The team, which included Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain's brother-in-law, Bernard McGinn from Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, were sentenced to lengthy jailed terms but released in 2000 as part of the prisoner amnesty. His father-in-law, Joseph Wilson, a member of the UDR, had been shot dead by the Provisional IRA a short distance away in 1976. But the snipers also lost a number of their most skilled members, such as Mchel Caraher, who were arrested and imprisoned just weeks before the second ceasefire. These squads were responsible for killing seven soldiers and two RUC members until the Caraher team was finally caught by the Special Air Service in April 1997. ","isAccessibleForFree":"True","isPartOf":{"@type":["CreativeWork","Product"],"name":"Independent.ie","productID":"independent.ie:showcase"}} {"@context":"https://schema.org/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Independent.ie","item":"https://m.independent.ie/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Irish News","item":"https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/"}]} const selectedRegional = localStorage.getItem('selectedRegionals'); The truck bombs were sent to England by ferry. He is a close associate of the Provos' Border boss, Thomas 'Slab' Murphy, Gerry Adams and other figures in Sinn Fein. window.loadGTM(); Let the message from south Armagh ring loud and clear to the occupation forces. const script = document.createElement('script'); }; South Armagh IRA rocked as 'OC' is outed as a 'tout', It is not clear how the OC came to be exposed as an agent but he is believed to have been recruited by British Intelligence in the late 1980s or early 1990s. }; He is said to have given the order for the brutal beating, which turned into the murder of Paul Quinn, the innocent 21-year-old who happened to have been involved in a violent row with another local Provo who had assaulted a young woman in October 2007. An IRA unit had taken over a house in Ogle Street and waited until the RUC foot patrol came into range of the 5 lb device. He had charge of the IRA's Border sniper team, which killed seven soldiers and two police officers in the 1990s. In July last year Wilson and south Armagh man Sean Gerard Hughes were returned for trial to face counts of belonging to a proscribed organisation and addressing a meeting to encourage support for . Sources say that shortly before they were captured, the team was given orders by the 'OC' not to carry any weapons when they were directed to a farm to collect their sniper rifle for an operation. window.dataLayer.push(vars); He is a close associate of the Provos' Border boss, Thomas 'Slab' Murphy, Gerry Adams and other figures in Sinn Fein. })(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-KJF4'); A number of South Armagh IRA members were imprisoned by the end of the 1970s and took part in the blanket protest and dirty protest in pursuit of political status for IRA prisoners. More people could be killed or forced from their homes in a feud between factions of the Provisional IRA in south Armagh, republicans and security chiefs warned . subscriptionStartDate: '1111-11-11T11:11:11Z', She had gone to Belfast after spending some of the night drinking in Armagh, and had fallen in with a crowd of loyalist men and women who, realising that she was a Catholic from Armagh, took her to a house on Cregagh Street on the pretense of having a party. meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, The team was eventually rounded up and arrested in an operation by the SAS near Crossmaglen in April 1997. $312,000 (2022) Assessed Value. The \u0026#039;OC\u0026#039; is said to have bought another substantial portion of farmland in Armagh. [2] It has allegedly been commanded since the 1970s by Thomas 'Slab' Murphy who is also alleged to be a member of the IRA's Army Council. In a statement released by the IRA at the time they denied any role in it. A British border patrol searches a lorry in 1969. subscriptionFinishDate: '1111-11-11T11:11:11Z', if (subscriberCookieStatus === "undefined") { The team was eventually rounded up and arrested in an operation by the British Army's SAS near Crossmaglen in April 1997. bundle: bundleValue, Burrows came from Ballinahone Avenue in the city. Men from the area also took part in IRA campaigns in the 1940 and 1950s. document.head.append(script); It is believed that the British struck a deal whereby the IRA leaders could continue to benefit from the illicit trade so long as no further attacks on security forces or bomb attacks on commercial targets took place. subscriptionFinishDate: purchase.granted_by_app_purchase.finish_at, When there, Ms Smyth was followed upstairs by five men, who savagely beat and strangled her. console.log('observer.observe failed:', e); The dead man was a World War II veteran and had taken part in the. if (cookieValue) { subscriptionStartDate: purchase.granted_by_purchase.original_start_at, Sorry, we couldn't find what you're looking for. subscriptionFinishDate: '', } window.IMP = window.IMP || {}; ","articleBody":"The second most senior IRA man in South Armagh is being \u0026#039;protected\u0026#039; amid claims that