Pádraig Oliver McKearney (18 December 1954 – 8 May 1987) was a

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(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 an IRA Volunteer when he was shot dead at

Loughgall Loughgall ( ; ) is a small village, townland (of 131 acres) and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the historic Barony (Ireland), baronies of Armagh (barony), Armagh and Oneilland West. It had a ...

, making him one of the most experienced IRA Volunteers ever killed by British forces.

Background

Pádraig McKearney was raised in

Moy, County Tyrone Moy () is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland about southeast of Dungannon and beside the smaller village of Charlemont, County Armagh, Charlemont. Charlemont is on the east bank of the River Blackwater, Northern Ireland, ...

, in a staunchly

Irish republican Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...

family. Both his grandfathers had fought in the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various Resistance movement, resistance organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dominantly Catholic and dedicated to anti-imperiali ...

during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...

, his maternal grandfather in south

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

and his paternal grandfather in east

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. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

. He was educated at local Catholic schools in Collegeland and Moy, and later went to St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon.

IRA career

He joined the

Provisional IRA The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

and was first arrested in 1972 on charges of blowing up the post office in Moy. He spent six weeks on remand, but was released due to insufficient evidence. In December 1973 he was arrested again and later sentenced to seven years for possession of a rifle. He was imprisoned in Long Kesh and later in Magilligan prison. During this time, a younger brother, Seán, also an IRA paramilitary, was killed on 13 May 1974. He was released in 1977 but was sentenced to 14 years in August 1980 after being caught by the British Army with a loaded

sten gun The STEN (or Sten gun) is a British submachine gun chambered in 9×19mm which was used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II and during the Korean War. The Sten paired a simple design with a low production co ...

along with another IRA member Gerard O'Callaghan. That same year an older brother, Tommy McKearney, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an off-duty

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

soldier who worked as a postman in 1977, nearly died on

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...

after refusing food for 53 days. Another brother, Kevin, and an uncle, Jack McKearney, were both murdered by Loyalist paramilitaries in revenge attacks upon the family. On 25 September 1983 McKearney took part in the Maze Prison escape along with 37 other prisoners. At the beginning of 1984 he rejoined IRA activity in his native East Tyrone with the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade. He advocated the commencement of the "third phase" of the armed struggle, the 'strategic defensive', in which 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 ...

and

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

would be denied all support in selected areas following repeated attacks on their bases. In 1985 Patrick Kelly became commander of the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade and it was under his leadership that this strategy was pursued. Remote Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) bases were attacked and destroyed, and building contractors who tried to repair them were targeted and sometimes murdered, as occurred with the attack on the Ballygawley police station in December 1985, which killed two policemen, and The Birches police station in August 1986.

Death

McKearney was shot dead by the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...

on 8 May 1987 during an IRA attack that he was taking part in upon

police station, which also claimed the lives of seven other IRA members. His body was buried at his hometown of Moy.

Footnotes

The "Third Phase" in Provisional IRA thinking represented an escalation of the conflict in Northern Ireland with the eventual aim of using more conventional warfare by taking and holding "liberated zones" along the border. Due to a number of factors, including the loss of experienced activists at Loughgall and the interception of 120 tonnes of Libyan weaponry aboard the ''Eksund'' ship, this strategy was never carried out. (See also: Provisional IRA arms importation and Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997.)

References

Sources

*Ed Moloney, ''Secret History of the IRA'' *Derek Dunne, ''Out of the Maze'' *Peter Taylor, ''Provos The IRA and Sinn Féin''

External links

Padraig McKearney's biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKearney, Padraig 1954 births 1987 deaths Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland Escapees from British detention Irish republicans People from County Tyrone People killed by security forces during The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Prisoners accorded Special Category Status Provisional Irish Republican Army members People educated at St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon