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John McMichael
John McMichael (9 January 1948 – 22 December 1987) was a Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent and charismatic figure within the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade. He was also commander of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" (UFF), a cover name for the UDA, overseeing an assassination campaign against prominent republican figures whose details were included in a notorious "shopping list" derived from leaked security forces documents. The UDA used the UFF name when it wished to claim responsibility for attacks, thus allowing it to remain a legal paramilitary organisation until August 1992 when it was proscribed by the British Government. McMichael held political office as leader of the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP) from 1981 until his death. He was killed outside his home by a booby-trap car bomb which was carried out by the Provisional IRA. Ulster Defence Association John McMichael was born ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lisburn
Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with the arrival of French Huguenots in the 18th century, the town developed as a global centre of the linen industry. In 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeth's Golden Jubilee celebrations, the predominantly unionist borough was granted city status alongside the largely nationalist town of Newry. With a population of 45,370 in the 2011 Census. Lisburn was the third-largest city in Northern Ireland. In the 2016 reform of local government in Northern Ireland Lisburn was joined with the greater part of Castlereagh to form the Lisburn City and Castlereagh District. Name The town was originally known as ''Lisnagarvy'' (also spelt ''Lisnagarvey'' or ''Lisnagarvagh'') after the townland in which it formed. This is derived . In the records, the name ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The development of nationalist and democratic sentiment throughout Europe in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, distilled into the contemporary ideology known as republican radicalism, was reflected in Ireland in the emergence of republicanism, in opposition to British rule. Discrimination against Catholics and Protestant nonconformists, attempts by the British administration to suppress Irish culture, and the belief that Ireland was economically disadvantaged as a result of the Acts of Union were among the specific factors leading to such opposition. The Society of United Irishmen, formed in 1791 and led primarily by liberal Protestants, launched the 1798 Rebellion with the help of troops sent by Revolutionary France, but the uprising ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC'', pp. 5, 17, 27, 93, 134, 271; Pen & Sword Books; following the partition of Ireland. At its peak the force had around 8,500 officers, with a further 4,500 who were members of the RUC Reserve. The RUC policed Northern Ireland from the aftermath of the Irish War of Independence until after the turn of the 21st century, and played a major role in the Troubles between the 1960s and the 1990s. Due to the threat from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), who saw the RUC as enforcing British rule, the force was heavily armed and militarised. Officers routinely carried submachine guns and assault rifles, travelled in armoured vehicles, and were based in heavily-fortified police stations.Weitzer, Ronald. ''Pol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Smallwoods
Raymond "Ray" Smallwoods (c. 1949 – 11 July 1994) was a Northern Ireland politician and sometime leader of the Ulster Democratic Party. A leading member of John McMichael's South Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Smallwoods later served as a leading adviser to the UDA's Inner Council. He was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) outside his Lisburn home. Ulster Defence Association Smallwoods was a native of Lisburn and, as such, was a member of the Ulster Defence Association's South Belfast brigade, which also covered the nearby town. In late 1979, John McMichael, a leading figure in the UDA and also a Lisburn native, set up a commando structure within the UDA and drew up a "shopping list" of leading targets for this group to kill.H. McDonald & J. Cusack, ''UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004, pp. 116–118 Amongst the names on the list killed were Irish Independence Party member John Turnley, Irish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
County Tyrone
County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retains a strong identity in popular culture. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population of about 177,986; its county town is Omagh. The county derives its name and general geographic location from Tír Eoghain, a Gaelic kingdom under the O'Neill dynasty which existed until the 17th century. Name The name ''Tyrone'' is derived , the name given to the conquests made by the Cenél nEógain from the provinces of Airgíalla and Ulaid.Art Cosgrove (2008); "A New History of Ireland, Volume II: Medieval Ireland 1169-1534". Oxford University Press. Historically, it was anglicised as ''Tirowen'' or ''Tyrowen'', which are closer to the Irish pronunciation. History Historically Tyrone (then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coalisland
Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late 17th century coal deposits were discovered in East Tyrone. While it was possible to exploit these resources, the difficulty was getting the coal to market in Dublin. In 1744 work began on the Coalisland Canal linking the coalfields to Lough Neagh. The town grew up around the canal workings. Twentieth century On 24 August 1968, the Campaign for Social Justice (CSJ), the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA), among others, held the first civil rights march in Northern Ireland. The march went from Coalisland to Dungannon. The Troubles The town has traditionally been viewed as an IRA stronghold throughout the twentieth century, with deep and enduring links to republicanism in the vicinity. From 1969 to 2001, a total of 20 people were shot in or near ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
Josephine Bernadette McAliskey (née Devlin; born 23 April 1947), usually known as Bernadette Devlin or Bernadette McAliskey, is an Irish civil rights leader, and former politician. She served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1974. Political beginnings Devlin was born in Cookstown, County Tyrone, to a Catholic family, where she was the third eldest of six children born to John James and Elizabeth Bernadette Devlin. Her father raised her to hold Irish Republican ideals before he died when Bernadette was nine years old. Subsequently, the family had to depend on welfare to survive, an experience which affected Bernadette deeply. Bernadette's mother died when Bernadette was nineteen years old, leaving her to partially raise her siblings while also attending university. She attended St Patrick's Girls Academy in Dungannon. She was studying psychology at Queen's University Belfast in 1968 when she took a prominent role in a student-led ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)
The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is an airborne infantry regiment of the British Army. The first battalion is part of the Special Forces Support Group under the operational command of the Director Special Forces. The other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Army's rapid response formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Paras, along with the Guards, are the only line infantry regiment of the British Army that has not been amalgamated with another unit since the end of the Second World War. The Parachute Regiment was formed on 22 June 1940 during the Second World War and eventually raised 17 battalions. In Europe, these battalions formed part of the 1st Airborne Division, the 6th Airborne Division and the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group. Another three battalions served with the British Indian Army in India and Burma. The regiment took part in six major parachute assault operations in North Africa, Italy, Greece, Fra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronnie Bunting
Ronnie Bunting (10 January 1948 – 15 October 1980) was a Protestant Irish republican and socialist activist in Ireland. He became a member of the Official IRA in the early 1970s and was a founder-member of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) in 1974. He became leader of the INLA in 1978 and was assassinated in 1980 aged 32. Background Bunting came from an Ulster Protestant family in East Belfast. His father, Ronald Bunting, had been a major in the British Army and Ronnie grew up in various military barracks around the world. Ronnie's father became a supporter and associate of Ian Paisley and ran for election under the Protestant Unionist Party banner. Journalist Walter Ellis, who was Bunting's cousin and also a Protestant left-wing advocate of a united Ireland, recalled him in their teenage years as domineering with violent tendencies. Ellis was expelled from Orangefield High School after setting fire to the prefects' room at Bunting's urging. Having completed his educat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Together with parts of the neighbouring districts of Antrim and Newtownabbey and Causeway Coast and Glens, it forms the East Antrim constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly. The civil parish is in the historic barony of Glenarm Upper. History The coastal area around Larne has been inhabited for millennia, and is thought to have been one of the earliest inhabited areas of Ireland, with these early human populations believed to have arrived from Scotland via the North Channel. Knockdhu, north of Larne, was the site of a Bronze Age promontory fort and settlement. The early coastal dwellers are thought to have had a sophisticated culture which involved tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Miriam Daly
Miriam Daly (; 6 May 1928 – 26 June 1980) was an Irish republican and communist activist as well as a university lecturer who was assassinated by the loyalist Ulster Defence Association (UDA) in 1980. Background and personal life She was born Miriam Annette McDonnell in the Curragh Irish Army camp, County Kildare, Ireland, one of the two daughters of Commandant Daniel McDonnell and Anne McDonnell (née Cummins). Her father had served under Michael Collins in the War of Independence and as part of the pro-treaty National Army during the Irish Civil War. Afterwards, he developed pro-Labour views. She grew up in Hatch Street, Dublin, where she attended Loreto College on St Stephen's Green and then University College, Dublin. While at UCD, Daly was a member of Young Fine Gael. She graduated BA in 1948 with first-class honours in history and economics, a Higher Diploma in Education in 1949, and then a first-class honours MA, with a dissertation on Irish labour in England ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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