Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
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The East Tyrone Brigade 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 reun ...
(IRA), also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active
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 ...
paramilitary groups in
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during "
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". It is believed to have drawn its membership from across the eastern side of
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as well as north
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and south
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.


List of notable actions from 1971 until Loughgall

Dates highlighted in bold indicate three or more fatalities. *14 September 1971: a British soldier (John Rudman, aged 21) was shot dead while on mobile patrol, Edendork, near
Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late ...
, County Tyrone. He was the first British soldier killed by the East Tyrone Brigade *14 March 1972: A two-man IRA unit armed with sub-machine guns ambushed a joint British Army/RUC patrol on Brackaville Road outside Coalisland, County Tyrone. Over 50 shots were fired by the unit. The RUC officer, William Logan (aged 23), who was driving the police patrol vehicle was mortally wounded and died the following day, he was the first RUC officer killed by the brigade. *10 September 1972: Douglas Richmond (21), Duncan McPhee (21) and William McIntyre (23), all members of the British Army, were killed in an IRA land mine attack on their armoured personnel carrier, at Sanaghanroe, near Dungannon. *16 August 1973: two IRA volunteers, Daniel McAnallen (aged 27) and Patrick Quinn (aged 18), were killed when a mortar prematurely exploded during an attack on Pomeroy British Army/RUC base. *15 March 1974: Patrick McDonald (21) and Kevin Murray (27), both
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
members of the IRA, were killed in the premature explosion of a land mine at Aughnacloy Road, Dungannon. *2 May 1974: Up to 40 members from the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade attacked the isolated 6 UDR Deanery base in Clogher, County Tyrone with machine gun and RPG fire resulting in the death of Private Eva Martin, a UDR Greenfinch, the first female UDR soldier to be killed by enemy action. See:
Attack on UDR Clogher barracks On 2 May 1974 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked a British Army base manned by the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) near the Northern Ireland–Republic of Ireland border at Clogher, County Tyrone. The IRA unit engaged the small ...
*13 May 1974: Eugene Martin (18) and Sean McKearney (19), both
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
members of the IRA, were killed in a premature explosion, while planting a bomb at a petrol filling station at Donnydeade. *22 September 1974: A helicopter came under fire while flying along the Tyrone-Monaghan border and was forced to land in a field. An IRA statement claimed the 3rd Battalion of the East Tyrone Brigade was responsible. *7 November 1974: Two British soldiers, Vernon Rose (aged 30) and Charles Simpson (aged 35) were killed by an IRA booby trap bomb at an electricity sub station at Aghalarg, near Stewartstown, County Tyrone. *25 November 1975: two RUC officers, Samuel Clarke (aged 35) and Patrick Maxwell (aged 36), were killed when their mobile patrol was caught in an IRA sniper ambush in Clonavaddy, near Ballygawley. *7 February 1976: Two Protestant teenagers, Rachel and Robert McLernon (aged 18 and 16, respectively), were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb, intended for members of the security forces, which had been hidden in an abandoned crashed car, Tyresson Road, Cookstown. *29 April 1976 - Edmund Stewart (31),
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
off duty member of the
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 ...
, and Stanley Arthurs (43), a Protestant
civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...
, were shot dead by the IRA at Arthurs’ farm at Dunamony. *2 June 1977: Three members of a RUC mobile patrol were shot dead by East Tyrone Brigade snipers near
Ardboe Ardboe () is a large parish civil parish in east County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It borders the western shore of Lough Neagh and lies within the Mid Ulster District Council area. It is also the name of the local civil parish, which incorporat ...
. *3 December 1977: RUC car ambushed by IRA gunmen firing automatic weapons at Clover Hill Bridge on Benburb Road near
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. Charlemont is on the east bank of the River Blackwater and Moy on the west; the two are joined by ...
. Firefight ensued and the assailants fled across fields. * 26 February 1978: IRA Volunteer Paul Duffy was killed by the SAS in Coagh. *16 December 1979: William Beck (23), Keith Richards (22), Simon Evans (19) and Allan Ayrton (21), all members of 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 ...
, were killed in an IRA land mine attack on their mobile patrol at Ballygawley Road near Dungannon *21 January 1981:
Sir Norman Stronge Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet, MC, PC, JP (23 July 1894 – 21 January 1981) was a senior Ulster Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland. Before his involvement in politics, he fought in the First World War as a junio ...
(86),
Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule m ...
member, and former
Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...
at Stormont, and his son, James Stronge (48), an off-duty member 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 Royal ...
reserve, both aristocratic Protestants, were shot dead by 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 reun ...
at their mansion,
Tynan Abbey Tynan Abbey in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, was a large neo-gothic-romantic country house built c. 1750 (later renovated c. 1815) and situated outside the village of Tynan. It was home to the Stronge family until 1981, when it was set on ...
, Tynan. A group of men in military style uniform forced their way into the abbey, a mansion in its own large grounds near the Border, sought out the father and son, and shot them. They then placed bombs and incendiary devices and set the mansion alight. It was destroyed by the fire. Sir Norman Stronge, one of the oldest people killed during The Troubles, had been Stormont MP for Mid-Armagh from 1938 to 1969, and Speaker of the House from 1945 until his retirement. James Stronge had taken over the Mid-Armagh seat in 1969 and held it until 1972. He had been a Unionist member of the NI Assembly from 1973 to 1974. Both father and son were members of Derryhaw Boyne Defenders Orange Lodge. The IRA claimed the Stronges had been targeted as "symbols of hated unionism" and "as a direct reprisal for a whole series of loyalist assassinations and murder attacks". *7 September 1981: two RUC officers (Mark Evans and Stuart Montgomery) were killed when their patrol vehicle struck an IRA landmine at Sessadonaghy, near Cappagh, County Tyrone. *13 July 1983: four UDR soldiers (Ronald Alexander, Thomas Harron, Oswell Neely, and John Roxborough) were killed in a land mine attack while on mobile patrol, near Ballygawley. See: Ballygawley land mine attack *12 November 1983: a RUC officer (Paul Clarke) was killed and several others were injured in an IRA mortar bomb attack on Carrickmore British Army/Royal Ulster Constabulary base. *4 December 1983: Colm McGirr (23) and Brian Campbell (19), both members of the East Tyrone Brigade, were shot dead by an undercover British Army soldier whilst approaching an arms dump in a field near Coalisland. *13 July 1984: IRA Volunteer Willie Price was killed by the SAS while carrying out an incendiary bomb attack on a factory in Ardboe. *7 December 1985: during an attack on the RUC barracks in Ballygawley, the IRA killed two RUC officers (Reserve Constable William Clements and Constable George Gilliland) and destroyed the barracks with a large bomb. IRA volunteers had been lying in wait outside the barracks and, as the officers left, two gunmen stepped out of concealed positions and shot both officers in the head from close range. Another IRA unit then directed heavy machine-gun fire at the front of the barracks, which provided cover for a bomb team to plant a 100 lb (45 kg) bomb inside. The bomb exploded ten minutes later, destroying the barracks. Three other RUC officers who were in the building fled through a back door. See:
Attack on Ballygawley barracks On 7 December 1985 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base at Ballygawley, County Tyrone. Two RUC officers were shot dead and the base was raked with gunfire before being destroyed by a bom ...
*11 December 1985: the East Tyrone Brigade claimed responsibility for mortaring Tynan RUC base, County Armagh in which four RUC officers were injured and the base badly damaged. *11 August 1986: The East Tyrone Brigade destroyed the RUC base at The Birches near
Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...
with a 200 lb bomb. Three civilians were injured in the attack. See:
Attack on RUC Birches barracks On 11 August 1986, the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base at The Birches near Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The unmanned base was raked with gunf ...
*23 November 1986: six British soldiers were wounded after the Brigade launched seven mortars at a British Army barracks in
Middletown, County Armagh Middletown is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies near the border with County Monaghan, between Armagh and Monaghan along the A3. It had a population of 237 people (91 households) in the 2011 Census. Geogra ...
just along the Armagh/Monaghan border. *26 January 1987: a senior UDR officer was killed outside his home on Coalisland Road, Dungannon. Major George Shaw, a 57-year-old father of two, worked full-time for the MOD and was a part-time soldier. Early in the morning as he prepared to drive to work, two masked IRA gunmen who had been hiding behind trees walked over and shot him three times in the head, mortally wounding him. Almost immediately another part-time soldier chanced upon the scene and opened fire on the fleeing gunmen who managed to escape by forcing a passing car to stop and raced off. Major Shaw died at the scene. *25 April 1987: an off duty British soldier (William Graham) was shot dead by the IRA at his family's farm, off Gortscraheen Road, near Pomeroy. This was the last action by the Brigade before
Loughgall Loughgall ( ; ) is a small village, townland (of 131 acres) and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the historic baronies of Armagh and Oneilland West. It had a population of 282 people (116 households) in the 2011 Censu ...
.


