holding no legal or moral right to bear arms on Irish soil. The All the IRA members involved withdrew successfully. was cool, was Padraig McKearneys nine-year-old nieces appraisal of See Tyrone Mardtez Tyson's age, phone number, house address, email address, social media accounts, public records, and check for criminal records on Spokeo. Five were bound over. This was in response to a complaint from Democratic Unionist Party Assemblyman William McCrea accusing the GAA of turning a blind eye to "republican terrorist" events in the last years. [35][36] The RUC stated the men were on their way to mount an ambush on Protestant workmen.[37]. rather than as a criminal organization whose members would be arrested, acceded to the IRAs view of the conflict made it increasingly The unit, moving on two vehicles from the townland of Turnabarson, managed to snake into a heavy patrolled area to the firing point on Station Road and launched the shell by timer from a range of 70 yards (64m). There was, of course, the inevitable historical analogue that would The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. of its own medicine, that the security forces were, in a sense, only triumphalist importunings of the old enemy. The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade[1] was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". [91], Other operations against security facilities in this period included a sniper and small arms attack on the British Army base of Killymeal, Dungannon, on 22 May 1993; the brigade claimed a subsequent exchange of fire between IRA volunteers in supporting role and British soldiers crewing an observation post. Patrick Vincent was gunned down in the cab of the lorry whilst Kevin Barry O'Donnell and Peter Clancy where gunned down just outside. murder.). [7], Members of the East Tyrone Brigade had previously carried out two attacks on RUC bases in their operational area, described by author Mark Urban as "spectaculars". From then onwards the Brigade was fighting for its life, and by the time of the IRA Ceasefire in 1997, PIRA's feared . circles, not too subtle hints that, for once, the IRA had received some The IRA men were intercepted by the SAS as they were trying to dump the lorry and escape in cars in the car park of Clonoe Roman Catholic church, whose roof was set on fire by Army flares. Three constables and Treanor were wounded,[104] as well as a passing-by ederly female motorist whose car was hit by the RUC vehicle. gone to Loughgall with courage and skill and above all with Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but they were acquitted in 1993. [44] Some republican sources[45] claim that a listening device was found in the roof of OFarrells house during repairs in 2008, exposing that the British intelligence had a forehand knowledge of the IRA operation at Coalisland and could have arrested them before the attack. Theirs was a closed world The device landed unexploded inside the complex, resulting in its evacuation. [97][98], On 9 April 1994, after a three-day IRA ceasefire, a Mark-15 mortar was launched at midday at the British Army permanent checkpoint in Aughnacloy. The bomb detonated, destroying much of the base and damaging nearby buildings. 5 February 1997: An IRA unit fired a horizontal mortar at a British patrol on Newell Road in Dungannon. [21] Additionally, most of the attacks which took place in County Fermanagh during this period of the Troubles were also launched from south Tyrone and Monaghan. [34], On 4 March 1990, ten IRA volunteers launched an assault on the RUC station at Stewartstown using an improvised flamethrower consisting of a manure-spreader towed by a tractor to spray 600 imperial gallons (2,700L) of a petrol/diesel mix to set the base ablaze, and then opened up with rifles and an RPG-7 rocket launcher. brother Sean was killed on active service in 1974; another brother, [13], In December 2011, the Historical Enquiries Team found that not only did the IRA team fire first but that they could not have been safely arrested. [29], According to journalist Ed Moloney, Michael "Pete" Ryan (himself killed with two other IRA volunteers on 3 June 1991), an alleged top Brigade member, was the commander of the IRA flying column that launched the attack on Derryard checkpoint in Fermanagh on 13 December 1989. 26 March 1997: A grenade was thrown by IRA volunteers to the Army/RUC base at Coalisland. [92][93] RUC sources denied that the soldiers returned fire during the shooting. Jim Lynagh ( Irish: Samus Laighneach; 13 April 1956 - 8 May 1987) was a member of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), [1] from Monaghan Town in the Republic of Ireland . They were in the North was war? Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992. [115][113] A second soldier, Sergeant Dean Oliver, died in a fratricide incident in Fivemiletown on 9 May 1992, in the aftermath of an IRA bomb attack in the area, as mentioned above.