Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde
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Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde ( 29 August 1957 – 2 December 1984), English Tony or Anthony MacBride (also misspelled ''McBride''), was a
Provisional Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...
(IRA)
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from
Desertmartin Desertmartin (;Toner, Gregory: ''Place-Names of Northern Ireland'', page 85. Queen's University of Belfast, 1996, )Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence: ''Irish Place Names'', page 202. Gill & Macmillan Ltd., 2002. is a small village in County Londonde ...
, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. He was shot dead by the British Army in 1984 whilst engaged in an attack on the Royal Ulster Constabulary.


Background

Mac Giolla Bhrighde was the eldest son of Frank and Nora MacBride. He had two sisters, Marie and Patricia and three brothers, Damian, Lughaidh and Oistín. The MacBride family moved from their South Londonderry home to the Knock Road,
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 ...
, in 1964. It was then that Mac Giolla Bhrighde was introduced to physical force republicanism by his maternal grandmother, also called Nora, who was involved in the Irish War of Independence in the 1920s. The MacBride family later moved to Killowen Street, which is located in a predominantly loyalist area of east Belfast. The family home was subjected to a number of attacks from loyalists. The attacks came in the form of window breaking and an attempted bombing but culminated in 1972 with the shooting of Mac Giolla Bhrighde and his father Frank. In May 1972, two loyalist gunmen called to the MacBride family's door and Nora MacBride, who was carrying a baby at the time, went to answer the door. The men duped Mrs. MacBride into opening the door by stating that they were looking for Frank, a building contractor, and were seeking work. When the door was opened the gunmen then saw Frank coming down the narrow hallway to see who was at the door. They opened fire shooting Frank in the shoulder, hand and thighs, then Antoine came out from a side room to protect his father and was shot in the leg. Frank MacBride was hit by 12 bullets and never recovered from the attack, dying 17 months later.


Irish Army

Immediately after the shooting the family moved to Newtownards, County Down, and in the mid-1970s Mac Giolla Bhrighde left
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 join the
Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The A ...
in 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 ...
. The McBride family then moved again, this time returning to their native County Londonderry. Mac Giolla Bhrighde served in the Irish Army for less than a year before being court-martialed for desertion and was dishonourably discharged.


Paramilitary activities

After dismissal from the
Irish Army The Irish Army, known simply as the Army ( ga, an tArm), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. The A ...
, Mac Giolla Bhrighde joined the South Derry Brigade of the IRA, and was active in rural areas of County Londonderry. In 1979 he was stopped by Royal Ulster Constabulary officers near
Magherafelt Magherafelt (, mˠaxəɾʲəˈfʲiːlt̪ˠə is a small town and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 8,805 at the 2011 Census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county and is the social, econo ...
while in possession of a rifle, and was detained at Strabane police station, being subsequently imprisoned for three years. He was noted for his hard line militarism in the early 1980s, and supported a strategy of forming full-time IRA guerrilla units or
flying column A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ''ad hoc'' unit, formed during the course of operations. The term is usually, though not necessarily, appli ...
s based in the Republic, which would carry out four or five large-scale attacks across the border into
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 ...
a year, retreating back across the border into the Republic of Ireland after each attack, to deny British Forces the chance for fully engaging them. This strategy was espoused by the militant
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles". It is believed to have drawn ...
led by Padraig McKearney and
Jim Lynagh Jim Lynagh ( ga, Séamus Ó Laighneach; 13 April 1956 – 8 May 1987) was a member of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), from Monaghan Town in the Republic of Ireland. Background One of twelve children, Ly ...
, who wanted an escalation of the conflict to what they termed
total war Total war is a type of warfare that includes any and all civilian-associated resources and infrastructure as legitimate military targets, mobilizes all of the resources of society to fight the war, and gives priority to warfare over non-combata ...
. They were opposed by
Kevin McKenna Kevin James McKenna (born 21 January 1980) is a Canadian former professional soccer who played as a centre back and current assistant manager of 1. FC Köln. Occasionally, he also played as a central midfielder or striker. Club career McKenn ...
, the IRA Chief of Staff, and by the republican leadership based around
Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. ...
, on the grounds that actions of that scale were too big a risk and unsustainable. The IRA leadership wanted a smaller scale campaign of attrition, supplemented by political campaigning by
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 G ...
.