Lynagh's strategy

In the 1980s, the IRA in East Tyrone and other areas close to the border, such as
South Armagh South Armagh may refer to: *The southern part of County Armagh * South Armagh (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency) *South Armagh (UK Parliament constituency) *Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional ...
, were following a
Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
military theory devised for Ireland by
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 ...
, a high-profile member of the IRA in East Tyrone (but a native of
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 Cou ...
). The theory involved creating "no-go zones" that 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 ...
and
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) did not control and gradually expanding them. Lynagh's strategy was to start off with one area which the British military did not control, preferably a republican stronghold such as east Tyrone. The South Armagh area was considered to be a liberated zone already, since British troops and the RUC could not use the roads there for fear of roadside bombs and long-range harassing fire. Thus it was from there that the IRA East Tyrone Brigade attacks were launched, with most of them occurring in east Tyrone in areas close to south Armagh, which offered good escape routes. The first phase of Lynagh's plan to drive out the British security forces from east Tyrone involved destroying isolated rural police stations and then intimidating or killing any building contractors who were employed to rebuild them. Lynagh's plans met strong criticism from senior brigade member
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 ...
, who regarded the strategy as "too impractical, too ambitious, and not sustainable" according to journalist
Ed Moloney Edmund "Ed" Moloney (born 1948–9) is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA, in particular. He worked for the ''Hibernia'' magazine and ''Magill ...
. The
IRA Northern Command Northern Command was a command division in the Irish Republican Army (1922–1969) and Provisional IRA, responsible for directing IRA operations in the northern part of Ireland. IRA The IRA had difficulty with cross-border communications between D ...
, however, approved a scaled-down version of the strategy, aimed at hampering the repair and refurbishment of British security bases. Scottish-born journalist Kevin Toolis has written that from 1985 onward, the brigade led a five-year campaign that left 33 security facilities destroyed and nearly 100 seriously damaged. In July 1983, the East Tyrone Brigade carried out a landmine ambush on an
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 ...
(UDR) mobile patrol near Ballygawley, killing three UDR soldiers (a fourth UDR soldier died later). In 1985 and 1986, the East Tyrone Brigade carried out two attacks on RUC bases in their operational area, described by author Mark Urban as "spectaculars".Urban, p. 224 The first was an assault on Ballygawley base in December 1985. Two RUC officers were shot dead and the base was raked with gunfire before being destroyed by a bomb. The second was an attack on the part-time base at The Birches, County Armagh, in August 1986. The base was raked with gunfire and a JCB digger with a 200 lb (91 kg) bomb in its bucket was driven through the perimeter fence. The bomb detonated, destroying much of the base and damaging nearby buildings. In April 1987 the brigade shot and killed Harold Henry, one of the main building contractors to the security forces in Northern Ireland.


Loughgall ambush

On 8 May 1987, at least eight members of the brigade launched another attack on the unmanned
Loughgall Loughgall ( ; ) is a small village, townland (of 131 acres) and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the historic baronies of Armagh and Oneilland West. It had a population of 282 people (116 households) in the 2011 Censu ...
RUC base. The IRA unit used the same tactics as it had done in The Birches attack. It destroyed a substantial part of the base with a 200 lb bomb and raked the building with gunfire. However, as their attack was underway, the IRA unit was ambushed by a Special Air Service (SAS) unit. The SAS shot dead eight IRA members and a civilian who had accidentally driven into the ambush. This was the IRA's greatest loss of life in a single incident since the days of the
Anglo-Irish War The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mi ...
(1919–1922). Six IRA members from a supporting unit managed to escape. The Volunteers killed at Loughgall were
Declan Arthurs 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 ...
(21), Tony Gormley (24), Eugene Kelly (25),
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 ...
(32),
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 ...
(31), Gerard O'Callaghan (28), Seamus Donnelly (19) and unit commander
Patrick Joseph Kelly Patrick Joseph Kelly (19 March 19578 May 1987), was an Irish commander of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the mid-1980s until his death in a Special Air Service ambush at Loughgall, County Armagh in May ...
(30). The eight volunteers killed in the ambush became known as the "Loughgall Martyrs" among many republicans. In December 2011, the
Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ') is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...
(PSNI)'s
Historical Enquiries Team The Historical Enquiries Team was a unit of the Police Service of Northern Ireland set up in September 2005 to investigate the 3,269 unsolved murders committed during the Troubles, specifically between 1968 and 1998. It was wound up in Septembe ...
found that not only did the IRA team fire first but that they could not have been safely arrested. They concluded that the SAS were justified in opening fire. In 2012 a
Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...
(GAA) club in Tyrone distanced itself from a republican commemoration of those killed in the ambush. This was in response to a complaint from Democratic Unionist Party Assemblyman William McCrea accusing the GAA of turning a blind eye to "republican terrorist" events in the last years. GAA Central Council official reply was that "The GAA has strict protocols and rules in place regarding the use of property for Political purposes. (...) The Association is committed to a shared future based on tolerance for the different identities and cultural backgrounds of people who share this Community and this island."


Subsequent brigade activity


In the aftermath of the Loughgall ambush

The SAS ambush had no noticeable long-term effect on the level of IRA activity in East Tyrone. The level of IRA activity in the area did not show any real decline in the aftermath: in the two years before the Loughgall ambush the IRA killed seven people in East Tyrone and North Armagh, and eleven in the two years following the ambush. Additionally, most of the attacks which took place in
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 ...
during this period of the Troubles were also launched from south Tyrone and Monaghan. However, many of their remaining members were young and inexperienced and fell into further ambushes, leading to high casualties by the standards of the low intensity guerrilla conflict in Northern Ireland.
Ed Moloney Edmund "Ed" Moloney (born 1948–9) is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA, in particular. He worked for the ''Hibernia'' magazine and ''Magill ...
, Irish journalist and author of the ''Secret History of the IRA'', states that the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade lost 53 members killed in the Troubles, the highest of any rural Brigade area. Of these, 28 were killed between 1987 and 1992. A major IRA attack in County Tyrone took place on 20 August 1988, barely a year after Loughall, which ended in the deaths of eight soldiers when a British Army bus was destroyed by a bomb at Curr Road, near Ballygawley. The soldiers were being transported from
RAF Aldergrove Joint Helicopter Command Flying Station Aldergrove or more simply JHC FS Aldergrove is located south of Antrim, Northern Ireland and northwest of Belfast and adjoins Belfast International Airport. It is sometimes referred to simply as Alde ...
to a military base near
Omagh Omagh (; from ga, An Ómaigh , meaning 'the virgin plain') is the county town of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated where the rivers Drumragh and Camowen meet to form the Strule. Northern Ireland's capital city Belfast is 68 m ...
after returning from leave in England. This attack forced the British military to ferry their troops to and from East Tyrone by helicopter. On 30 August 1988, an SAS ambush killed IRA members Gerard Harte, Martin Harte and Brian Mullin as they tried to kill 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 ...
member near
Carrickmore Carrickmore () is a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is situated in the historic barony of Omagh East, the civil parish of Termonmaguirk and the Roman Catholic Parish of Termonmaguirc between Cookstown, Dungannon and Omagh. ...
. According to author Nick Van der Bijl, British intelligence identified them as the perpetrators of the bombing of the military bus at Curr Road.Van Der Bijl, Nick. ''Operation Banner: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1969 to 2007'' (2009). Pen & Sword Military, p. 179; Peter Taylor, instead, says that only Mullin was suspected, and that plans for the SAS operation were already underway at the time of the IRA roadside bomb attack. On 16 September 1989, a British sergeant of the Royal Corps of Signals (Kevin Froggett) was shot and killed by an IRA sniper while he was repairing a radio mast at
Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late ...
Army/RUC base. According to journalist
Ed Moloney Edmund "Ed" Moloney (born 1948–9) is an Irish journalist and author best known for his coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and the activities of the Provisional IRA, in particular. He worked for the ''Hibernia'' magazine and ''Magill ...
, Michael "Pete" Ryan (himself killed with two other IRA volunteers on 3 June 1991), an alleged top Brigade member, was the commander of the IRA
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 ...
that launched the
attack on Derryard checkpoint On 13 December 1989 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) attacked a British Army permanent vehicle checkpoint complex manned by the King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) near the Northern Ireland–Republic of Ireland border at Derryar ...
in Fermanagh on 13 December 1989. British military sources reported that other IRA volunteers from East Tyrone were involved in the assault. The checkpoint was stormed using an improvised armoured truck and two British soldiers (James Houston and Michael Patterson) were killed in action. Journalist Ian Bruce claims that an unidentified Irishman who had served in the Parachute Regiment was the leader of the IRA unit, citing intelligence sources.