[61][116]. As the men were all Protestants, many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack. There were no casualties. absolute acts. [89][82], On 6 June 1993, an IRA unit converted a stolen van in a "mobile mortar launcher" in the area of Pomeroy and slipped through British forces' surveillance to the RUC barracks at Carrickmore. [70][71][72] Another soldier in the same patrol had a narrow escape when a rifle round hit his gear. [51], The Fintona RUC/Army base damaged by mortar fire, 27 December 1993, In March 1992, members of the brigade destroyed McGowan's service station along the Ballygawley/Monaghan road, on the basis that they were supplying British forces,[52] while a soldier was injured by a bomb near Augher. treating the IRA as an armed enemy to be ambushed and shot on sight [4] The theory involved creating "no-go zones" that the British Army and Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) did not control and gradually expanding them. [79] The facilities targeted by "Barrack Buster" mortars included the above-mentioned Ballygawley barracks, a British Army border outpost at Aughnacloy,[80] the RUC barracks at Clogher[81] and Beragh,[80] both resulting in massive damage but no fatalities; two attacks on the RUC base in Caledon, which was also hit by gunfire in the second attack,[81][82] and the RUC compounds at Dungannon,[83] Fintona,[81] Carrickmore,[81] and Pomeroy. some days later, as more details of the killings emerged and it became [118] The IRA said that the workers were legitimate targets because they were "collaborating" with the "forces of occupation". me, did more harm than the eleven people who were killed at 25 April 1987: an off duty British soldier (William Graham) was shot dead by the IRA at his family's farm, off Gortscraheen Road, near Pomeroy. His elder brother, a civilian contractor to the Ministry of Defence, had died in a South Armagh Brigade mortar attack one year before, while working inside an Army base near Keady, County Armagh. charged, tried, and convicted. Armagh when they were gunned down by the RUC and British army volunteers after they had surrendered following an armed encounter. Dates highlighted in bold indicate three or more fatalities. . 16 August 1973: two IRA volunteers, Daniel McAnallen (aged 27) and Patrick Quinn (aged 18), were killed when a mortar prematurely exploded during an attack on Pomeroy British Army/RUC base. This was the IRA's greatest loss of life in a single incident during its campaign. UTV News Report: In Pomeroy an IRA horizontal mortar hit an RUC car but failed to explode. abiding minds in Northern Ireland.), Nationalists were wary. The UDA retaliated by shooting dead five Catholic men in a betting shop on Ormeau Road, Belfast. [53] Author Brendan O'Brien reports a witness claiming that some of the men were wounded and tried to surrender but were killed by the British soldiers. The facilities damaged by mortar bombs included the above-mentioned Ballygawley barracks, a British Army outpost at Aughnacloy, the RUC barracks at Clogher and Beragh, both resulting in massive damage but no injuries, an overshot aimed at the RUC base in $3, which was also hit by gunfire, and the RUC stations at Carrickmore, Fintona and Pomeroy. 8 July 1997: A landmine was planted by the IRA near Dungannon, where there was a bomb alert. He said a wall at the camp "was decked with close-up colour photographs of the eight members of the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade killed in an SAS ambush at Loughgall a few months earlier during . The area was previously secured by a group of armed volunteers. successfully inflict a major blow against the British war machine. There was also an element of benign triumphalism in official Leading security forces strike back and seem to do so, its editorial declared, And in the However, as their attack was underway, the IRA unit was ambushed by a Special Air Service (SAS) unit. 5 February 1997: an IRA unit fired a horizontal mortar at an RUC patrol on Newell Road in Dungannon. A founding member of the Provisional IRA in Co Tyrone has said he would be willing to take part in any future truth forum designed to bring closure to victims and survivors of the Troubles.. The same source reported that a British helicopter, a military ambulance and ground troops arrived to the scene shortly after, and that local residents believed that two soldiers had been wounded. In October 1990, two more IRA men, Dessie Grew and Michael McGaughey were shot dead near Loughgall by undercover soldiers. The base was raked with gunfire and a JCB digger with a 200lb (91kg) bomb in its bucket was driven through the perimeter fence. (the brigade was reputedly responsible for killing sixty UDR members, The people who laid in wait, the people who It destroyed a substantial part of the base with a 200 lb bomb and raked the building with gunfire. The British Army claimed that the mortar round exploded in a bog just outside the perimeter fence, while the IRA unit said that the bomb landed in the grounds of the barracks. [74][75] The heavy mortar round, fired from a tractor near the town's health center, was deflected by a tree besides the barracks wall. [17], However, many of their remaining activists were young and inexperienced and fell into further ambushes leading to very high casualties by the standards of the low intensity guerrilla conflict in Northern Ireland. [38] Hamilton stated that there were no security or civilian casualties. The IRA retaliated on 5 August 1991, when they shot and killed a former UDR soldier while living his workplace along Altmore Road, also in Cappagh. killings. Tom Gormley, Eugene meetings of the Intergovernmental Conference. E ight members of the Provos' East Tyrone Brigade were gunned down as . On 11 February 1990 the brigade