Norwegian link

After his release from prison Mac Giolla Bhrighde, who had made a number of friends and contacts in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, became involved in providing information for the Irish republican cause throughout
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
.


Kesh ambush and death

After returning from a trip to Norway, in the early hours of Sunday morning on 2 December 1984 Mac Giolla Bhrighde and Ciaran Fleming stole a
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
van in
Pettigo Pettigo, also spelt Pettigoe ( ; ), is a small village and townland on the border of County Donegal, Republic of Ireland and County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is bisected by the Termon River which is part of the border between the Republi ...
,
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 ...
, in the Republic of Ireland. The van was then loaded with 9 beer kegs, each containing 100 lbs of low explosives, which they drove across the border into
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 Kesh, a village in the north of
County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 ...
. At the Drumrush Lodge Restaurant, just outside Kesh, they planted a landmine in a lane leading to the restaurant and wired up a device which was connected to an observation point. Having set this ambush, a hoax call was made to the Royal Ulster Constabulary to lure the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
to the restaurant on the pretence that there was a firebomb planted within it. After a while Mac Giolla Bhrighde saw a Royal Ulster Constabulary police vehicle approaching the restaurant, and gave the detonation code word "one", however, on switching the electric trigger the mine failed to detonate. There was another car parked in the car park which Mac Giolla Bhrighde believed contained civilians, and he left the stolen van from which he was observing to warn them to leave the area.


Conflicting accounts of his death

According to the republican sources, when he approached the car two Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers got out and ordered him to halt and drop his gun. Mac Giolla Bhrighde, who was unarmed, informed the SAS of this and then one of the SAS men stepped forward and shot him on his left side. After which he was then handcuffed and shot dead. However, according to CAIN, there was a gun battle at the scene of the attempted bombing between a number of IRA men and British troops, in which Mac Giolla Bhrighde was killed in the exchange of fire. A British Army soldier, Sergeant Al Slater, of the Special Air Service was killed in the fire-fight. Charles "Nish" Bruce served with Al Slater on this operation. His autobiography, ''Freefall'', under the pseudonym ''Tom Read'', accounts in detail the exchange of fire and the respective deaths of both Slater and Mac Giolla Bhrighde. Mac Giolla Bhrighde's companion Ciarán Fleming drowned in the swollen Bannagh River as he fled the scene attempting to escape Crown forces pursuit. The British Army officially listed Slater as a member of the Parachute Regiment, however, an obituary appeared in the SAS magazine, ''Mars & Minerva'', stating that Slater was a member of 7 Troop (Free Fall) 'B' Squadron of the SAS.


Memorial

In 2002 a controversy occurred when a memorial to Mac Giolla Bhrighde, Fleming and Joe MacManus was sited close to the place where
Protestant 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 ...
workmen William Hassard and Frederick Love were killed by the IRA in 1988. A Sinn Féin spokesman stated that "The families of Ciaran Fleming, Joseph McManus and Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde, the three IRA men commemorated by the monument, had given the go-ahead for the structure to be moved".


Legacy

The Republican Sinn Féin party branch in Glenade,
County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; gle, Contae Liatroma) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the ...
is known as the ''Kieran Fleming/Tony McBride Cumann'' after Kieran Fleming and Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde.


See also

* The Troubles in Kesh


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Giolla Bhrighde, Antoine 1957 births 1984 deaths Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Irish Army soldiers Paramilitaries from Belfast People from County Londonderry People killed by security forces during The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Provisional Irish Republican Army members Republicans imprisoned during the Northern Ireland conflict