From 1990 to the 1994 IRA ceasefire


Operations against British security forces in east and south Tyrone


= 1990–1992

=


Main actions

On 11 February 1990 the brigade managed to shoot down a British Army
Gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . This article also deals with the seven species included in two further genera, '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third ...
helicopter near
Clogher Clogher () is a village and civil parish in the border area of south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Blackwater, 5.8 miles from the border crossing to County Monaghan. It stands on the townlands of Clogher Demesne and ...
by machine gun fire and wounding three soldiers, one of them seriously. The helicopter was hit between Clogher and
Augher Augher (from ga, Eochair meaning "edge/border") is a small village in south County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies just 6 miles to the County Monaghan Border and is 16 miles south of Dungannon. It is situated in the historic barony of Clog ...
, over the border near Derrygorry, across the border. The Gazelle broke up during the subsequent crash-landing. On 4 March 1990, ten IRA volunteers launched an assault on the RUC station at Stewartstown using an improvised flamethrower consisting of a manure-spreader towed by a tractor to spray of a petrol/diesel mix to set the base ablaze, and then opened up with rifles and an RPG-7 rocket launcher. The next day the IRA threatened any contractor who took on repair of the station.''
Fortnight Magazine ''Fortnight'' was a monthly political and cultural magazine published in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
'', No. 283, p. 20-21. Fortnight Publications, 1990.
On 24 March 1990, there was a gun battle between an IRA unit and undercover British forces in the main street of the village of Cappagh, County Tyrone, in which IRA members fired at a civilian-type car driven by security forces, according to
Archie Hamilton Archibald Gavin Hamilton, Baron Hamilton of Epsom, (born 30 December 1941) is a British Conservative Party politician. Background and education Hamilton is the second son of the 3rd Baron Hamilton of Dalzell, a Lord-in-waiting to the Queen. ...
, then
Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...
. Hamilton stated that there were no security or civilian casualties. ''
An Phoblacht ''An Phoblacht'' (Irish pronunciation: ; en, "The Republic") is a formerly weekly, and currently monthly newspaper published by Sinn Féin in Ireland. From early 2018 onwards, ''An Phoblacht'' has moved to a magazine format while remaining an ...
'' claimed the IRA men thwarted an ambush and at least two SAS members were killed. A second shooting took place in the village of Pomeroy on 28 June, this time against British regular troops. One soldier was seriously wounded. On 1 January 1991, a British Army checkpoint was fired on by an IRA unit at Aughnacloy. On 26 March, an IRA unit firing a light machine gun disrupted a UDR mobile checkpoint at Lurgylea road, north of Cappagh. No casualties were reported. On 31 January 1992, an IRA van bomb blew up in downtown Dungannon, resulting in three people wounded and severe property damage to the city centre and to the RUC/Army base.Fortnight, Issues 302-312, p. 28