managed to shoot down a British Army Gazelle helicopter near Clogher by machine gun fire and wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. [14], In 2012 aGAAclub in Tyrone distanced itself from a republican commemoration of those killed in the ambush. The Volunteers killed at Loughgall were Declan Arthurs (21), Tony Gormley (24), Eugene Kelly (25), Pdraig McKearney (32), Jim Lynagh (31), Gerard O'Callaghan (28), Seamus Donnelly (19) and unit commander Patrick Joseph Kelly (30). It is believed to have drawn its membership from across the eastern side of County Tyrone as well as north County Monaghan and south County Londonderry. Michael Ryan was the same man who according to Moloney had led the mixed flying column under direct orders of top IRA Army Council member 'Slab' Murphy two years before. ideological and personal commitment to each other. the funeral of Paddy Kelly, the commander of the East Tyrone Brigade IRA. The young men who were there [at Loughgall] with guns in their Jim Lynagh (Irish language: Samus Laighneach 13 April 1956 - 8 May 1987) was a member of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), [1] from Monaghan Town in the Republic of Ireland. East Tyrone brigade to which the eight had belonged, the largest number help boost the confidence which must have been eroded in many law On 30 August 1988, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment member near Carrickmore. The Auxiliaries, Republicans were reminded in An Phoblacht/Republican Hurson died. The heavy projectile landed at the rear of the small base without exploding, forcing the evacuation of Coronation Park housing state. [80][84], A Brigade statement claims that late on the evening of 26 April 1993, a "variation" of the Mark-15 was fired at a British Army position on an open field near the river Fury, a few miles east of Clogher. for the deaths on the IRA leadership, whom they accused of putting One British soldier was wounded. The facilities damaged by mortar bombs included the above-mentioned Ballygawley barracks, a British Army outpost at Aughnacloy, the RUC barracks at Clogher and Beragh, both resulting in massive damage but no injuries, an overshot aimed at the RUC base in Caledon, which was also hit by gunfire, and the RUC stations at Carrickmore, Fintona and Pomeroy. evening the score. Among the killed were two constables who were shot dead while driving a civilian type vehicle in Fivemiletown's main street on 12 December 1993. [59], The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar in an attack on 5 December 1992 against an RUC station in Ballygawley. [60], From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone executed a total of eight mortar attacks against police and military facilities and were also responsible for at least 16 bombings and shootings. For many it seemed that the British were [53][54], Another IRA bomb attack against British troops, near Cappagh, during which a paratrooper lost both legs, triggered a series of clashes between soldiers and local residents in the staunchly republican town of Coalisland, on 12 and 17 May 1992. The main target, Brian Arthurs, escaped injury. would once again be Sinn Fin and the results taken as a barometer of An innocent civilian, Anthony Hughes, who was shot dead by the SAS had Of these, 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992. On 8 May 1987, at least eight members of the brigade launched an attack on the unmanned Loughgall RUC base. The UDA retaliated by shooting dead five Catholic male civilians inside a betting shop on the Ormeau Road, Belfast. the British occupation forces., There was an absolute order to history and absolute order demanded To Kellys wife, Kathleen, who was expecting their fourth child when he Two IRA men escaped the SAS ambush at Loughgall RUC station - after soldiers turned their getaway cars away from the scene. Was the Five of them were bound over. Five of them were bound over. On 11 February 1990 the brigade managed to shoot down a British Army Gazelle helicopter near Clogher by machine gun fire and wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. [26] On 30 August 1988, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill an off-duty Ulster Defence Regiment member near Carrickmore. The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack. Over 50 shots were fired by the unit. An Phoblacht claimed the IRA men thwarted an ambush and at least two SAS members were killed. 26 February 1978: IRA Volunteer Paul Duffy was killed by the SAS in Coagh. [81] The IRA asserts instead that the barracks were "extensively damaged". Eight were killed and the rest were badly wounded. sanctioned shoot-to-kill policy, opened fire on a party of fifteen IRA They concluded that the SAS were justified in opening fire. 7 February 1976: Two Protestant teenagers, Rachel and Robert McLernon (aged 18 and 16, respectively), were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb, intended for members of the security forces, which had been hidden in an abandoned crashed car, Tyresson Road, 3 December 1977: RUC car ambushed by IRA gunmen firing automatic weapons at Clover Hill Bridge on Benburb Road near. [47][48], In October 1990, two IRA volunteers from the brigade (Dessie Grew and Martin McCaughey) were shot dead near Loughgall by SAS undercover members while allegedly collecting two rifles from an IRA arms dump.