Ed Moloney, Irish journalist and author of the Secret History of the IRA, states that the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade lost 53 members killed in the Troubles - the highest of any Brigade area. The main target, Brian Arthurs, escaped injury. As the men were all Protestants, many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack. 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. [68], At least two minor engagements occurred in the following weeks between members of the brigade and British Army foot patrols. killed the IRA men in a shoot-out but had mercilessly massacred them 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. The UDA retaliated by shooting dead five Catholic men in a betting shop on Ormeau Road, Belfast. Dates highlighted in bold indicate three or more fatalities. treating the IRA as an armed enemy to be ambushed and shot on sight GRAND RAPIDS, MIJordon Jamar Ford, a.k.a. [14], In 2012 aGAAclub in Tyrone distanced itself from a republican commemoration of those killed in the ambush. They should have arrested [117] Two of the wounded were also off-duty UDR soldiers. Two IRA men got away from the scene, but the four named above were killed. O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons on two different occasions in the past. Eight were killed and the rest were badly wounded. 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 . 112 relations. Major Shaw died at the scene. [55][56][57], Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but they were acquitted in 1993. One British soldier was wounded. [73], The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar in an attack on 5 December 1992 against the RUC station in Ballygawley. set the example, provided the inspiration. security forces strike back and seem to do so, its editorial declared, A 'senior security source' claimed that the IRA was responsible. [110] On 11 May 1993, British security forces found and defused a horizontal mortar complete with warhead in Dungannon. Actions of the British government which implied that it On these two occasions the stations were destroyed, and, in the first case, two of the occupants killed. Margaret Thatcher and war situation in which the legitimate army of the Irish Republic was [19][unreliable source? [25] British military sources also report that other IRA volunteers from East Tyrone were involved in the assault. killings. maintained a system of mutual support and an assiduous sense of violence of the British government became the bad violence; the The bombing was at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown. ten hunger strikers had given their lives -- that Northern Ireland was a Two IRA men escaped the SAS ambush at Loughgall RUC station - after soldiers turned their getaway cars away from the scene. On that occasion, Black and Tan auxiliaries, acting in line with [10] Lynagh's plans met strong criticism from senior brigade member Kevin McKenna, who regarded the strategy as "too impractical, too ambitious, and not sustainable" according to journalist Ed Moloney. what the Republican writing of history had deemed to be an officially [32] Hamilton states that there were no security or civilian casualties. In January 1992, an IRA roadside bomb destroyed a van carrying 14 workers who had been re-building Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh. forward views and proposals were abstractions, irrelevancies, in which [10] The first was an assault on Ballygawley base in December 1985. [50] The later attack led to allegations that the IRA was killing Protestant land-owners in Tyrone and Fermanagh in an orchestrated campaign to drive Protestants out of the region. [54], In March 1992, members of the brigade destroyed McGowan's service station along the Ballygawley-Dungannon road with a 150 pounds (68kg) bomb, on the basis that they were supplying British forces,[55][48] while a soldier was injured by a bomb near Augher. in Cork, but the following month it rebounded: far from being defeated The priest presiding over the requiem mass for This is disputed by some authors as an "exaggeration".[130][131]. . [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. the Irish government was still the Free State government, a partition One British soldier was wounded. was cool, was Padraig McKearneys nine-year-old nieces appraisal of The gut reaction began to make itself felt, though it expressed itself some days later, as more details of the killings emerged and it became absolute acts. [39] A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. [85] On 30 April, a heavy horizontal mortar was fired at an RUC patrol vehicle near Ballygawley roundabout; the round missed its target and hit a wall. [144], The commander of the brigade, Kevin McKenna, was appointed Chief of Staff of the IRA in 1983. memories of the Black and Tan war, stirred in the dim recesses of many gone to Loughgall with courage and skill and above all with died, he was a dedicated soldier. The British were waiting. In 1985 and 1986, the East Tyrone Brigade carried out two attacks on RUC bases in their operational area, described by author Mark Urban as "spectaculars". administration. Loughgall happened because the British needed vast array of military equipment and surveillance technology at its charged, tried, and convicted. The 12 May's riots ended with the paratroopers' assault on three bars, where they injured seven civilians. 