if (vars.article) { return { return { // Check window.dataLayer object or create. const eventType = event.detail.event_type; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; South Armagh has long been the IRA stronghold and any defections would be a devastating blow to the leadership. for (let i = 0, parts; (parts = cookies[i] && cookies[i].split('=')); i++) { [24] As the divisional commander for South Armagh, Breen was the most senior policeman to have been killed during the Troubles. } On 7 August of that year, Harry Thornton, a 29-year-old sewage worker from South Armagh was shot and killed by the British Army while staying in a car outside Springfield Road base in Belfast, he and his coworker Arthur Murphy having been mistaken for gunmen. new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0], He was later acquitted of any charges, but he eventually agreed in 2006 to pay 500,000 for cross-border smuggling. 24 January Tony Harker, a 21-year-old Catholic civilian, is shot dead by the UDR in disputed circumstances outside a supermarket on the Keady Road. if (Object.keys(p.badge || {}).indexOf('print_monthly') > -1) { [18] In August 1979, a South Armagh unit killed 18 soldiers in the Warrenpoint ambush. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Overall, the South Armagh Sniper operation carried out by the IRA was one of the most successful operations of that era of the troubles. By the time of the final IRA ceasefire in August 1997 the south Armagh IRA leadership was already heavily involved in fuel and cigarette smuggling. }; }).map(function (key) { } let cookieValue = parts.join('='); return 'epaper-access'; console.log('observer.observe failed:', e); The board of finance Wednesday voted 4-2 in favor of using $300,000 in funding to repair the Grange Pool.Repairs to the nearly 60-year-old pool have been estimated between $300,000 to $350,000. His brother Michael Caraher, who was severely wounded in the shooting, later became the commander of one of the South Armagh sniper squads. vars.category.regionals = selectedRegional || ''; meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, vars.user.subscriptionStatus = subscriberCookie.subscriptionStatus || ''; Media. When he was 17 he had witnessed his father Peter Corrigan, a Sinn Fin member, being shot dead by the UVF in the city. if (eventType === 'access_resolved' || eventType === 'access_resolved ') { if (event.detail.object.access === true) { Toby Harnden has interviewed members . return cookieData; } script.async = true; Murphy was lightly wounded and arrested by the RUC. [25], South Armagh became the most heavily militarised area in Northern Ireland. 27 August 1992 - An unsuccessful attack was launched by a sniper on a British Army patrol at Carran Road, Crossmaglen, County Armagh. Burrows came from Ballinahone Avenue in the city. He was due to retire in five weeks. const cookieExpiryInSeconds = 60 * 60 * 24 * 30; subscriptionStatus: purchase.granted_by_app_purchase.sku_code, The 'OC' is said to have bought another substantial portion of farmland in Armagh. Now it has been 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 organisation. [13] Another noted IRA commander at that time was the commanding officer of the first battalion, Captain Michael McVerry. subscriptionStatus: '', 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. script.src = flipPayJsUrl; The man, who has the official title of 'officer commanding' South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional IRA, is also a member of the 'Northern Command', the ruling body which effectively ran the organisation from the early 1980s. return 'home-delivery'; [7] The RUC recorded 1,255 bombings and 1,158 shootings around a radius of ten miles from the geographic centre of South Armagh in the same period. The man is a close associate of the Provos' border boss Thomas 'Slab' Murphy (pictured), Gerry Adams and other figures in Sinn Fein. A sniper rifle and other weapons were recovered. The customs building itself was later destroyed in an IRA bomb attack in 1986. 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. When there, Ms Smyth was followed upstairs by five men, who savagely beat and strangled her. 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. enable_showcase: true, subscriptionStartDate: purchase.granted_by_purchase.original_start_at, Ten workers were murdered after the IRA ambushed their van in 1976 By Linda Stewart Wed 17 May 2017 at 18:30 An inquest has heard how the south Armagh brigade of the Provisional IRA was. const listenForFlipPayEvents = function () { 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. window.showSubscriberElements = true; The south Armagh IRA even discovered ground not covered by the watchtowers for sniper attacks in the 1990s. [60], "The Saracen armoured car blown up by a culvert bomb at Lurganculleboy, near Crossmaglen in October 1975, killing Corporal Edward Gleeson. He had charge of the IRA\u0026#039;s Border sniper team, which killed seven soldiers and two police officers in the 1990s.The team was eventually rounded up and arrested in an operation by the British Army\u0026#039;s SAS near Crossmaglen in April 1997. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Now it has been 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. Overview of The Troubles in Armagh City, Northern Ireland, "Irish Police Face Peril of 'Murder Mile', "Issues: Violence McKittrick, Kelters, Feeney and Thornton (1999) Lost Lives: The stories of the men, women and children who died as a result of the Northern Ireland troubles", "Madden and Finucane Closing Submissions (including excerpts from The Scarman Report)", "Five injured as Staffords are lured into Armagh booby trap", "Newton Emerson: Licensing next war is Adams's real legacy", "Calls for 'honesty' and inquiry over Troubles-related killings", "Paramilitary Feuds in Northern Ireland A Chronology of Events", "Gunmen Shoot Part-time Soldier, IRA Claims Responsibility", "Police inspector shot dead in Northern Ireland", "I.R.A. Robinson was a former member of the UDR. There were no injuries on either side. 2 . j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'? }); 23 April 38-year-old Protestant John Robinson is shot dead by the Provisional IRA outside the Mullacreevie estate. When they arrived, they were surrounded by 16 SAS men, who ordered them to surrender. [6], South Armagh has a long Irish republican tradition. RM2HX09AC - File photo dated 7/8/2011 of Peter Smithwick, the senior judge who led an inquiry into claims of Garda/IRA collusion into the murder of two RUC officers, has died aged 85. Originally from. 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. Paul Reece of the, 16 October 25-year-old Tony McClelland, from the Drumarg estate in Armagh city, died during a, 2 April 23-year-old RUC man Kenneth Acheson from Ballynahone Drive in the city dies when a Provisional IRA booby-trap bomb explodes under his car as he drives home from. meteredAccess: purchase.metered_paywall, McGinn, who laughed when he received his life sentence, died in December 2013 from a suspected heart attack in Monaghan town, aged 56. 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;. A . It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. userID: purchase.granted_by_corporate_account.user_id, vars.user.subscriptionFinishDate = subscriberCookie.subscriptionFinishDate || ''; [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. if (parts.shift() === key) { } window.IMP.config = flipPayConfig; FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. T uesday marked. 1,168 Following. Although from Armagh city, he was a member of the IRA's, 31 July George Walsh, a 51-year-old member of the RUC, was shot dead when two INLA gunmen opened fire on the car he was sitting in outside, 2 August Two British soldiers are killed in a Provisional IRA landmine explosion on the Cathedral Road. const bundleValue = getBundleValue(purchase, 'corporate_account'); }; A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman confirmed that an investigation was underway, but also stated that both Sinn Fin Ministers and everyone attending the parade were unaware that "the proper paperwork hadn't been submitted". The IRA claimed that he was a member of the UDR, something that was denied by the police and army. The OC of the Southern Command is said to be a man living in the Tallaght area of Dublin. IN A SHOW OF SOLIDARITY with the McCabe family, republicans from across the country travelled to south Armagh to tell the criminals behind the attack which left Francis McCabe Junior badly injured last week that their activities are a disgrace. 10 November Charles Neville, a 56-year-old Protestant and former member of the UDR, is killed in a Provisional IRA gun and grenade attack on his car at the Loughgall Road. 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. A key player in a vicious IRA sniper squad in south Armagh will be freed from prison under the Good Friday agreement within 16 months, despite yesterday receiving one of . 8 November Adrian Carroll, a 24-year-old. return; Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation. [21] Three months later, a further four RUC officers were killed by a 900 lb roadside bomb at Killean, County Armagh.[22]. 7 September 61-year-old Catholic RUC man John Wasson is shot dead by the INLA outside his Duke's Grove home in a nationalist area of the city. subscriptionFinishDate: purchase.granted_by_purchase.finish_at, const grantedBy = Object.keys(purchase).filter(function (key) { if (isGrantedBy('whitelist_rule')) { [42] When the IRA resumed its campaign in 1996-97, the South Armagh IRA was less active than previously,[43] although one of the sniper teams killed one soldier and seriously wounded an RUC constable. , South Armagh IRA is killed on active service during an attack on Keady barracks. 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. 25 July 1994 - A British soldier was shot and wounded by the IRA in Crossmaglen, County Armagh. He was the 267th RUC officer to die in the Troubles. The Troubles in Armagh recounts incidents during The Troubles in Armagh City, County Armagh, Northern Ireland; the violence was substantial enough for a stretch of road on the outskirts of the city to be referred to by one RUC officer as "Murder Mile". [28] By 1991, the RUC acknowledged that no mobile patrols had operated in South Armagh without Army support since 1975.[29]. By the end of the 1970s, the IRA in most of Northern Ireland had been restructured into a cell system. 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. 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