Kevin McKenna (; 25 June 1945 – 25 June 2019) was an Irish republican and

volunteer Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...

in the Tyrone Brigade and Chief of Staff of the

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). McKenna, a guarded, reclusive figure, was the longest-serving chief of staff of the IRA, serving from 1983 to 1997.

Background

From Brantry, near Dungannon,

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 retai ...

, McKenna was born on 25 June 1945. From the mid-1970s, he lived in

Smithborough Smithborough or Smithboro () is a village in County Monaghan, Ireland. It is within the townlands of Mullaghduff and Mullaghbrack. It is roughly midway between Monaghan Town and Clones on the N54. Nearby villages within 6–7 km (3 or 4& ...

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ga, Contae Mhuineacháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County C ...

. McKenna joined the IRA in the mid-1960s before he emigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. After internment was introduced in

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 ...

, Kenna returned to Ireland and again became involved in IRA forming a new

active service unit An active service unit (ASU; ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) cell of four to ten members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002, the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units. T ...

(ASU) based in the

Eglish Eglish () is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is about 6 km southwest of Dungannon, in the Mid Ulster District Council area. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 93. The village has grown in a dispersed form an ...

and Aughnacloy areas. When McKenna returned from Canada, he had enough money to purchase a car, and this mobility, allied with the fact that he was single and committed, aided him in rising quickly through the ranks of his local IRA unit. Following the departure of Brendan Hughes, no relation to the Belfast figure of the same name, McKenna became the commander of the Tyrone Brigade in 1972.

Tenure as Chief of Staff

In September 1983, Beano Lean, the adjutant of the Belfast Brigade, became the latest in a string of informers against the IRA. Although Lean later withdrew his statement, it did cause the then chief of staff

Ivor Bell Ivor Malachy Bell (born 1936/1937) is an Irish republicanism, Irish republican, and a former Volunteer (Irish republican), volunteer in the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade, Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who later ...

to be briefly imprisoned. Under the rules of ''The Green Book'', Bell automatically lost his rank and was replaced by McKenna, who at the time was seen as a strong supporter of

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. ...

Tension with East Tyrone ASU

From early in McKenna's tenure as CoS, there were growing tensions between the Army Council and more militant East Tyrone Brigade. There had been underlying tension between McKenna and

Pádraig McKearney Pádraig Oliver McKearney (18 December 1954 – 8 May 1987) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary. He was killed during a British Army ambush at Loughgall, County Armagh in May 1987, aged 32. He had 15 years of service as a ...

since the 1983

Maze escape The Maze Prison escape (known to Irish republicans as the Great Escape) took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze (also known as Long Kesh) was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most e ...

and this was exacerbated when McKenna turned down a plan by 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 ...

to form

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. His credibility was undermined after the 1994 ceasefire and was subsequently replaced by Thomas "Slab" Murphy.''A Secret History of the IRA'' (2002) by Ed Moloney; (pb)/ (hb), pg. 559 In 1970, he went to

and was attached to the South Fermanagh Battalion of the IRA and later became

officer commanding The officer commanding (OC), also known as the officer in command or officer in charge (OiC), is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit (smaller than battalion size), principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, t ...

of the IRA in the Fermanagh/

Monaghan Monaghan ( ; ) is the county town of County Monaghan, Ireland. It also provides the name of its civil parish and barony. The population of the town as of the 2016 census was 7,678. The town is on the N2 road from Dublin to Derry and Lette ...

/ Armagh area. In 1973, he was promoted to the IRA General Headquarters Staff (GHQ) and after the arrest of Séamus Twomey later that year, he was appointed chief of staff. He remained in this position until his own arrest and imprisonment in Portlaoise jail in 1974. After his release, he resumed his work with the IRA GHQ and, after a year, he was sent on a mission to the US, where he was arrested and detained for one year. He subsequently undertook a number of missions in various parts of the world on behalf of the IRA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mckenna, Kevin 1945 births 2019 deaths Irish republicans People from County Tyrone Provisional Irish Republican Army members