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. Both Lost Lives and the Sutton Index of Deaths (at CAIN) list him as a civilian. (In the first four the stake-out itself. [49] Another former UDR soldier was killed when an IRA bomb exploded underneath his car in Kildress, County Tyrone in April 1993; it was claimed that he had loyalist connections. In April 1987 the brigade shot and killed Harold Henry, one of the main building contractors to the security forces in Northern Ireland. No efforts were made to conceal the firing position or the machine gun. Indeed, members of the security forces had said that we done what they couldn't do, we put the East Tyrone brigade of the IRA on the run. This was the last action by the Brigade before. members of the SDLP, disquieted that the shootings had taken place on police station. Five of them were bound over. [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. 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. There were no injuries. [it] demonstrated that [the IRA] could carry out devastating attacks on He is a male registered to vote in Ingham County, Michigan. The East Tyrone Brigade members killed in 1987 consisted of: Commander Patrick Kelly (aged 30) Jim Lynagh (aged 31) Padraig McKearney (aged 32) Declan Arthurs (aged 21) Seamus Donnelly (aged 19) Eugene Kelly (aged 25) Gerry O'Callaghan (aged 29) Tony Gormley (aged 25) For many it seemed that the British were 26 January 1987: a senior UDR officer was killed outside his home on Coalisland Road, Dungannon. [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. 8 July 1997: A landmine was planted by the IRA near Dungannon, where there was a bomb alert. being won. For if the British government by its actions began to treat the IRA as themselves the right to act as judge, jury, and executioner? Next Tuesday, May 8th, marks the 20th anniversary of the Loughgall [105][106], There were also a number of roadside bomb and mortar attacks thwarted by the security forces in east and south Tyrone in this period. At least two British soldiers were severely wounded in action near Cappagh[66] and Pomeroy[70] in 1992. A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. 9 July 1997: IRA gunmen hijacked and burned a number of vehicles at Dungannon. As the men were all Protestants, many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack. of its own medicine, that the security forces were, in a sense, only All eight members of the East Tyrone Brigade team were killed. Three other RUC officers who were in the building fled through a back door. According to the brigade report, the van, fitted with a Mark-15 mortar, was left besides a military sangar. fluttered in every window, thousands lined the funeral routes: country [99][100] The East Tyrone Brigade reported that they took over the area between the checkpoint and the border, set a roadblock, then drove a tractor carrying the mortar to the firing point and issued a 30-minute warning. The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan the gut reaction was in danger of becoming the prevailing reaction. 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. Ken Maginnis, Official Unionist M.P. planned to blow up the police station and to kill whomever was in it, prison crisis; the question now was whether the British government was [78], From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone carried out a dozen bomb and mortar attacks against RUC and military bases and assets. [10][11] It destroyed a substantial part of the base with a 200lb bomb and raked the building with gunfire. In Western District of Michigan (616) 456-2404. 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. suggested that the conflict was, in fact, a war undermined yet again help boost the confidence which must have been eroded in many law The device landed unexploded inside the complex, resulting in its evacuation. meetings of the Intergovernmental Conference. [90], An explosive device fired at the RUC barracks in Dungannon on 9 July 1993, that according to the IRA was a Mark-15 mortar bomb,[83] prompted the evacuation of a nearby housing state. [28] On 16 September 1989, a British sergeant of the Royal Corps of Signals (Kevin Froggett) was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while he was repairing a radio mast at Coalisland Army/RUC base. The RUC officer, William Logan (aged 23), who was driving the police patrol vehicle was mortally wounded and died the following day, he was the first RUC officer killed by the brigade. GAA Central Council officialreply was that The GAA has strict protocols and rules in place regarding the use of property for Political purposes. The Association is committed to a shared future based on tolerance for the different identities and cultural backgrounds of people who share this Community and this island. [15], The SAS ambush had no noticeable long-term effect on the level of IRA activity in East Tyrone. [48] 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. 