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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 basis of the UDA on its formation in 1971, Smith later became embroiled in feuds with other UDA leaders and was eventually driven out of Northern Ireland by his opponents. Development of the UDA A former soldier in the British Army Smith, at the time residing in Rosebank Street on the Shankill Road, called a meeting of other locals at the Leopold Street Pigeon Fanciers Club to develop a response to attacks by republicans from the neighboring Ardoyne area. The location was chosen because Smith was himself a pigeon fancier and a member of the club. At the meeting, it was agreed to establish a vigilante group, the Woodvale Defence Association (WDA), with Smith in command assisted by Davy Fogel, who organised military drilling for the forty o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Record Office Of Northern Ireland
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is situated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a division within the Engaged Communities Group of the Department for Communities (DfC). The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland is distinguished from other archival institutions in the United Kingdom by its unique combination of private and official records. The Record Office is not the Northern Ireland equivalent or imitation of any Great Britain or Republic of Ireland archival institution. It combines the functions and responsibilities of a range of institutions: it is at the same time Public Record Office, manuscripts department of a national library, county record office for the six counties of Northern Ireland, and holder of a large range of private records. This range of remit, embracing, among others, central and local government, the churches and the private sector, is unique to Northern Ireland. History PRONI was established by the Public Records Act (Northern I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernie Elliott
Ernest "Ernie" Elliott (1943/1944 – 6 December 1972), nicknamed "Duke", was a Northern Irish loyalist activist and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during its early days. Unusually for the generally right-wing UDA, Elliott expressed admiration for socialism and communism, and frequently quoted the words of Che Guevara and Karl Marx. Elliott was eventually killed by a fellow UDA member following a drunken brawl, although his death was variously blamed on republicans and a rival faction within the UDA. Woodvale Defence Association A native of Leopold Street close to the Crumlin Road in the Woodvale area,David McKittrick et al, ''Lost Lives'', Mainstream Publishing, 2008, p. 300 a district of Belfast adjacent to the Shankill Road, Elliott was involved in the formation of the vigilante group the Woodvale Defence Association (WDA) in early 1971. He was appointed as lieutenant to the WDA's deputy leader Davy Fogel, a close drinking buddy. Elliott, a shor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, facilitate United Ireland, Irish reunification and bring about an independent, socialist republic encompassing all of Ireland. It was the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles. It saw itself as the army of the all-island Irish Republic and as the sole legitimate successor to the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), original IRA from the Irish War of Independence. It was List of designated terrorist groups, designated a terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom and an unlawful organisation in the Republic of Ireland, both of whose authority it rejected. The Provisional IRA emerged in December 1969, due to a split within Irish Republican Army (1922–1969), the previous incarnation of the IRA and the broader Republic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's historic and primary financial centre. Its name derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which also had an entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became the public entrance, and over time "Scotland Yard" has come to be used not only as the name of the headquarters building, but also as a metonym for both the Metropolitan Police Service itself and police officers, especially detectives, who serve in it. ''The New York Times'' wrote in 1964 that, just as Wall Street gave its name to New York's financial district, Scotland Yard became the name for police activity in London. The force moved from Great Scotland Yard in 1890, to a newly completed buil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RUC Special Branch