Last SAS ambushes

In October 1990, two IRA volunteers from the brigade (
Dessie Grew Desmond "Dessie" Grew (14 September 1953 – 9 October 1990) was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). Grew was killed by undercover Special Air Service soldiers in County Armagh in 1990 along wi ...
and
Martin McCaughey Gerard Patrick Martin McCaughey (24 February 1967 – 9 October 1990) was a Sinn Féin councillor and Volunteer (Irish republican), volunteer in the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade, East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army ...
) were shot dead near Loughgall by SAS undercover members while allegedly collecting two rifles from an IRA arms dump. On 3 June, three IRA men, Lawrence McNally, Michael "Pete" Ryan, and Tony Doris, died in another SAS ambush at
Coagh Coagh ( ; ) is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, five miles (8 km) east of Cookstown. Part of the village also extends into County Londonderry. It had a population of 545 people in the 2001 Census. It owes its existence ...
, where their car was riddled with gunfire. Ryan, according to Moloney, had led the mixed flying column under direct orders of top
IRA Army Council The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about independence to the whole island of Ireland and the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and Grea ...
member Thomas "Slab" Murphy two years before. The RUC stated the men were on their way to mount an ambush on Protestant workmen. Another four IRA members were killed in an ambush in February 1992. The four, Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell, Sean O'Farrell and Patrick Vincent, were killed at
Clonoe Clonoe () is a small village and a civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It includes O'Rahilly Park where the Clonoe O'Rahillys Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club play their home games. It was the scene of the Clonoe ambush in 19 ...
after an attack on the RUC station in Coalisland. O'Donnell had been released without charges for possession of weapons on two different occasions in the past. They had mounted a heavy
DShK The DShK 1938 ( Cyrillic: ДШК, for russian: Дегтярёва-Шпагина Крупнокалиберный, Degtyaryova-Shpagina Krupnokaliberny, links=no, "Degtyaryov-Shpagin large-calibre") is a Soviet heavy machine gun with a V-shaped bu ...
machine gun on the back of a stolen lorry, driven right to the RUC/British Army station and opened fire with
tracer ammunition Tracer ammunition (AMO) (Tracers) are bullets or cannon-caliber projectiles that are built with a small pyrotechnic charge in their base. When fired, the pyrotechnic composition is ignited by the burning powder and burns very brightly, making ...
at the fortified base at point-blank range, no efforts were made to conceal the firing position or the machine gun. After the shooting they drove past the house of Tony Doris, the IRA man killed the previous year, where they fired more shots in the air and were heard to shout, "Up the 'RA, that's for Tony Doris". A support vehicle further compromised the getaway by flashing its emergency lights. Six attackers gathered on the same spot afterwards. The IRA men were intercepted by the SAS as they were trying to dump the lorry and escape in cars in the car park of Clonoe
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church, whose roof was set on fire by Army flares. Two IRA men escaped from the scene, but the four named above were killed. One British soldier was wounded. Author Brendan O'Brien reports a witness claiming that some of the men were wounded and tried to surrender but were killed by the British soldiers. Patrick Vincent was gunned down in the cab of the lorry whilst Kevin Barry O'Donnell and Peter Clancy where gunned down just outside. Sean O'Farrell was wounded and attempted to escape. After being caught he was put up against a fence and killed.