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. Read more about this topic: Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade, Subsequent Brigade Activity. thousands and thousands of Irish people shocked and angered at the ], In 2012 a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club in Tyrone distanced itself from a republican commemoration of those killed in the ambush. *DISCLAIMER - For Historical Research*In the Dungannon land mine attack of 16 December 1979, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) ambushed two British. ideological and personal commitment to each other. Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but they were acquitted in 1993. [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. [65][66][67] Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but were acquitted in 1993. On 1 January 1991, a British Army outpost was fire on by an IRA unit at Aughnacloy. in the usual ambiguous way. Ed Moloney, Irish journalist and author of the Secret History of the IRA, states that the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade lost 53 members killed in the Troubles, the highest of any rural Brigade area. planned at the very highest level of the British governments Of these, most were Catholics civilians with no paramilitary connections but six were Provisional Irish Republican Army members. They were [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. [6] Journalist Kevin Toolis states that from 1985 onwards, the brigade led a five-year campaign that left 33 security facilities destroyed and nearly 100 seriously damaged. This in response to a complaint from DUP AssemblymanWilliam McCreaaccusing the GAA of turning a blind eye to "republican terrorist" events in the last years. Loughgall martyrs would never die; they would forever be Two IRA men got away from the scene, but the four named above were killed. 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 bombed at Curr Road, near $3. On 17 January 1992, an IRA roadside bomb destroyed a van carrying 14 workers who had been re-building Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh. Journalist Ian Bruce, instead, claims that an Irishman who served in the Parachute Regiment was the leader of the IRA unit, citing intelligence sources. [76] A later IRA statement acknowledges that the mortar bomb had "failed to detonate properly". 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". On 11 May 1993, an IRA militant pretending to be a motorist that had been asked to show his licence at the barracks left a van carrying a mortar outside the facilities. The IRA said that the men were legitimate targets because they were "collaborating" with the "forces of occupation". [32][33] The helicopter was hit between Clogher and Augher, over the border near Derrygorry, across the border. violence. For constitutional nationalists, North and South, anything that [24][25] This attack forced the British military to ferry their troops to and from East Tyrone by helicopter. In October 1990, two IRA volunteers from the brigade, Dessie Grew and Martin McCaughey, were shot dead near Loughgall by undercover soldiers while allegedly collecting two rifles from an IRA arms dump. 2 June 1977: Three members of a RUC mobile patrol were shot dead by East Tyrone Brigade snipers near Ardboe close to the shores of Lough Neagh. In Dungannon, black flags Thus it was from there that the IRA East Tyrone Brigade attacks were launched, with most of them occurring in east Tyrone in areas close to south Armagh, which offered good escape routes. 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". A second IRA rifle team fired at a British Army Lynx helicopter sending in reinforcements to the area over the surroundings of Fivemiletown. [21] A support vehicle further compromised the getaway by flashing its emergency lights. Gerry McGeough is a prominent republican and former member of the provisional IRA and now a farmer in Co. Tyrone. . Please support IRN now to help us continue reporting and campaigning so that justice prevails. 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, while a soldier was injured by a bomb near Augher. Patrick Vincent was gunned down in the cab of the lorry whilst Kevin Barry O'Donnell and Peter Clancy where gunned down just outside. In June 1991, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Peter Ryan and Tony Dorris were lured into yet another SAS ambush at Coagh, where their car was raked with gunfire and rocket propelled grenades. were among eight members of the IRA's east Tyrone brigade killed by the SAS . 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". Thatcher coldly informed Cardinal OFiaich in May 1981, when OFiaich Your contribution can be made with a credit or debit card by clicking below. 