RUC Special Branch was the Special Branch of 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 Roya ..., and was heavily involved in the British state effort during the Troubles, especially against the Provisional Irish Republican Army. It worked closely with MI5 and the Intelligence Corps (United Kingdom), Intelligence Corps. The RUC came under criticism for its handling of its agents within paramilitary organisations, including from other RUC officers. Appointed in 1984 to investigate Shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland#Stalker.2FSampson Inquiry, claims of a RUC "shoot-to-kill" policy, former Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, John Stalker, said that he "had never experienced...such an influence over an entire police force by one small ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Ulster Constabulary GC'', pp. 5, 17, 27, 93, 134, 271; Pen & Sword Books; following the partition of Ireland. At its peak the force had around 8,500 officers, with a further 4,500 who were members of the RUC Reserve. The RUC policed Northern Ireland from the aftermath of the Irish War of Independence until after the turn of the 21st century, and played a major role in the Troubles between the 1960s and the 1990s. Due to the threat from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), who saw the RUC as enforcing British rule, the force was heavily armed and militarised. Officers routinely carried submachine guns and assault rifles, travelled in armoured vehicles, and were based in heavily-fortified police stations.Weitzer, Ronald. ''Polic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John White (loyalist)
John White (born 1950) is a former leading loyalist in Northern Ireland. He was sometimes known by the nickname 'Coco'. White was a leading figure in the loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and, following a prison sentence for murder, entered politics as a central figure in the Ulster Democratic Party (UDP). Always a close ally of Johnny Adair, White was run out of Northern Ireland when Adair fell from grace and is no longer involved in loyalist activism. Early years Born in Belfast, White was one of eight children, two of whom had died in infancy, whose father was permanently disabled as a result of wartime injuries. The family had initially lived on the mainly nationalist Ballymurphy area of the Springfield Road, Belfast but had left upon the outbreak of the Troubles to move to the Old Lodge Road area of the lower Shankill.Wood, p. 6 White has claimed that although his house "wasn't a loyalist one" his father "hated Catholics" and was bitter ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 partition of Ireland. It was an armed corps, organised partially on military lines and called out in times of emergency, such as war or insurgency. It performed this role most notably in the early 1920s during the Irish War of Independence and the 1956-1962 Border Campaign (IRA), IRA Border Campaign. During its existence, 95 USC members were killed in the line of duty. Most of these (72) were killed in conflict with the IRA in 1921 and 1922. Another 8 died during the Second World War, in air raids or IRA attacks. Of the remainder, most died in accidents but two former officers were killed during the Troubles in the 1980s. The force was almost exclusively Ulster Protestant and as a result was viewed with great mistrust by Catholics. It carried ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William McGrath (loyalist)
William McGrath (11 December 1916 – 1992) was a loyalist from Northern Ireland who founded the far-right organisation Tara in the 1960s, having also been prominent in the Orange Order until his expulsion due to his paedophilia. A house master in Kincora Boys' Home in East Belfast,"Any threat to the majority Is not welcome" ''Irish News'', 8 September 2004. Retrieved 29 October 2009 in 1981 he was jailed for four years for paedophile activities at the Home. Early years McGrath was born on 11 December 1916 to a family living in Earl StreetChris Moore, ''The Kincor ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Craig (Northern Ireland Politician)
William "Bill" Craig (2 December 1924 – 25 April 2011) was a Northern Irish politician best known for forming the Unionist Vanguard movement. Biography Early life From Cookstown, County Tyrone, Craig was educated at Royal School Dungannon, Larne Grammar School and Queen's University Belfast. After serving in the Royal Air Force (as a Lancaster bomber rear gunner) during World War II, he became a solicitor. Politics He was active in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and led the Ulster Young Unionist Council. He was elected to the Stormont Parliament in a by-election in 1960 for Larne, and became a Minister in 1963. He held several portfolios under Terence O'Neill, eventually as Minister for Home Affairs. His most notable action while in this office was to ban the march of Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association on 5 October 1968. He also accused the civil rights movement of being a political front for the IRA. On 11 December 1968, O'Neill dismissed Craig when he suspe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Butchers'', ''The Dirty War'' and ''God and the Gun'', about the Northern Ireland conflict. The historian and scholar, Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien, described him as "our Virgil to that Inferno". ''The Irish Times'' hailed him as "one of the most creative writers of our time". Early life Martin Dillon was born in the Lower Falls area of West Belfast, Northern Ireland. He grew up with nine siblings in a traditional Catholic household. His mother, Maureen, looked after the children while his father, Gerard, worked as a watch maker and later telephone engineer to support his large family. Dillon attended St Finian's Primary School on the Falls Road. In 1961, aged twelve, he left Belfast to pursue a religious vocation at Montfort College Seminary i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