he worked as an agent for British intelligence, according to usually reliable security sources. cookieValue = decodeURIComponent(cookieValue); He is said to have given the order for the brutal beating, which turned into the murder of Paul Quinn, the innocent 21-year-old who happened to have been involved in a violent row with another local Provo who had assaulted a young woman in October 2007. return 'home-delivery'; if (parts.shift() === key) { 29 April Thomas McGeary, a 48-year-old Catholic civilian, is killed by a booby-trap bomb planted in his car just outside Armagh city. [47] The Omagh bombing of August 1998, a botched Real IRA operation which killed 29 civilians, was prepared by dissident republicans in South Armagh. South Armagh became the most heavily militarised area in Northern Ireland. T uesday marked. var p = purchase['granted_by_' + purchaseType]; On 17 February 1978 the commander of the 2nd Battalion Royal Green Jackets, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Corden-Lloyd, was killed and two other soldiers injured when the Gazelle helicopter he was travelling in was attacked by an IRA unit near Jonesborough. } observer.observe(document, { October 21 2015 11:41 PM The mother of a young man who was beaten to death by a south Armagh IRA gang has demanded that Sinn Fin members stop "protecting" her son's killers. 20 December Austin Smith, a 44-year-old Catholic member of the UDR, is shot dead by the Provisional IRA as he returned to his home on the Windmill estate in a heavily nationalist part of the city. 211 Orange County ERA, your comprehensive resource in Capistrano Beach California. [15] In response, the British government stated that it was dispatching the Special Air Service (SAS) to South Armagh, although the SAS had been present in the area for many years. The high power capability of the Barrett rifles posed a significant threat to British security forces and helicopters, forcing both to limit patrols and thus allow the IRA more freedom of movement. } He was later acquitted of any charges, but he eventually agreed in 2006 to pay 500,000 for cross-border smuggling. return { subscriptionFinishDate: purchase.granted_by_purchase.finish_at, The Sunday Independent has learned that the South Armagh 'OC' was outed as a 'tout' earlier this year and that shortly afterwards an IRA bodyguard team was sent from Belfast to ensure that no attack was made on the man in order to save embarrassment for the 'movement'. He is a close associate of the Provos\u0026#039; Border boss, Thomas \u0026#039;Slab\u0026#039; Murphy, Gerry Adams and other figures in Sinn Fein.He is said to have given the order for the brutal beating, which turned into the murder of Paul Quinn, the innocent 21-year-old who happened to have been involved in a violent row with another local Provo who had assaulted a young woman in October 2007.The Sunday Independent has learned that the South Armagh \u0026#039;OC\u0026#039; was outed as a \u0026#039;tout\u0026#039; earlier this year and that shortly afterwards an IRA bodyguard team was sent from Belfast to ensure that no attack was made on the man in order to save embarrassment for the \u0026#039;movement\u0026#039;. He was due to retire in five weeks. The loyalties of many people in Northern Ireland's South Armagh are with the neighboring Irish republic. According to the victim's sister-in-law, who was present at the time of the incident, two masked men entered demanding money and fired two shots into the ceiling when Corrigan refused to hand over any cash. Hodder & Stoughton. Says It Killed Tory M.P. try { if (eventType === 'access_resolved' || eventType === 'access_resolved ') { The South Armagh IRA were recognised as an independent entity by Provisionals from the mid-1970s, with the area notoriously dangerous for police and army operations. 22 January Derek Monteith, a 35-year-old inspector in the RUC, is shot dead by the Provisional IRA in the kitchen of his home in Kilburn Park off the Portadown Road in the city. }).map(function (key) { window.showSubscriberElements) { 3 April 1993 - A British soldier was shot and injured by the IRA near Crossmaglen, South Armagh. The fact that the IRA executed the action despite the presence of a British Army watchtower nearby, caused outrage among British and Irish parliamentary circles. 24 February - Reginald Williamson, a 46-year-old RUC member from Armagh, is killed when a Provisional IRA booby-trap bomb explodes under his car near the village of Loughgall. It was one of the few times the SAS didn't shoot members of an IRA 'active service unit' on armed operations. j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'? if (!! [12] IRA volunteer amon McGuire, a former Aer Lingus senior engineer, and his team claim that they were responsible for getting the British Army "off the ground and into the air" in South Armagh. 