= 1992–1994

=


Main actions

In March 1992, members of the brigade destroyed McGowan's service station along the Ballygawley-Dungannon road with a bomb, on the basis that they were supplying British forces, while a soldier was injured by a bomb near Augher. A part-time RUC barracks at
Fivemiletown Fivemiletown is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is 16 miles (26 km) east of Enniskillen and 26 miles (43 km) west-south-west of Dungannon, on the A4 Enniskillen-to-Dungannon road. Fivemiletown's populat ...
, County Tyrone, in the operational area of the brigade, was destroyed by an IRA van-bomb on 7 May 1992, though the attack was claimed by the South Fermanagh Brigade. In the aftermath of the bombing, on 9 May, a sergeant mayor of the 1st Battalion, the Staffordshire Regiment was shot and killed by a soldier of his company in a blue-on-blue incident at the same spot, while taking part of a security detail around the devastated base.''Fortnight'', Issues 302-312, p. 33 According to a later IRA's statement, the destruction of the security base forced the RUC and the British Army to organised their patrols from nearby RUC barracks at Clogher, allowing the East Tyrone Brigade to study their pattern and carry out a deadly ambush in December 1993. Another IRA bomb attack on 12 May 1992, against British troops on patrol near Cappagh, in which a paratrooper lost both legs, triggered a series of clashes on that date between soldiers and local residents in the staunchly republican town of
Coalisland Coalisland () is a small town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, with a population of 5,682 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census. Four miles from Lough Neagh, it was formerly a centre for coal mining. History Origins In the late ...
, on 12 and 17 May 1992. The 12 May riots ended with the paratroopers' assault on three
bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...
s, where they injured seven civilians. Another street fracas five days later, on 17 May, between a
King's Own Scottish Borderers The King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSBs) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Scottish Division. On 28 March 2006 the regiment was amalgamated with the Royal Scots, the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret's O ...
platoon and a group of nationalist youths in Coalisland resulted in the theft of an army
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
and a new confrontation with the paratroopers."New Paratroop Controversy"
, emigrant.ie, 18 May 1992; accessed 6 October 2015.
Six paratroopers were charged with criminal damage in the aftermath, but were acquitted in 1993. Five were
bound over In the law of England and Wales and some other common law jurisdictions, binding over is an exercise of certain powers by the criminal courts used to deal with low-level public order issues. Both magistrates' courts and the Crown Court may issue b ...
. At least two minor engagements occurred in the following weeks between members of the brigade and British Army foot patrols. On 22 June 1992, British troops exchange fire with snipers near Cookstown, while a British soldier from the
Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...
was seriously wounded in Pomeroy when his patrol was fired on by an IRA unit on 2 August 1992."I.R.A. Sniper Assault Kills A British Soldier in Belfast"
nytimes.com, 5 August 1992.
Another soldier in the same patrol had a narrow escape when a rifle round hit his gear."MONTH IN FOCUS", ''Police Beat'', Volume 14 No. 8, Police Federation for Northern Ireland, 1992 The brigade was the first to use the Mark-15 Barrack-Buster mortar in an attack on 5 December 1992 against the RUC station in Ballygawley. The heavy mortar round, fired from a tractor near the town's health center, was deflected by a tree besides the barracks wall. Several people was evacuated, and the bomb disposal squad struggled 10 hours to defuse the device. A later IRA statement acknowledges that the mortar bomb had "failed to detonate properly". On 19 January 1993 the brigade claimed that their volunteers uncovered and destroyed a British army observation post concealed in a derelict house in Drumcairne Forest, near Stewartstown. The same source reported that a British helicopter, a military ambulance and ground troops arrived to the scene shortly after, and that local residents believed that two soldiers had been wounded. From mid-1992 up to the 1994 cease fire, IRA units in east and south Tyrone carried out a dozen bomb and mortar attacks against RUC and military bases and assets.''
Fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days," since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is h ...
'', Issues 324–334, Fortnight Publications, 1994.
The facilities targeted by "Barrack Buster" mortars included the above-mentioned Ballygawley barracks, a British Army border outpost at Aughnacloy,''
Fortnight Magazine ''Fortnight'' was a monthly political and cultural magazine published in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
'', Issues 324-334, Fortnight Publications, 1994.
the RUC barracks at Clogher''
Fortnight Magazine ''Fortnight'' was a monthly political and cultural magazine published in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
'', Issues 319-23 (1993)
and
Beragh Beragh (from Irish: ''Bearach'', meaning "place of points/hills/standing stones") is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is about southeast of Omagh and is in the Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area. The 2001 Ce ...
, both resulting in massive damage but no fatalities; two attacks on the RUC base in Caledon, which was also hit by gunfire in the second attack,"Thousands join peace protest in Greysteel"
''The Independent'', 8 November 1993.
and the RUC compounds at Dungannon,
Fintona Fintona (; ), is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. Its population at the 2011 Census was 1,164. Name and etymology Fintona is derived phonetically from the Irish name of the area, ''Fionntamhnach''; this is often trans ...
, Carrickmore, and Pomeroy. A Brigade statement claims that late on the evening of 26 April 1993, a "variation" of the Mark-15 was fired at a British Army position on an open field near the river Fury, a few miles east of Clogher. According to them, the explosion was heard from Augher to Fivemiletown, and there was a number of British casualties. On 30 April, a heavy horizontal mortar was fired at an RUC patrol vehicle near Ballygawley roundabout; the round missed its target and hit a wall. The RUC security base at Caledon became the target of the "Barrack Busters" twice. On 11 May 1993, an IRA militant pretending to be a motorist that had been asked to show his licence at the barracks left a van carrying a mortar outside the facilities. The device landed unexploded inside the complex, resulting in its evacuation. The facilities came under attack once again on 7 November, when a supporting team armed with automatic weapons secured the area around the barracks, allowing an
Isuzu Trooper The Isuzu Trooper is a full-size SUV that was produced by the Japanese automaker Isuzu between 1981 and 2007. In the domestic Japanese market it was sold as the Isuzu Bighorn, the car was exported internationally mainly as a Trooper but it also ...
carrying a "Barrack Buster" to be driven just outside the base. The support team sprayed the installations with a burst of gunfire, but the mortar overshot the compound, damaging an adjacent church. Fifty people were evacuated. On 6 June 1993, an IRA unit converted a stolen van in a "mobile mortar launcher" in the area of Pomeroy and slipped through British forces' surveillance to the RUC barracks at Carrickmore. According to the brigade report, the van, fitted with a Mark-15 mortar, was left besides a military sangar. The area was previously secured by a group of armed volunteers. The unit dispersed after setting on the mortar's timer. The projectile landed within the grounds of the base, causing some damage according to the RUC. The IRA asserts instead that the barracks were "extensively damaged". They also claimed that during the follow-up search, British Army technicians defused with a controlled explosion a mortar round, fired three years before. An explosive device fired at the RUC barracks in Dungannon on 9 July 1993, that according to the IRA was a Mark-15 mortar bomb, prompted the evacuation of a nearby housing state. Other operations against security facilities in this period included a sniper and small arms attack on the British Army base of Killymeal, Dungannon, on 22 May 1993; the brigade claimed a subsequent exchange of fire between IRA volunteers in supporting role and British soldiers crewing an observation post. RUC sources denied that the soldiers returned fire during the shooting."MONTH IN FOCUS", ''Police Beat'', Volume 15 No. 6, Police Federation for Northern Ireland, 1993 The fortified courthouse in Cookstown was meanwhile damaged by two bombs planted there on 15 October 1993. Dozens of residents were evacuated to a neighbouring church's hall. A major ambush occurred on 12 December 1993 in Fivemiletown, when an RUC mobile patrol received intense cross fire from a brigade's active unit on the town's main street, and two constables were slain. A second IRA rifle team fired at a British Army
Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...
helicopter sending in reinforcements to the area over the surroundings of Fivemiletown. All the IRA members involved withdrew successfully. On 9 April 1994, after a three-day IRA ceasefire, a Mark-15 mortar was launched at midday at the British Army permanent checkpoint in Aughnacloy. The heavy projectile landed at the rear of the small base without exploding, forcing the evacuation of Coronation Park housing state.''Sunday Life'', 10 April 1994. The East Tyrone Brigade reported that they took over the area between the checkpoint and the border, set a roadblock, then drove a tractor carrying the mortar to the firing point and issued a 30-minute warning. On 27 May 1994, the British Army checkpoint at Aughnacloy was the target of an attack once again, when the compound came under automatic fire from an improvised tactical vehicle consisting of a Ford Transit van mounting a concealed heavy machine gun. British troops manning the outpost returned fire. The armed vehicle crossed the border after the engagement. Sources from the brigade released a detailed statement on the attack on Pomeroy security base, carried out on 26 June 1994, claiming that they had fired a single Mark-15 barrack-buster bomb. The unit, moving on two vehicles from the
townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...
of Turnabarson, managed to snake into a heavy patrolled area to the firing point on Station Road and launched the shell by timer from a range of . The British Army claimed that the mortar round exploded in a bog just outside the perimeter fence, while the IRA unit said that the bomb landed in the grounds of the barracks. On 15 July 1994, an armed dump truck ambushed an RUC armoured mobile patrol at Killeshil, near Dungannon. Incidentally, the RUC vehicle was carrying in custody Pat Treanor, a Sinn Féin councillor from
Clones Clone or Clones or Cloning or Cloned or The Clone may refer to: Places * Clones, County Fermanagh * Clones, County Monaghan, a town in Ireland Biology * Clone (B-cell), a lymphocyte clone, the massive presence of which may indicate a pathologi ...
, a border town in
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 Cou ...
, Republic of Ireland. The RUC patrol returned fire. Three constables and Treanor were wounded, as well as a passing-by ederly female motorist whose car was hit by the RUC vehicle.''
Fortnight Magazine ''Fortnight'' was a monthly political and cultural magazine published in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
'', Issues 324–334, p. 29. Fortnight Publications, 1994.


