Fergal Caraher (12 April 1970 – 30 December 1990) was a
Provisional IRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
volunteer and
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
member who was killed by a group of
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
at a checkpoint in
Cullyhanna
Cullyhanna () is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The village extends further over the townlands of Tullynavall and Freeduff. It had a population of 306 in the 2001 Census. It is within the Newry and Mourne Distri ...
,
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
[''Tírghrá'', National Commemoration Centre, 2002. PB. p.321]
Background
Fergal Caraher was born in
Cullyhanna
Cullyhanna () is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The village extends further over the townlands of Tullynavall and Freeduff. It had a population of 306 in the 2001 Census. It is within the Newry and Mourne Distri ...
,
County Armagh
County Armagh (, named after its county town, Armagh) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the southern shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and ha ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
to a
republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
family. He was a member of both the
Provisional IRA
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...
and
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
.
On 30 December 1990, he was killed by
Royal Marines
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
near a checkpoint in
Cullyhanna
Cullyhanna () is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The village extends further over the townlands of Tullynavall and Freeduff. It had a population of 306 in the 2001 Census. It is within the Newry and Mourne Distri ...
. His brother,
Michael Caraher, who was severely wounded in the shooting, later became the shooter of one of the
South Armagh sniper squads, which killed seven British soldiers and two
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 ...
members. Michael Caraher was imprisoned in 1997, but released in 2000 under the prisoner release terms of the
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
.
In 1996, Fergal Caraher's sister,
Maria
Maria may refer to:
People
* Mary, mother of Jesus
* Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages
Place names Extraterrestrial
* 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877
* Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...
, was elected to the
Northern Ireland Forum
The Northern Ireland Forum for Political Dialogue was a body set up in 1996 as part of a process of negotiations that eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement in 1998.
The forum was elected, with five members being elected for each Westmin ...
in
Newry and Armagh Newry and Armagh can refer to:
* Newry and Armagh (Assembly constituency)
*Newry and Armagh (UK Parliament constituency)
Newry and Armagh is a parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom House of Commons. The current MP is Mickey Brady o ...
, but she did not stand in the subsequent
1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election
The 1998 Northern Ireland Assembly election took place on Thursday, 25 June 1998. This was the first election to the new devolved Northern Ireland Assembly. Six members from each of Northern Ireland's eighteen Westminster Parliamentary constit ...
. She is currently the principal of
Bunscoil an Iúir, an
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
school in
Newry
Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011.
Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...
.
Murder trial
In 1993, two Royal Marines were charged with Caraher's murder. Both men, Lance Corporal Richard Elkington, 23, and Private Andrew Callaghan, 21, from
45 Commando
45 Commando Royal Marines (pronounced "four-five commando") is a battalion sized unit of the British Royal Marines and subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of th ...
RM, denied the charges and were acquitted.
Crown prosecutors stated that Elkington smashed the driver's window with his rifle and opened fire on the car, ordering Callaghan to do likewise as the brothers attempted to drive from a pub car park. They also stated that the investigation into the shooting had been hampered as other soldiers on scene had collected spent bullet cases instead of preserving the scene for
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 ...
(RUC) police officers and claimed that there was no lawful justification for firing on the car.
Elkington told police he had fired nine aimed shots at the driver, believing that a third Marine was being carried away by the brothers on the bonnet of their car. Callaghan stated that he fired 12 shots at the car because he feared for the life of the third Marine, whom he could not see.
Fergal Caraher is one of 24 Provisional IRA volunteers remembered at the
South Armagh Memorial Garden in
Mullaghbawn
Mullaghbawn ( or ; ), or Mullaghbane, is a small village and townland near Slieve Gullion in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 596.
History
A barracks was built near Mullaghbawn in 1689 and was known ...
, near
Slieve Gullion
Slieve Gullion ( or ''Sliabh Cuilinn'', "Culann's mountain") is a mountain in the south of County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The mountain is the heart of the Ring of Gullion and is the highest point in the county, with an elevation of . At the ...
mountain.
See also
*
South Armagh Sniper (1990–1997)
The South Armagh Sniper is the generic name"At first, we believed it was one unit, one weapon and one trigger man.... It developed into at least two". A former SAS warrant officer, quoted by Harnden (Harnden 2000, p. 400). given to the member ...
*
Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Ar ...
References
Bibliography
*
Geraghty, Tony: ''The Irish War''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. .
*
Harnden, Toby: ''Bandit Country:The IRA and South Armagh''. Coronet Books, 2000. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caraher, Fergal
1970 births
1990 deaths
Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland
Irish republicans
People from County Armagh
People killed by security forces during The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
Provisional Irish Republican Army members
History of the Royal Marines
Military history of County Armagh