15/11/1974 Michael McVerry O.C. "The fools, the fools, the fools, they have left us our Fenian dead. let cookieValue = parts.join('='); On 11 June 1993, the South Armagh Brigade attempted to shoot down a Puma helicopter taking off from the Crossmaglen base with an improvised mortar. Earlier in the day two large no-warning car bombs left by the loyalist. The single Mk-15 mortar bomb landed 40 yards (37m) short of the perimeter fence. He was eventually killed during an attack on the RUC barracks in Keady in November 1973. The team, which included Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain\u0026#039;s brother-in-law, Bernard McGinn from Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, were sentenced to lengthy jailed terms but released in 2000 as part of the prisoner amnesty. 16 April 1997 - A group of sixteen undercover SAS members restrained four IRA members, part of one of the two sniper teams which operated in South Armagh and gave them to the RUC, after tracking the IRA men to a farm complex. } The second most senior IRA man in south Armagh is being protected amid claims that he worked as an agent for British intelligence, according to usually reliable security sources. Fourth Northern Division of the Irish Republican Army, was attacked by an IRA unit near Jonesborough, Chief Superintendent Harry Breen and Superintendent Bob Buchanan, took control of the village of Cullaville, deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, "Tribunal to investigate murders of RUC officers", BBC On This DAY - 20 March 1989 "Senior RUC men die in gun attack", "Governments must end immoral indulgence of Sinn Fin/IRA", Commons debate, 8 June 1993, columns 192-197, Commons debate, 8 June 1993, columns 180-191, The only way to travel across bandit country, "Final British Watchtowers being removed", "No democrat will shed tears at demise of RIR and its bases", "North-south crackdown on IRA's hidden wealth", "Is 'Slab' Murphy's bloody reign drawing to an end? 23 April 38-year-old Protestant John Robinson is shot dead by the Provisional IRA outside the Mullacreevie estate. } $69,194 (2019) Property Taxes. [28] By 1991, the RUC acknowledged that no mobile patrols had operated in South Armagh without Army support since 1975.[29]. In September 1975 they attacked an Orange lodge in Newtownhamilton, killing five members of the lodge. Martin was from Knockamell Park in the city and was a neighbour of Charles Spence, who was had been shot dead by the IRA two weeks previously. window.IMP.config = flipPayConfig; It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. When they arrived, they were surrounded by 16 SAS men, who ordered them to surrender. 3 March Herbert Burrows, a 37-year-old Protestant civilian, is killed when a Provisional IRA booby-trap bomb which was attached to a door at his Alexander Road funeral parlour exploded, killing him instantly. Media. When they arrived, they were surrounded by 16 SAS men, who ordered them to surrender. if (isGrantedBy('purchase')) { According to Lost Lives, it is assumed that he was killed in retaliation for a UVF gun attack on a Catholic man in the city earlier that day. From that point onwards, the South Armagh 'OC' and his associates became millionaires while continuing to donate a reputed 25pc of their earnings to the 'movement'. The team, which included Sinn Fein TD Caoimhghin O Caolain's brother-in-law, Bernard McGinn from Castleblayney, Co Monaghan, were sentenced to lengthy jailed terms but released in 2000 as part of the prisoner amnesty. McGinn, who laughed when he received his life sentence, died in December 2013 from a suspected heart attack in Monaghan town, aged 56. vars.article.wallVisible = ! From that point on the south Armagh OC and his associates became millionaires while continuing to donate a reputed 25% of their earnings to the IRA. Toby Harnden has interviewed members . It was one of the few times the SAS didn't shoot members of an IRA 'active service unit' on armed operations. const eventType = event.detail.event_type; userID: purchase.granted_by_purchase.user_id, childList: true, } } [5] Between 1970 and 1997 the brigade was responsible for the deaths of 165 members of British security forces (123 British soldiers and 42 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers). script.async = true; To republicans, it is 'God's Country', the only area in the six counties where the occupiers have successfully been resisted. His younger brother, a member of the UDR, had lost both legs in an IRA attack on the Mall in 1982. 29 March 1997 - An RUC officer was badly wounded when he was shot by a sniper outside Forkhill joint security base, County Armagh. Michael McKevitt and his wife Bernadette were evicted from their home near Dundalk. In an area with a population of 23,000, the British Army stationed around 3,000 troops in support of the RUC to contain an unknown number of paramilitaries. The men were taken out of their minibus and then . if (Object.keys(p.badge || {}).indexOf('print_monthly') > -1) { 15.5K Followers. 1,168 Following. Sources say that shortly before they were captured, the team was given orders by the \u0026#039;OC\u0026#039; not to carry any weapons when they were directed to a farm to collect their sniper rifle for an operation. document.cookie = subscriberCookieName + "= ; path=/;domain=" + domain + ";expires = Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 GMT"; window.GTMLoaded = false; Neighborhood North of Turnpike Subdivision Pleasant Park. 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