Botched operations

There were also a number of roadside bomb and mortar attacks thwarted by the security forces in east and south Tyrone in this period. A primed Mk-12 horizontal mortar was defused near Clogher on 9 April 1992 by British Army technicians, while a trailer carrying a 'barrack buster' was recovered by security forces and also defused in the same area on 16 January 1994. On 30 July 1993, a device was uncovered by security forces in Pomeroy, and one man was arrested. The RUC claim that the machine gun stolen in Coalisland and other arms were recovered from a farmhouse near Cappagh on 29 May 1992. An IRA volunteer was arrested, while two other members of the IRA made good their escape. Nationalist politician
Bernardette Devlin McAliskey suggested that the recovery of the machine gun was actually staged by the security forces as a publicity stunt.McAliskey, Bernardette (1992). ''The Moral of Coalisland''. Spare Rib (issues 231–39), p. 47 On 11 May 1993, British security forces found and defused a horizontal mortar complete with warhead in Dungannon."MONTH IN FOCUS", ''Police Beat'', Volume 15 No. 6, Police Federation for Northern Ireland, 1993 An IRA man was taken in custody in Newtownstewart, west Tyrone, on 10 July 1993, after being injured during a mishap while testing an improvised mortar in a barn near Dungannon.


British casualties

Three active members of the security forces were killed by the East Tyrone Brigade during this period. Among them there were Constable Andrew Beacom and Reserve Constable Ernest Smith, the two RUC members ambushed and shot dead while driving a civilian type vehicle in Fivemiletown's main street on 12 December 1993. Another fatality was a Royal Irish Regiment (RIR) soldier, Private Christopher Wren, slain when off-duty by the blast of a booby-trap planted in his car. The device exploded while he was driving on Carrydarragh road, near
Moneymore Moneymore () is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,897 in the 2011 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster District. It is an example of a plantation village in Mid-Ulster built by the Dra ...
, County Londonderry, on 31 May 1993, just a few miles from Cookstown. A second soldier, Sergeant Dean Oliver, died in a fratricide incident in Fivemiletown on 9 May 1992, in the aftermath of an IRA bomb attack in the area, as mentioned above. At least two British soldiers were severely wounded in action near Cappagh and Pomeroy in 1992.


Other attacks

On 17 January 1992, an IRA roadside bomb destroyed a van carrying 14 workers who had been re-building Lisanelly British Army base in Omagh. Eight were killed and the rest were badly wounded. The bombing was at Teebane Crossroads, near Cookstown. One of the workers killed, Robert Dunseath, was an off-duty
Royal Irish Rangers The Royal Irish Rangers (27th (Inniskilling), 83rd and 87th) was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army with a relatively short existence, formed in 1968 and later merged with the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1992 to form the Royal Iris ...
soldier. Two of the wounded were also off-duty UDR soldiers. The IRA said that the workers were legitimate targets because they were "
collaborating Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Mos ...
" with the "forces of occupation". As the men were all Protestants, many Protestants saw it as a sectarian attack. The UDA retaliated by shooting dead five Catholic male civilians inside a betting shop on the Ormeau Road, Belfast. IRA volunteers in Tyrone were the target of an assassination campaign carried out by the loyalist paramilitaries of the
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). The UVF killed 40 people in East Tyrone between 1988 and 1994. Of these, most were Catholics civilians with no known paramilitary connections but six were Provisional Irish Republican Army members. When the IRA responded by killing a retired UDR member, Leslie Dallas, and two elderly Protestants, Austin Nelson and Ernest Rankin at Coagh, on 7 March 1989, the UVF shot dead three IRA members and a Catholic civilian in a pub in Cappagh on 3 March 1991. The main target, Brian Arthurs, escaped injury. The IRA alleged that Dallas was a senior UVF member but this was denied by his family, the police, and the UVF. Both ''Lost Lives'' and the Sutton Index of Deaths (at CAIN) list him as a civilian. The IRA retaliated on 5 August 1991 by shooting and killing a former UDR soldier leaving his workplace along
Altmore Altmore (from ga, Allt Mór, meaning "great glen")) is a hamlet and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is five miles from Carrickmore and four miles from Pomeroy. The townland is actually called Altmore (alias Barracktown) and is si ...
Road, Cappagh. On 11 January 1993 a former sergeant of the
B-Specials 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 par ...
(Matthew Boyd) was shot dead while driving his car along Donaghmore Road, Dungannon, County Tyrone. The IRA claimed the man was a UVF commander, responsible for the killings of Catholic civilians. This was denied by the dead man's family. CAIN lists Boyd as a Protestant civilian. A former UDR soldier (David Martin) was killed when an IRA bomb exploded underneath his car in
Kildress Kildress () is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Cookstown in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. There are two churches in the area. One is St. Patrick's Church of Ireland and the other is St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Killeenan. St ...
, County Tyrone on 25 April 1993; it was claimed that he had loyalist connections. The latter attack led to loyalist allegations that the IRA was killing Protestant land-owners in Tyrone and Fermanagh in an orchestrated campaign to drive Protestants out of the region, to the point that they drew an analogy with contemporaneous ethnic cleansing in the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
. This is disputed by some authors as an "exaggeration".