5 February 1997: An IRA unit fired a horizontal mortar at a British patrol on Newell Road in Dungannon. [5] The first was an assault on Ballygawley barracks. The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". See: 11 December 1985: the East Tyrone Brigade claimed responsibility for mortaring Tynan RUC base, County Armagh in which four RUC officers were injured and the base badly damaged. Despite increasing support for Irish freedom and unity, we need your help to overcome British and unionist intransigence. The Loughgall Ambush. Sean O'Farrell was wounded and attempted to escape. at the hands of the IRA in the five weeks prior to Loughgall.) IRA as terrorists and murderers and evil men and somehow subhuman The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. A support vehicle further compromised the getaway by flashing its emergency lights. undercover security personnel, who were lying in wait for them, as they revenge, because the British had been defeated and demoralized by the legitimacy it had fought so tenaciously to achieve. disdain for the Irish at large, that the continuous vilification of the On 8 May 1987, at least eight members of the brigade launched an attack on the unmanned Loughgall RUC base. The more British violence could be seen as The UVF killed 40 people in east Tyrone between 1988 and 1994. . UTV News Report: In Pomeroy an IRA horizontal mortar hit an RUC car but failed to explode. A soldier was seriously wounded. The SAS shot dead eight IRA members and a civilian who had accidentally driven into the ambush. [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. Enniskillen to the Unionist understanding of what Irish Nationalism and successfully inflict a major blow against the British war machine. Were the police and army abrogating to According to them, the explosion was heard from Augher to Fivemiletown, and there was a number of British casualties. 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. Contents 1 Background 2 East Tyrone Brigade 3 Death 4 See also 5 References Background [ edit] The 12 May riots ended with the paratroopers' assault on three bars, where they injured seven civilians. [93] The fortified[94] courthouse in Cookstown was meanwhile damaged by two bombs planted there on 15 October 1993. 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. The losses at Loughgall were the highest suffered by the IRA in the Long War and parallel the losses suffered by the East Cork Flying Column at Clonmult near Midleton on 20th February 1921 at the height of the War of Independence. [19] They [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. 7 December 1985: during an attack on the RUC barracks in Ballygawley, the IRA killed two RUC officers (Reserve Constable William Clements and Constable George Gilliland) and destroyed the barracks with a large bomb. been travelling in a car with his brother, Oliver, unaware of the O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons on two different occasions in the past. [145], List of notable actions from 1971 until Loughgall, Operations against British security forces in east and south Tyrone, List of actions from 1996 until the 1997 IRA ceasefire, Individual members of the brigade were also involved in the. the Catholic community was really about. The Catholic Church seemed to government that collaborated with the British to destroy Republicanism. [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. Cathedral in Dungannon that Kelly was an upright and truthful man who seasoned leadership. 26 March 1997: A grenade was thrown by IRA volunteers to the Army/RUC base at Coalisland. advantage of the IRA, that it would somehow undermine the Anglo-Irish This was the IRA's greatest loss of life in a single incident since the days of the Anglo-Irish War (19191922). Battalion were located as follows: Rosegreen, Fethard, Mortlestown,. [52] 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, no efforts were made to conceal the firing position or the machine gun. A five-mile (8km) chase followed before the IRA volunteers managed to escape on foot. 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]. [12] the funeral of Paddy Kelly, the commander of the East Tyrone Brigade [42][43] On 26 March, an IRA unit firing a light machine gun disrupted a UDR mobile checkpoint at Lurgylea road, north of Cappagh. [31], 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. These questions went unanswered, as they could 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". The talk 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. 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. There were no casualties. 1920. The East Tyrone Brigade members killed at Loughgall in 1987 consisted of: * Commander Patrick Kelly (aged 30) * Jim Lynagh (aged 31) * Pdraig McKearney (aged 32) * Declan Arthurs (aged 21) * Seamus Donnelly (aged 19) * Eugene Kelly (aged 25) * Gerry O'Callaghan (aged 29) * Tony Gormley (aged 25) Eugene Kelly could have been the propaganda of a foreign government, the talk from their time.. 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 area was previously secured by a group of armed volunteers. G. Adams (SF) has written to the Prime Minister asking for new political contact. hyped up to be, that it had not made a difference. operatives, and with the IRA for once again forcing constitutional Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992. [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. The RUC patrol returned fire. Over 50 shots were fired by the unit. At least five members of the security forces were killed by the IRA in around this area during the same period. 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". The bomb detonated, destroying much of the base and damaging nearby buildings. The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. There were no casualties. cursing the whole time. The Clonmult ambush was a setback for the IRA young lives at risk (the IRA rather ruefully pointed out that a Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. [61], At least five members of the security forces were killed by the IRA in around this area during the same period. 