Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions (1970–1979)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a chronology of activities by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) from 1970 to 1979.
This article is about activities from 1970 to 1979. For actions after this period, see Chronology of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions.
- 1970: the IRA carried out an estimated 130 bombings in Northern Ireland in 1970.[1]
February–July
- 2 February: The Provisional IRA threw a gelignite bomb from a passing car at a British Army building on the Shankill Road, Belfast where 50 troops were stationed. There were no injuries but the blast blew a hole in the side of the wall. There is some confusion over who threw the bomb, as the UVF was initially not happy with the British Army on the Shankill Road and had been throwing bombs, but the Provisional IRA who were formed in December 1969 wanted to make their presence felt with these kind of bombs according to Belfast Commander Billy McKee.[2]
- 1 March: the IRA bombed and wrecked a statue of mid-late 19th century Protestant evangelical, anti-Catholicism preacher named "Roaring" Hugh Hanna in Carlisle Circus, Belfast at about 03:50 am.[3][4]
- 1 April: The IRA exploded a large bomb in Belfast city centre, damaging a number of shops but causing no deaths or serious injuries.[5]
- 26 June: two IRA volunteers, Joseph Coyle and Thomas McCool, were killed in a premature explosion of an incendiary device at the McCool home at Dunree Gardens, Creggan, Derry. McCool's two young daughters, Carol Ann (4) and Bernadette (9), were also killed in the explosion. A third IRA member, Thomas Carlin, died of his injuries on 8 July.[6]
- 27 June: rioting erupted in working class parts of Belfast following Orange Order marches past Catholic areas. IRA members used firearms to defend the Short Strand and Ardoyne from attack by Ulster loyalist gunmen and rioters. Two loyalists and one republican died in the cross-shooting (see Battle of St Matthew's).[7]
- 3 July: The IRA bombed an Army recruitment office in Belfast on early Friday morning 3 July, destroying the front of the wall of the building and injuring one person. The blast was heard over six miles away.[8]
- 3–5 July: Falls Curfew – a British Army raid on the Falls Road, Belfast developed into a riot between soldiers and residents and then into gun battles between soldiers and the Official IRA. The IRA also attacked troops with improvised grenades. The British Army sealed off the area, imposed a 36-hour curfew and raided hundreds of homes under the cover of CS gas. The British Army eventually admitted there had been incidents of looting during these raids.[9] Three Catholic civilians (William Burns, Charles O'Neill, and Zbigniew Uglik) were killed by the British Army and more than 60 people were wounded.[10]
- 13 July: The IRA fire bombed the hotel Elsinore on the Antrim Road causing a large blaze which caused much damage but no injuries as the hotel was unoccupied at the time of the bombing.[11]
- 16 July: The IRA carried out a bomb attack on the Northern Bank premises in High Street, Belfast City centre. 30 people were injured in the blast, three of them were seriously injured and large damage was caused to the bank.[12][13]
August–December
- 12 August: two Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers, Samuel Donaldson (aged 23) and Robert Millar (aged 26), were killed by an IRA booby-trap bomb attached to an abandoned car near Crossmaglen, South Armagh. The bomb contained 20 lb (9.1 kg) of gelignite and exploded when one of the officers attempted to open one of the car's doors. see – 1970 RUC booby-trap bombing[14][15][16]
- 4 September: an IRA volunteer (Michael Kane, aged 35) was killed when a bomb he was planting at an electricity transformer on New Forge Lane, Malone, Belfast, exploded prematurely.[14]
- 29 October: The electric sub-station at Banbridge, County Down is blown up by a Provisional IRA bomb & the blast badly damaged the sub-station, there were no injuries.[17]
- 16 November: the IRA shot dead two Catholic men, Arthur McKenna (aged 35) and Alexander McVicker (aged 35), as alleged criminals while the two were repairing a car, Ballymurphy Road, Belfast.[14] The men were alleged to have been involved in protection rackets, fencing stolen goods, minor racketeering, money-lending, burglary and robbery.[18]
January–February
- January 1971: following months of clashes between British soldiers and Irish nationalists in Ballymurphy, the British Army held secret talks with the IRA. It was agreed that, in parts of West Belfast, the IRA would be responsible for policing and there would be no activity by the British Army or RUC.[19][20]
- 3 February 1971: under pressure from the unionist government of Northern Ireland, the British Army began a series of raids in nationalist areas of West and North Belfast. This sparked clashes between residents and British soldiers, and between nationalists and loyalists. Eight soldiers and a number of civilians were wounded.[21] The IRA saw the raids as a breach of the policing agreement, and violence continued for the next few nights.[19]
- 6 February 1971: the British Army shot dead IRA staff officer James Saunders (22) in North Belfast. The British Army claimed soldiers removing barricades in the Oldpark district came under gun and bomb attack. In Ardoyne, soldiers shot dead a Catholic civilian, Bernard Watt (28), whom they claimed was armed, after an armoured personnel carrier was attacked.[22]
- 6 February 1971: during clashes between nationalists and British soldiers in the New Lodge district, the IRA opened fire on a group of soldiers, killing Gunner Robert Curtis. He was the first British soldier killed in Ireland since the 1920s. The next day, James Chichester-Clark, Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, declared on television that "Northern Ireland is at war with the Irish Republican Army Provisionals". Eight British soldiers and five civilians were injured in various gun battles around Belfast.[23][24]
- 8 February 1971: during clashes on the Crumlin Road, Ardoyne, Belfast, two British Army scout vehicles came under sniper fire and had a bomb thrown at them. A soldier (John Laurie) was shot in the head and died eight days later, on 15 February.[25][26]
- 9 February 1971: at the funeral of IRA volunteer James Saunders, a three-volley salute was fired over his coffin by the IRA. The funeral cortege was forced to make a detour when 300 loyalists blocked Oldpark Road and stoned mourners. There were also scuffles with police.[22] There was controversy after a British soldier was filmed saluting the coffin as it passed his armoured car.[27]
- 9 February 1971: five men, George Beck (aged 43), John Eakins (aged 52), Harry Edgar (aged 26), David Henson (aged 24), and William Thomas (aged 35) were killed while travelling in a Landrover, which detonated a landmine on track, Brougher Mountain, near Trillick, County Tyrone. A British Army mobile patrol was reportedly the intended target. The five were on their way to inspect a transmitter: two of the dead men were BBC engineers, the other three were construction workers. The landmine was intended for a British Army patrol that usually inspected the transmitters.[28][29]
- 26 February 1971: Two RUC Special Patrol Group officers, Robert Buckley (aged 30) and Cecil Patterson (aged 45), were killed in a gun battle with the IRA while on Royal Ulster Constabulary mobile patrol, Etna Drive, Ardoyne, Belfast.[28][30]
March–April
- 8 March 1971: Provisional IRA volunteer Charles Hughes (26) was shot dead by the Official IRA, while leaving a house on Leeson Street, Lower Falls, Belfast; part of an ongoing dispute between the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA.[25] In response the Provisional IRA shot and seriously injured an Official IRA volunteer.[31]
- 9 March 1971: the Provisional IRA kidnapped three off-duty Scottish soldiers (John McCaig, Joseph McCaig, and Dougald McCaughey) in Belfast, brought them to a mountain road outside the city and shot each in the head. They were the first off-duty soldiers from Britain to be killed in the conflict.[32][33]
May–June
- 15 May 1971: IRA volunteer Billy Reid was killed during a gun battle between the IRA and the British Army on Academy Street, Belfast. Two British soldiers were wounded in the incident.[25][34]
- 25 May 1971: a bomb was thrown into Springfield Road British Army/RUC base in Belfast, killing British Army Sergeant Michael Willetts as he shielded civilians from the blast with his body. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross. Seven RUC officers, two British soldiers and 18 civilians were injured.[25][35]
July–August
- 12 July 1971: a British soldier (David Walker, aged 30) was shot dead by an IRA sniper at a British observation post on Northumberland Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. The IRA claimed his death was in retaliation for the killings of two civilians in Derry by the British Army the previous week.[36]
- 14 July 1971: a British soldier (Richard Barton, aged 24) was shot dead in an IRA ambush on a mobile patrol in Andersonstown, Belfast. Three IRA gunmen using automatic weapons fired at least 35 shots at the patrol.[25][37]
- 8 August 1971: a British soldier (Malcolm Hatton, aged 21) was shot dead in an IRA sniper attack while on foot patrol, Brompton Park, Ardoyne, Belfast. The IRA claimed he was shot in retaliation for the shooting death of a civilian by the British Army the day before on the Springfield Road.[25][38]
- 9 August 1971: 343 suspects were detained as internment was introduced (see Operation Demetrius). In the following two days 17 people were killed in gun battles between the IRA and British Army. The IRA killed two British soldiers (one of them UDR) while the British Army shot dead one IRA volunteer and 14 civilians. Between 1971–75, 1,981 people were interned; 1,874 were Catholic and 107 were Protestant.[28]
- 9 August 1971: a UDR soldier (Winston Donnell, aged 22), was killed in a joint Provisional and Official IRA ambush at a vehicle check point in Clady, County Tyrone.[39]
- 10 August 1971: Norman Watson, a Protestant civilian, was killed in the crossfire between the IRA and soldiers in Armagh.
- 10 August 1971: Paul Challoner (aged 23), a British soldier, was shot dead by the IRA while on foot patrol, Bligh's Lane, Creggan, Derry.[28]
- 11 August 1971: an IRA volunteer (Seamus Simpson, aged 21), was shot dead while throwing a bomb at a British Army foot patrol, Rossnareen Avenue, Andersonstown, Belfast.[25]
- 16 August 1971: the commander of the Provisionals' Belfast Brigade, Joe Cahill, gave a press conference claiming only 30 IRA volunteers had been interned.[28] [40]
- 18 August 1971: an IRA volunteer (Eamon Lafferty, aged 20) was shot dead during a gun battle between the IRA and the British Army in Kildrum Gardens, Creggan, Derry City.[25]
- 23 August 1971: a British soldier (George Crozier, aged 23) was shot dead by an IRA sniper on Flax Street, Ardoyne, Belfast. The soldier was shot in the head as he exited a British armoured vehicle.[25][41]
- 25 August 1971: a Protestant civilian (Henry Beggs, aged 23) was killed when the IRA bombed the Northern Ireland Electricity office on the Malone Road, Belfast. An inadequate warning was given.[25]
- 29 August 1971: Battle of Courtbane, a British soldier (Ian Armstrong, aged 33) was shot dead by an IRA sniper near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. The soldier was travelling in a patrol consisting of two armoured Ferret Scout cars which inadvertently crossed the Irish border into County Louth near the village of Courtbane. While attempting to retreat back angry locals blocked their way and set one of the vehicles on fire. After eventually managing to get back across the border the patrol had to stop to change a damaged wheel.[citation needed] While this was happening a six-man IRA unit arrived on the scene and took up sniping positions in nearby fields. The soldier was killed after being shot in the neck. Another soldier was injured when he was struck in the shoulder.[25][42]
- 31 August 1971: a British soldier (Clifford Loring, aged 18) was killed when he was shot by an IRA sniper at a vehicle checkpoint at Stockman's Lane, Andersonstown, Belfast. A single shot was fired by a sniper which passed through the shoulder strap of another soldier's flak-jacket before hitting Loring in the head.[25][43]
September–October
- 1 September 1971: The IRA exploded a number of bombs across Belfast and Derry injuring about two dozen people.[44]
- 2 September 1971: The IRA exploded a bomb at the headquarters of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) which wrecked the building, a number of people were injured in the blast.[44]
- 3 September 1971: a UDR soldier (Francis Veitch, aged 23) was shot dead while on guard duty outside Kinawley Royal Ulster Constabulary, County Fermanagh, when an IRA unit attacked.[25][43]
- 3 September 1971: a 17-month-old toddler (Angela Gallagher) was killed after being hit by a ricochet bullet in her pram during an IRA sniper attack at a British army patrol in the Iveagh Drive/Iveagh Street area, Falls Road, Belfast.[25]
- 9 September 1971: a British Army bomb-disposal expert (David Stewardson, aged 29) died while attempting to defuse a bomb at Castlerobin Orange Hall, Drumankelly, near Lisburn, County Antrim.[25]
- 14 September 1971: a British soldier (John Rudman, aged 21) was shot dead while on mobile patrol, Edendork, near Coalisland, County Tyrone.[25]
- 15 September 1971: a British soldier (Paul Carter, aged 21) died one day after being shot outside Royal Victoria Hospital, Falls Road, Belfast by the IRA.[25]
- 17 September 1971: a British soldier (Peter Herrington, aged 28) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol, Brompton Park, Ardoyne, Belfast.[25]
- 18 September 1971: an RUC officer (Robert Leslie, aged 20) was shot dead while on foot patrol by the IRA at Abercorn Square, Strabane, County Tyrone.[25]
- 20 September 1971: The IRA exploded a bomb in the Bluebell Bar in the Loyalist Sandy Row area injuring 27 people.[45]
- 23 September 1971: a patrol boat belonging to the Northern Ireland Fishery Conservancy Board was bombed and wrecked by an IRA unit at Derryinver, Lough Neagh.[46]
- 29 September 1971: Two Protestant civilians were killed when the Four Step Inn on the Shankill Road in Belfast was bombed. No group said they did the bombing but it's believed the Provisional IRA was behind the bombing.[44]
- 1 October 1971: a British soldier (Peter Sharpe, aged 22) was shot dead in an IRA gun attack on a British Army foot patrol, Kerrera Street, Ardoyne, Belfast.[25]
- 2 October 1971: an IRA volunteer (Terence McDermott, aged 19) died after the bomb he was transporting to an electricity sub-station at Lambeg, near Lisburn, County Antrim, exploded prematurely.[25]
- 3 October 1971: an Agriculture Ministry imports inspector (Patrick Daly, aged 57) from Moira, County Down was shot dead by the IRA.[25][47]
- 11 October 1971: a British soldier (Roger Wilkins, aged 32) was shot dead by the IRA while on foot-patrol on Letterkenny Road, Derry.[25]
- 15 October 1971: two RUC officers, Cecil Cunningham (aged 46) and John Haslett (aged 21), were shot dead by an IRA unit while sitting in stationary RUC vehicle at the junction of Woodvale Road and Twaddell Avenue, Belfast.[25]
- 16 October 1971: a British soldier (Joseph Hill, aged 24) was shot dead by the IRA during street disturbances, Columcille Court, Bogside, Derry.[25]
- 17 October 1971: a British soldier (Graham Cox, aged 35) died two days after being shot by an IRA sniper while travelling in a British Army armoured personnel carrier, Oldpark Road, Belfast.[25]
- 17 October 1971: a British soldier (George Hamilton, aged 21) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol, Glenalina Park, Ballymurphy, Belfast.[25]
- 23 October 1971: two female IRA volunteers, Maura Meehan (aged 30) and Dorothy Maguire (aged 19), were shot dead by the British Army while travelling in car warning local residents of house raids, Cape Street, Lower Falls, Belfast.[25]
- 24 October 1971: an IRA volunteer (Martin Forsythe, aged 19) was shot dead by the RUC during a bomb attack, Celebrity Club, Donegall Place, Belfast. His partner in the mission, IRA volunteer and later Sinn Féin politician Rita O'Hare, was seriously wounded.[25]
- 27 October 1971: two British soldiers, David Tilbury (aged 29) and Angus Stevens (aged 18), were killed in an IRA bomb attack on an observation post at the rear of Rosemount RUC/British Army base, Derry.[25]
- 27 October 1971: an RUC officer (Ronald Dodd, aged 34) was shot dead by an IRA sniper when he arrived with a mobile patrol at the scene of fire in a house, Gallagh, near Toome, County Antrim.[25]
- 27 October 1971: a British soldier (David Powell, aged 22) was killed when a British Army armoured personnel carrier struck an IRA landmine in Kinawley, County Fermanagh.[25]
- 29 October 1971: an RUC officer (Alfred Devlin, aged 42), was killed in a bomb attack on Chichester Road Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, off the Antrim Road, Belfast.[25]
- 30 October 1971: a British soldier (Norman Booth, aged 22) was killed when the IRA bombed a British Army Observation Post on the junction of Springfield Road and Cupar Street, Belfast.[25]
- 31 October 1971: a British soldier (Ian Doherty, aged 27) died three days after being shot while on mobile patrol, Stockman's Lane, Belfast.[25]
- 31 October 1971: the Post Office Tower in London (later renamed the British Telecom Communication Tower) was heavily damaged by an IRA bomb.[48]
November–December
- 1 November 1971: two RUC officers, Stanley Corry (aged 28) and William Russell (aged 31), were shot dead by an IRA unit while investigating a burglary, Avoca Shopping Centre, Andersonstown, Belfast.[25]
- 2 November 1971: three Protestant civilians (John Cochrane, Mary Gemmell, and William Jordan) were killed in bomb attacks on a drapery shop and Red Lion Bar, either side of Ormeau Road Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, Belfast. They were drinking in the Red Lion Bar, next door to the base at the time. Jordan died on 4 November 1971. Inadequate warning given.[25]
- 4 November 1971: a British soldier (Stephen McGuire, aged 20) died seven weeks after being shot in an IRA attack on the Henry Taggart British Army base, Ballymurphy, Belfast.[25]
- 7 November 1971: an off-duty British soldier (Paul Genge, aged 18) was shot dead while walking along Tandragee Road, Lurgan, County Armagh, in an IRA drive-by attack.[25]
- 9 November 1971: a British soldier (Ian Curtis, aged 23) was shot dead while on foot patrol by an IRA sniper on Foyle Road, Derry City.[25]
- 11 November 1971: two RUC officers, Dermot Hurley (aged 50) and Walter Moore (aged 37), were shot dead by the IRA in a shop at the rear of Oldpark Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) base, Oldpark Road, Belfast.[25]
- 18 November 1971: a British soldier (Edwin Charnley, aged 22) was shot dead by the IRA while guarding a bus depot, Anderson Street, Short Strand, Belfast.[25]
- 22 November 1971: Michael Crossey (aged 21), an IRA volunteer was killed in a premature bomb explosion at Cellar Lounge Bar, Church Place, Lurgan, County Armagh.[25]
- 23 November 1971: a civilian from County Donegal (Bridget Carr, aged 24) died four days after being shot during a sniper attack on a nearby British Army patrol while walking along Lifford Road, Strabane, County Tyrone.[25]
- 24 November 1971: a British Army bomb disposal expert (Colin Davies, aged 38) was killed attempting to defuse a car-bomb left in a car showroom, William Street, Lurgan, County Armagh.[25]
- 27 November 1971: two Customs Officials, Ian Hankin (a 27-year-old Protestant) and James O'Neill (a 39-year-old Catholic), were killed when IRA snipers attacked Killeen Customs Post near Newry. The soldiers guarding the post were reportedly the intended targets.[25]
- 27 November 1971: a British soldier (Paul Nicholls, aged 18) was shot dead by an IRA sniper while on foot patrol, St James Crescent, Falls Road, Belfast.[25]
- 29 November 1971: an off-duty British soldier, Robert Benner (aged 25), originally from Dundalk, County Louth but raised in England, where he had joined the army, was found shot dead at Teer, near Crossmaglen, County Armagh. He had been returning from his fiancée's home in Dundalk when he was attacked. A "non-specific Republican group" was cited as responsible in Sutton.[25] A news report claimed he had been tortured.[49]
- 6 December 1971: a Protestant civilian, Mary Thompson (aged 61), was killed when a wall collapsed onto her shortly after an IRA bomb attack on the Salvation Army Citadel building next door, Dublin Road, Belfast.[25]
- 7 December 1971: an off-duty UDR soldier (Denis Wilson, aged 31), was shot dead by the IRA at Curlagh, Aghaloo, near Caledon, County Tyrone.[25]
- 8 December 1971: an off-duty UDR soldier, Sean Russell (aged 30), was shot dead at his home, New Barnsley Crescent, Ballymurphy, Belfast.[25]
- 8 December 1971: a British Army soldier, Jeremy Snow (aged 35), died four days after being shot by a sniper while on foot patrol, New Lodge, Belfast.[25]
- 10 December 1971: a UDR soldier and an ex-soldier were killed when their car was attacked by an IRA unit near Clady, Strabane, County Tyrone.[25]
- 11 December 1971: a bomb attack on a furniture shop on the Shankill Road in Belfast killed four Protestant civilians, including two children.[25] No organisation claimed responsibility, but there was speculation that it may have been planted by the IRA in retaliation for the McGurk's Bar bombing of 4 December.[50]
- 16 December 1971: a British soldier (Anthony Aspinwall, aged 22 Gloucestershire Regiment), was shot dead by an IRA sniper in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.[25]
- 18 December 1971: three IRA volunteers (James Sheridan, John Bateson and Martin Lee) died in Magherafelt, County Londonderry, when the bomb they were transporting exploded prematurely.[28]
- 21 December 1971: a Catholic publican (John Lavery, aged 60) was killed when he picked up and attempted to remove a bomb that had been planted in his pub on the Lisburn Road, Belfast. The Sutton database lists the IRA as responsible.[25]
- 21 December 1971: an IRA volunteer (Gerald McDade, aged 23) was shot dead after being captured by the British Army in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.[25]
- 29 December 1971: a British soldier (Richard Ham, aged 20), was shot dead while on British Army (BA) foot patrol, Foyle Road, Brandywell, Derry.[25]
- 31 December 1971: an IRA volunteer, Jack McCabe (aged 55), originally from County Cavan, was killed when a bomb he was assembling exploded accidentally in Santry, Dublin.[25]