![Bucky McCullough mural](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Bucky_McCullough_mural.JPG)
William "Bucky" McCullough (1949 – 16 October 1981) was a Northern Irish
loyalist
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
paramilitary with the
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...
(UDA). McCullough was a leading member of the UDA's
West Belfast Brigade, holding the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, until 1981 when he was killed by the
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 ...
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...
(INLA).
UDA activity
A native of 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 a ...
area of
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 Kingdo ...
, McCullough joined the UDA at its inception in 1971.
Within the UDA he garnered an early reputation as a ruthless gunman and was frequently questioned by the
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) over his involvement in killings and bomb attacks, albeit without being charged.
One of the most notorious incidents that he was held responsible for was a grenade attack on the Gem Bar in the Catholic
New Lodge New Lodge may refer to:
*New Lodge, Winkfield near Windsor, Berkshire, England
*New Lodge, South Yorkshire, England
*New Lodge, Belfast, an area of North Belfast, Northern Ireland
*New Lodge, Billericay, association football ground in Billericay, E ...
area.
[Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack, ''UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror'', Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 377] He was a close ally of
Charles Harding Smith
Charles Harding Smith (24 January 1931 – 1997) was a loyalist leader in Northern Ireland and the first effective leader of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). An important figure in the Belfast-based "defence associations" that formed the ba ...
and supported him during the brief period that Smith took the West Belfast brigade out of the mainstream UDA. McCullough was married to Barbara with whom he had six children, the youngest of which,
Alan
Alan may refer to:
People
*Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname
* Alan (given name), an English given name
**List of people with given name Alan
''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.''
*A ...
, would also become a leading member of the West Belfast UDA. The couple also had four daughters and another son Kenny.
McCullough was a leading figure within the West Belfast Brigade and was part of the Inner Circle of the brigade, which contained those who were close to Brigadier
Tommy Lyttle
Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle (c. 1939 – 18 October 1995), was a high-ranking Ulster loyalist during the period of religious-political conflict in Northern Ireland known as "the Troubles". A member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) – the large ...
.
McCullough was particularly close to
James Craig who was in charge of fundraising for the Brigade and who also maintained a series of shadowy links to some republican figures. In the mid-1970s McCullough was one of four UDA members to accompany Craig to a meeting with five leading members of the
Official Irish Republican Army
The Official Irish Republican Army or Official IRA (OIRA; ) was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary group whose goal was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a "socialist state, workers' republic" en ...
(OIRA) at the Royal Bar, Ann Street in
Belfast city centre at which they concluded a series of agreements not to target each other's members and not to get in the way of each other's rackets. All of the republicans present, with whom Craig remained in contact, switched allegiance to the
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA, ga, Arm Saoirse Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group formed on 10 December 1974, during the 30-year period of conflict known as "the Troubles". The group seek ...
(INLA) soon after the meeting.
Clash with Craig
Like Craig, who was notorious for his gangsterism, McCullough was involved in racketeering on behalf of the UDA although the money he secured from his rackets was passed on to the UDA's military wing the "
Ulster Freedom Fighters
The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...
" (UFF) to purchase weapons. This was often not the case with Craig, who enriched himself personally through the rackets he ran. According to
Martin Dillon
Martin Dillon (born 2 June 1949) is an Irish author, journalist, and broadcaster. He has won international acclaim for his investigative reporting and non-fiction works on The Troubles, including his bestselling trilogy, ''The Shankill Butcher ...
McCullough discovered that Craig was enriching himself through a number of extortion rackets, the proceeds of which were supposed to go to the upkeep of the UDA in West Belfast. When McCullough began to raise his suspicions Craig decided to set him up to silence him. McCullough further heard that money set aside for loyalist prisoners had been taken by Craig and when Craig was briefly in custody on extortion charges McCullough publicly spoke of telling UFF commander
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 Belf ...
about Craig's activity.
[Martin Dillon, ''The Trigger Men'', Mainstream Publishing, 2003, p. 98]
Death
Upon being informed of McCullough's accusations and his demands for an internal inquiry into the finances of the West Belfast Brigade, Craig decided to have McCullough killed. He discounted having the popular Lieutenant-Colonel killed by a UDA member and instead made contact with his friends in the INLA, telling them that McCullough was a leading figure in UFF sectarian killings. McCullough was shot and killed at his home on Denmark Street on the lower Shankill on 16 October 1981. Preparing to drive one of his daughters to school, a motorcycle drove up and the pillion passenger opened fire as McCullough was getting into his car. He was shot twelve times and despite medical attention died a few minutes later.