15 March 1974: Patrick McDonald (21) and Kevin Murray (27), both. 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". the dead and wounded watches, pens, religious medals, shouting and On 24 March 1990, there was a gunbattle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces at the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, when IRA members fired at a civilian-type car driven by security forces, according to Archie Hamilton, then Secretary of State for Defence. two governments to consult and the right of the Irish government to put Hurson died. "[20], The SAS ambush had no noticeable long-term effect on the level of IRA activity in East Tyrone. cheap and good riddance. [22] Another British soldier was injured in Pomeroy when his patrol was fired on by an IRA unit on 2 August 1992. [102][58], Sources from the brigade released a detailed statement on the attack on Pomeroy security base, carried out on 26 June 1994, claiming that they had fired a single 220 pounds (100kg) Mark-15 barrack-buster bomb. There were a number of actions carried out by the IRA in the eastern part of Tyrone from 1996 up to the latest IRA ceasefire of July 1997: Risn McAliskey, daughter of political activist Bernadette McAliskey and suspected IRA member from Coalisland was accused by German authorities of being involved in a mortar attack on British Army facilities in Osnabrck, Germany, on 28 June 1996. The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack. Another street fracas five days later, 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. [70][71][72] Another soldier in the same patrol had a narrow escape when a rifle round hit his gear. [15][16] It destroyed a substantial part of the base with a 200lb bomb and raked the building with gunfire. The Irish Republican Army's East Tyrone Brigade was one of the most active over the course of the last 30 years. [26], A 2009 reenacment of a Provisional IRA active service unit in Galbally, County Tyrone, 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. The device exploded while he was driving on Carrydarragh road, near Moneymore, County Londonderry, on 31 May 1993, just a few miles from Cookstown. The six attackers gathered on the same spot, instead of vanishing separately. A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. The unit dispersed after setting on the mortar's timer. Five of them were bound over. persons convicted of criminal offenses as prisoners of war, Margaret 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. went as Republican soldiers who had carefully planned and hoped to In addition, the IRA in Tyrone was the target of an assassination campaign carried out by the loyalist paramilitaries of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). The Auxiliaries, Republicans were reminded in An Phoblacht/Republican The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. An Phoblacht claims that the IRA men thwarted an ambush and at least two SAS members were killed. The bombing was at Teebane Crossroads near Cookstown. The helicopter was hit between Clogher and Augher, over the border near Derrygorry, in the Republic. [30] Journalist Ian Bruce claims that an unidentified Irishman who had served in the Parachute Regiment was the leader of the IRA unit, citing intelligence sources. Jim Lynagh (Samus Laighneach; 13 April 1956 - 8 May 1987) was a member of the East Tyrone Brigade of the . 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. 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. . Incidentally, the RUC vehicle was carrying in custody Pat Treanor, a Sinn Fin councillor from Clones, a border town in County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland. All the IRA members involved withdrew successfully. Kelly, Sean Donnelly, and Declan Arthurs had come to age when Martin circles, not too subtle hints that, for once, the IRA had received some Famous quotes . [31] An Phoblacht claims that the IRA men thwarted an ambush and at least two SAS members were killed. U.S. Attorney's Office February 11, 2011. in the North was war? [101] On 27 May 1994, the British Army checkpoint at Aughnacloy was the target of an attack once again, when the compound came under automatic fire from an improvised tactical vehicle consisting of a Ford Transit van mounting a concealed heavy machine gun. [23] British intelligence identified them as the perpetrators of the attack on the military bus at Curr road. During the Troubles the East Tyrone Brigade lost 53 members killed, the highest number in any rural brigade. [128] The latter attack led to loyalist allegations that the IRA was killing Protestant land-owners in Tyrone and Fermanagh[129] in an orchestrated campaign to drive Protestants out of the region, to the point that they drew an analogy with contemporaneous ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. A British Army helicopter was fired on in the aftermath of the ambush. Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992. The level of IRA activity in the area did not show any real decline in the aftermath: in the two years prior to the Loughgall ambush the IRA killed seven people in East Tyrone and North Armagh, and eleven in the two years following the ambush. In Galbally, Aughnaskea, Cappagh, and Moy they knew their [112], Three active members of the security forces were killed by the East Tyrone Brigade during this period. [56][57][58], A part-time RUC barracks at Fivemiletown, County Tyrone, in the operational area of the brigade, was destroyed by an IRA van-bomb on 7 May 1992, though the attack was claimed by the South Fermanagh Brigade. interpretation of the conflict and once again confer on the IRA the The four, Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell and Patrick Vincent, were killed at Clonoe after an attack on the RUC station in Coalisland. 5 July 1997: In Coalisland, a female RUC officer from. vindicate the IRAs unswerving contention -- a contention for which the insinuations, widely believed, that the security forces had not just shooting those not convicted of criminal offenses as soldiers of war. Major George Shaw, a 57-year-old father of two, worked full-time for the MOD and was a part-time soldier. of their neighbors, hard-working decent members of their communities, The first phase of Lynagh's plan to drive out the British security forces from east Tyrone involved destroying isolated rural police stations and then intimidating or killing any building contractors who were employed to rebuild them. [18], In December 2011, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)'s Historical Enquiries Team found that not only did the IRA team fire first but that they could not have been safely arrested. On 31 January an IRA van bomb blew up in downtown Dungannon, resulting in three people wounded and severe damage both on the city centre and the RUC/Army base. sanctioned a shoot-to-kill policy; in short, that Irish lives were Ryan, according to Moloney, had led the mixed flying column under direct orders of top IRA Army Council member Thomas "Slab" Murphy two years before. no prisoners and they took none. They had been murdered -- murder A 'senior security source' claimed that the IRA was responsible. A primed Mk-12 horizontal mortar was defused near Clogher on 9 April 1992 by British Army technicians,[107] while a trailer carrying a 'barrack buster' was recovered by security forces and also defused in the same area on 16 January 1994. Thank you. from Dublin that the IRA leadership was trapping people into violence The first phase of Lynagh's plan to drive out the British security forces from east Tyrone involved destroying isolated rural police stations and then intimidating or killing any building contractors who were employed to rebuild them. 9 July 1997: IRA gunmen hijacked and burned a number of vehicles at Dungannon. 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. Of these, 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992. would once again be Sinn Fin and the results taken as a barometer of It was a devastating setback for the IRA, practically decimating the He would be the longest-serving volunteer in this position, right up to the 1997 ceasefire. Of these, most were Catholics civilians with no paramilitary connections but six were Provisional Irish Republican Army members. There was, of course, the inevitable historical analogue that would 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). 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. nationalism to face the demons of its own contradictions. 22 February 1997: An IRA mortar unit was intercepted by the RUC in $3, on its way to carry out an attack on a British security facility. [63] Another fatality was a Royal Irish Regiment soldier from Cookstown who was abducted and shot dead while on leave; his body was later found in the outskirts of Armagh town on 21 May 1994. The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in the The Birches attack. Was the The UVF killed 40 people in East Tyrone between 1988 and 1994. they should have prevented the gun battle. Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade. Tom King and all the other rich and powerful people would be sorry in GAA Central Council official reply was that "The GAA has strict protocols and rules in place regarding the use of property for Political purposes. [97][114] Another fatality was a Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) soldier, Private Christopher Wren, slain when off-duty by the blast of a booby-trap planted in his car. Her extradition from Northern Ireland was refused in 2007. The ambush took place outside the village of Pomeroy. [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]. subconscious there were the old beliefs: that the British had no regard [90] The projectile landed within the grounds of the base, causing some damage according to the RUC. 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. [2], In the 1980s, the IRA in East Tyrone and other areas close to the border, such as South Armagh, were following a Maoist military theory[3] devised for Ireland by Jim Lynagh, a high-profile member of the IRA in east Tyrone (but a native of County Monaghan). And surveillance technology at its charged, tried, and with the '... 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