List of actions from 1996 until the 1997 IRA ceasefire

There were a number of actions carried out by the IRA in the eastern part of Tyrone from 1996 up to the latest IRA ceasefire of July 1997: *2 February 1996: the house of a part-time member of the RUC was riddled with 57 gunshots in Moy. There were no casualties. A 'senior security source' claimed that the IRA was responsible, although the IRA later denied as "mischievous" any claims that it was involved in the incident. *5 February 1997: an IRA unit fired a horizontal mortar at an RUC patrol on Newell Road in Dungannon. There were no injuries. *10 February 1997: a horizontal mortar fired by an IRA unit hit an RUC armoured vehicle leaving a security base. The ambush took place outside the village of Pomeroy. One RUC officer was injured. *22 February 1997: an IRA mortar unit was intercepted by the RUC in Caledon, on its way to carry out an attack on a British security facility. A five-mile (8 km) chase followed before the IRA volunteers managed to escape on foot. *26 March 1997: a grenade was thrown by IRA volunteers at the British Army/RUC base in Coalisland. The device holed the perimeter fence. Undercover members of the British Army shot and seriously injured 19-year-old republican Gareth Doris in the aftermath. The soldiers left the scene under the protection of the RUC after being cornered by a crowd. Two women were wounded by plastic bullets fired by RUC officers. Doris recovered from his wounds and was sentenced to ten years in jail for involvement in the attack before being released in 2000 under the terms of the
Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
. *5 July 1997: In Coalisland, a female RUC officer from
Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...
was shot in the face by an IRA volunteer during an attack on an armoured vehicle beside the British Army/RUC base. Her wounds were said to be non life-threatening. *8 July 1997: A landmine was planted by the IRA near Dungannon, leading to a bomb alert. There were no casualties. *9 July 1997: IRA gunmen hijacked and burned a number of vehicles at Dungannon.
Róisín McAliskey Róisín Elizabeth McAliskey (born 1971) is the daughter of Irish republican activist Bernadette Devlin McAliskey and Michael McAliskey. She was once accused by German authorities of having been involved in an attack claimed by the Provisional IR ...
, daughter of political activist Bernadette McAliskey and suspected IRA member from Coalisland was accused by German authorities of being involved in a mortar attack on British Army facilities in
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, on 28 June 1996. Her extradition from Northern Ireland was eventually denied in 2007 due to discrepancies in the claims against her. The commander of the brigade, Kevin McKenna, was appointed
Chief of Staff of the IRA Several people are reported to have served as Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army () in the organisations bearing that name. Due to the clandestine nature of these organisations, this list is not definitive. Chiefs of Staff of the Irish ...
in 1983. He would be the longest-serving volunteer in this position, right up to the 1997 ceasefire.Moloney, ''A Secret History'', p. 557


See also

*
Provisional Irish Republican Army campaign 1969–1997 From 1969 until 1997,Moloney, p. 472 the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) conducted an armed paramilitary campaign primarily in Northern Ireland and England, aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland in order to create a united Ire ...
*
Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade The South Armagh Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) operated during the Troubles in south County Armagh. It was organised into two battalions, one around Jonesborough and another around Crossmaglen. By the 1990s, the South Ar ...
*
Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's brigades, based in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. The nucleus of the Belfast Brigade emerged in the divisions within Belfast republicans in the closing month ...
*
Provisional IRA Derry Brigade The Derry Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) operated in the city of Derry, Northern Ireland, and its surroundings during the Troubles. The Derry Brigade was one of the most active groups in the IRA. Origins A small IRA bat ...


Footnotes


References


Sources

* O'Brien, Brendan (1999). ''The Long War-the IRA and Sinn Féin''. Syracuse University Press. * Moloney, Ed (2002). ''Secret History of the IRA''. W. W. Norton and Company; * Urban, Mark (1992). ''Big Boys' Rules''. Faber and Faber; * Ryder, Chris (2005). ''A Special Kind of Courage: 321 EOD Squadron – Battling the Bombers''. Methuen;


External links


BBC News: IRA deaths: The four shootings
{{DEFAULTSORT:East Tyrone Brigade Military history of County Tyrone The Troubles in County Tyrone Provisional Irish Republican Army Brigades 1969 establishments in Northern Ireland