His youngest son Alan was three months old at the time of McCullough's death. McCullough was living only a few doors away from West Belfast Brigadier Tommy Lyttle at the time. Robbie McAllister, an INLA "supergrass", would later claim that Lyttle had been the actual target that day, although in fact the INLA had been tracking McCullough's movements for some time using Craig's information.
According to McAllister's testimony they had watched McCullough through binoculars from the flat of Emmanuel Conway, who lived in the republican Unity Flats area adjacent to the lower Shankill. Ironically enough Conway had been one of the OIRA members to attend the Royal Bar meeting before switching to the INLA. McAllister then claimed that he rode on a motorcycle from the Unity Flats with another INLA member, a fellow
Markets
Market is a term used to describe concepts such as:
* Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand
* Market economy
*Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market
Geography
*Märket, a ...
man identified only as "Bronco", riding pillion and that when they reached Denmark Street Bronco dismounted and fired several shots into McCullough's car. The pair then rode off as far as the area close to
Divis Flats
Divis Tower is a 20-floor, tall tower in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is located in Divis Street, which is the lower section of the Falls Road. It is currently the fifteenth-tallest building in Belfast.
History
The tower was built in 1966 ...
at the bottom of the
Falls Road where the motorcycle broke down. McAllister added that he only learned McCullough's name on the radio due to Lyttle being the target. In November 1985 McAllister was sentenced to a total of 766 years in prison for his role in several killings, including that of McCullough.
Aftermath
Craig himself was eventually killed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters in 1988 in an attack that was publicly blamed on his role in setting up the murder of UDA South Belfast Brigadier and UFF commander John McMichael. Privately however it was held that Craig had played a similar role in the killing of McCullough, as well as
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 campaig ...
(UVF) leaders
Lenny Murphy
Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy (2 March 1952 – 16 November 1982) was a Northern Irish loyalist and UVF officer. As leader of the Shankill Butchers gang, Murphy was responsible for many murders, mainly of Catholic civilians, often first kidna ...
,
John Bingham
John Armor Bingham (January 21, 1815 – March 19, 1900) was an American politician who served as a Republican representative from Ohio and as the United States ambassador to Japan. In his time as a congressman, Bingham served as both assist ...
and
William Marchant. Tommy McCreery, a relative of East Belfast Brigadier
Ned McCreery
Edward "Ned" McCreery (c. 1945 – 15 April 1992) was a Northern Irish loyalist. A leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), he was notorious for the use of torture in his killings. He was leader of the UDA East Belfast Brigade for ...
and a former associate of Craig and McCullough who was also at the Royal Bar meeting, told an internal UDA inquiry held after Craig's death that Craig had set up McCullough with the INLA and that he had informed
Andy Tyrie
Andrew Tyrie (born 5 February 1940) is a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary leader who served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during much of its early history. He took the place of Tommy Herron in 1973 when the latter was ...
shortly before Craig was killed.
McCullough's death would see him feted as a loyalist hero. At a time when the West Belfast Brigade was stagnating there was no direct retaliation attack. A young member,
Gary Smyth
Gary Smyth (born 20 December 1969 in Belfast), nicknamed Smickers is a Northern Irish former footballer and manager. He played as a centre back for Glentoran, Glenavon, Ballymena and Crusaders. He previously managed Glentoran in 2019 and had two ...
, suggested driving up the republican
Falls Road and opening fire on people waiting at a bus stop but his superiors vetoed the idea, leading to Smyth leaving the UDA. McCullough was given a full UDA funeral and was buried with a scarf and rosette of
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...
, of whom he was a supporter. McCullough is commemorated on a mural close to his home on Denmark Street. A UDA statement in 2003, released after the killing of Alan McCullough by UDA members, stated that "Bucky McCullough is a loyalist icon and very much revered within the loyalist community".
UDA: Murdered chief was a spy
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccullough, William
1949 births
1981 deaths
Ulster Defence Association members
UDA C Company members
People killed by the Irish National Liberation Army
Paramilitaries from Belfast
Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland