Noel Docherty (26 December 1940 – 26 December 2008) was a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

loyalist activist who was close to Ian Paisley during Paisley's early years in politics. He served as leader of the

Ulster Protestant Volunteers The Ulster Protestant Volunteers was a loyalist and Reformed fundamentalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. They were active between 1966 and 1969 and closely linked to the Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC) and Ulster Voluntee ...

and was imprisoned for his involvement in procuring explosives for that organisation.

Early years

In school, Doherty had been noted for his Calvinist fundamentalism and had frequent fierce rows with his classmates about the nature of such issues as

creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

and Virgin birth, with Doherty refusing to brook any deviation from a literal interpretation of

the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

.Thomas Hennessey, ''Northern Ireland: The Origins of the Troubles'', Gill & Macmillan, 2005, p. 54 Attracted to fundamentalism, Doherty joined the Ravenhill Road congregation of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in 1956 and soon became close to its leader, the Reverend Ian Paisley.Steve Bruce, ''Paisley: Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2007, p. 80 He also joined the

Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the part ...

("B Specials") around the same time as he considered them a bulwark of Protestantism in Northern Ireland.

Paisley's ally

Although Doherty was only 16 years of age when Ulster Protestant Action was set up in 1956, Paisley nominated the east

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

native to a post on the executive body of the newly formed movement. Doherty also headed up another of Paisley's initiatives, the Orange Defence Committee, a group secretly established by Paisley in 1963 but publicly led by Doherty, to co-ordinate opposition to

Terence O'Neill Terence Marne O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of the Maine, PC (NI) (10 September 1914 – 12 June 1990), was the fourth prime minister of Northern Ireland and leader (1963–1969) of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP). A moderate unionist, who sought ...

within the Orange Order. Paisley had split from the Order three years earlier, but Doherty remained a member and so was chosen as leader of the new initiative. A printer by trade, Doherty oversaw the establishment of Paisley's own printing concern. In 1965 he bought a second-hand printing press and set up the Puritan Printing Press, which produced Paisley's literature, including his newspaper the ''

Protestant Telegraph The ''Protestant Telegraph'' was a Northern Irish newspaper founded by Noel Doherty and Ian Paisley on 13 February 1966. It was noted for its Protestant fundamentalism and its attacks on the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Ireland and the ...

''.

Ulster Protestant Volunteers

In 1966 he came up with the idea of establishing the

Ulster Constitution Defence Committee The Ulster Constitution Defence Committee (UCDC) was established in Northern Ireland in April 1966. The UCDC was the governing body of the loyalist Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). The UCDC coordinated parades, counter demonstrations, and p ...

(UCDC) as a governing body of twelve leading

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a u ...

s, which was to be connected to the

(UPV), a much bigger body of men which claimed to be committed to legality. Doherty was appointed as leader of the UPV after it was set up. Under Paisley's instructions he was to set up "divisions" of the UPV, based on the divisions of parliamentary constituencies, all over Northern Ireland, although Doherty soon came to refer to these as "cells" and gave the embryonic movement a highly militarised structure. Doherty also sought to buy up stashes of guns for the UPV, feeling that they would be needed in a future Paisley-led uprising. He later claimed that Paisley, whom he referred to as "our Moses", had no idea of these plans and argued that he would not have trusted Paisley with the knowledge that the UPV was building up an arsenal. Doherty was soon introduced to James Marshall, who said that he could supply Doherty and the UPV with explosives and a meeting was arranged at which Doherty was accompanied by

Billy Mitchell William Lendrum Mitchell (December 29, 1879 – February 19, 1936) was a United States Army officer who is regarded as the father of the United States Air Force. Mitchell served in France during World War I and, by the conflict's end, command ...

. The explosives would be used in 1969 as part of a series of bombings in which members of the UPV caused small explosions at a Castlereagh electricity station,

Silent Valley Reservoir The Silent Valley Reservoir is a reservoir located in the Mourne Mountains near Kilkeel, County Down in Northern Ireland. It supplies most of the water for County Down, surrounding counties and most of Belfast. It is owned and maintained by Northe ...

and a further electricity station in

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

.Bruce, ''Paisley'', p. 81 Mitchell, who was a member of the

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign ...

(UVF), dismissed the attacks as minor, claiming that all Doherty had was "a few sticks of weeping gelly an auld farmer would use to blow up tree stumps" but nonetheless the bombings caused an outcry. Doherty had also joined the UVF and introduced other UVF members to Marshall to supply that group with the same bomb-making technology. He procured explosives for the

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...

UVF but during the transaction a business card belonging to his associate James Murdock was dropped at the scene and found by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Doherty was soon connected to the incident and arrested for his involvement. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment on 18 October 1966. The UVF publicly denied that Doherty was a member of their organisation.Cusack & McDonald, ''UVF'', p. 67 Doherty was imprisoned in

Crumlin Road Gaol HMP Belfast, also known as Crumlin Road Gaol, is a former prison situated on the Crumlin Road in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. Since 1996 it is the only remaining Victorian era former prison in Northern Ireland. It is colloquially known as ' ...

. On the day of his imprisonment, Paisley made a speech outside the prison in which he denied all knowledge of Doherty's offences, before announcing that he was forthwith expelled from the UPV and the UCDC. Doherty's position as UCDC secretary was taken over by Hercules Mallon, whose brother Frank was already treasurer of the movement. Both would later be tried for their roles in the 1969 bombing campaign.

Later years and legacy

Following his release from prison, Doherty disappeared from view and was rumoured to have emigrated to

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kno ...

and then South Africa under apartheid to fight "terrorists".Peter Taylor, ''Loyalists'', Bloomsbury, 2000, p. 30 He eventually established his own printing press in South Africa.Moloney, ''Paisley'', p. 135 He was eventually found to be living in England in the 1990s by

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

, who interviewed him whilst researching his ''Loyalists'' documentary and book. Doherty returned to private life after the interview and his whereabouts again became unknown. He was notorious as a

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

and preached that a massive conspiracy existed between the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the major denominations of

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, the

ecumenical movement Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

, the governments of the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and the United Kingdom, communists, and even elements within the

Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...

, to force a

united Ireland United Ireland, also referred to as Irish reunification, is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically; the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the maj ...

and "Rome rule" on

Ulster Protestants Ulster Protestants ( ga, Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the ...

. His conspiracy theories were taken up by the likes of William McGrath, the founder of Tara, and

John McKeague John Dunlop McKeagueWD Flackes & Sydney Elliott, ''Northern Ireland A Political Directory 1968–1993'', The Blackstaff Press, 1994, p. 222 (1930 – 29 January 1982) was a Northern Irish loyalist and one of the founding members of the paramilit ...

, who established a number of groups including the

Shankill Defence Association The Shankill Defence Association was a Ulster loyalism, loyalist vigilante group formed in May 1969 for the defence of the loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland during the communal disturbances that year. The Shankill Defence A ...

, the

Red Hand Commando The Red Hand Commando (RHC) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland that is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army (IR ...

and the Ulster Independence Party.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doherty, Noel 1940 births 2008 deaths Anti-Catholicism in Northern Ireland Anti-Catholicism in South Africa British anti-communists British conspiracy theorists British expatriates in South Africa British police officers convicted of crimes Christian conspiracy theorists Conspiracy theorists Critics of the Catholic Church Loyalists imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict Presbyterians from Northern Ireland Paramilitaries from Belfast Police misconduct in Northern Ireland Ulster Protestant Action members Ulster Protestant Volunteers members Ulster Special Constabulary officers