Timeline of Official Irish Republican Army actions

This is a timeline of actions by the Official Irish Republican Army (Official IRA or OIRA), an Irish republican & Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group. Most of these actions took place as part of a Guerrilla campaign against the British Army & Royal Ulster Constabulary and internal Irish Republican feuds with the Provisional IRA & Irish National Liberation Army from the early 1970s - to the mid 1970s during the most violent phase of "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland.

Timeline of attacks & actions

1969

1970
  • 3-5 July: Twelve Volunteers from the Provisional IRA & 90 Volunteers from the Official IRA's Belfast Brigade did battle with the British Army during the Falls Curfew. Four civilians were killed by the British Army, several IRA Volunteers injured & 18 British soldiers were also injured during the battle.
  • June - August: An Official IRA active service unit based in London, England carried out a series of armed bank robberies during the summer of 1970 to raise funds for the OIRA. Kieran Conway who in 1974 left the OIRA over their ceasefire and became a PIRA Volunteer was a member of this unit.[2]

1971
  • 8 March - After a gun battle between the Officials & Provisionals, the OIRA Volunteers shot dead the Provisional IRA's Belfast C Company commander Charlie Hughes (cousin of future Republican legend & 1980 Hunger Strike leader Brendan Hughes) & injured Tom Cahill, a nephew of veteran Irish Republican Joe Cahill. Tensions between the two factions would lead to more bloodshed a few years later. See: Official & Provisional IRA feud
  • 22 May - The first British soldier to die at the hands of the Official IRA, Robert Bankier of the Royal Green Jackets was killed by a unit led by Joe McCann. McCann's unit opened fire on a passing British mobile patrol near Cromac Square, hitting the patrol from both sides. He was the fourth British soldier to die on active service & the seventh overall since the conflict began.[3]
  • 6 July - An OIRA Volunteer Martin O'Leary died in a premature bomb explosion at a training camp at the Mogul Mines in the Silvermines mountains in County Tipperary.
  • 9 - 10 August 1971 - During the introduction of Internment without trial OIRA Staff Captain Joe McCann led a small unit that held of a large number of British troops (reported 600 soldiers) for a number of hours to let people evade capture in the Markets area of Belfast.
  • 14 August - An Official IRA sniper shot dead British soldier John Robinson (21) while he was on mobile patrol in Butler Street, Ardoyne, Belfast during riots in the aftermath of internment.[4]
  • 4 September - The OIRA killed a British soldier who was part of a mobile patrol in a land mine attack near Newry.
  • 14 September - A OIRA sniper shot dead a British soldier in the Creggan area of Derry.
  • 23 September 1971 - Official IRA Volunteers Curry Rose (18) and Gerard O'Hare (17) were both killed in a premature bomb explosion while preparing a bomb in a house in Merrion Street, along the Lower Falls.
  • 4 October - A British soldier was killed in an OIRA bomb attack on an Army base in Cuppar Street, Belfast.
  • 12 December - A three-man active service unit of the OIRA assassinated Stormont Senator and UUP member John Barnhill when they shot him dead during an attack on his Brickfield home in near Strabane, Tyrone. Barnhill's home was destroyed by a bomb during the attack.[5] He was the first politician killed in Ireland since the Irish Civil War nearly 50 years earlier.

1972
  • 13 January - A Royal Marines Sioux helicopter was fired at and hit in Derry while supporting a British Army patrol pursuing a gunman, which had then been engaged by members of both the Official and Provisional IRA. The aircraft flew back to its base and landed safely.[6]
  • 30 January - It is claimed by eyewitnesses during Bloody Sunday in The Bogside in Derry that an OIRA Volunteer returned a single shot at the Paratroopers who had already opened fire.[7]
  • 6 February - A former member of the British Army's Parachute Regiment was found just inside the South Armagh border. The killing was blamed on the OIRA.
  • 13 February - The OIRA abducted and shot dead a British soldier from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, his body was found near Newtownbutler.
  • 22 February - An OIRA unit exploded a bomb at Aldershot Barrack in Hampshire, England. Seven people were killed in the blast.
  • 25 February - In Russell Street, Armagh two OIRA Volunteers fired shots from a Thompson SMG seriously injuring Stormont Minister & security spokesman John Taylor of the UUP.
  • 29 February - The OIRA shot dead an RUC officer outside a factory in Newry. He died on the 2 March.
  • 12 March - A OIRA sniper shot dead a Catholic civilian during a sniper attack on British Army base in the Falls Road, Belfast.
  • 10 April - Two British soldiers were killed in an OIRA bomb attack in Rosemount, Derry.
  • 15 April - OIRA Belfast Commander Joe McCann was shot dead in the Markets area of Belfast. His funeral was attended by over 5,000 people.
  • 15 April - A British soldier was shot dead in an OIRA sniper attack in Divis Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. Two other British soldiers were seriously injured.[8]
  • 16 April - A British soldier was shot dead in an OIRA sniper attack in Bishops Street, Derry.
  • 16 April - A British soldier was ambushed outside his base and shot dead by the OIRA in the Brandywell area of Derry.
  • 16 April - Two British soldiers were wounded in an ambush in Newry, Armagh.[8]
  • 21 May - The OIRA shot dead a popular young soldier from the local area, Ranger William Best (19) who was home on leave, his body was found in William Street, Derry. There was anger from the Nationalist community against the OIRA over this killing.
  • 13 - 14 May - OIRA Volunteers joined forces with the Provisional IRA during the Battle at Springmartin.
  • 29 May - The OIRA called an offensive ceasefire.
  • 9 - 14 July - Various units from the Official IRA Belfast Brigade took part in the Battle of Lenadoon.
  • 9 July - British snipers shot dead a member of the OIRA's Youth Wing David McCafferty (15) along with four other people in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. See: Springhill Massacre.
  • 11 July - A Volunteer from the OIRA Youth Wing Gerard Doherty (16) was shot dead in his house by the British Army in Belfast.
  • 14 July - OIRA Volunteer Edward Brady was shot dead by the British Army during a gun battle in Ardoyne, Belfast.
  • 25 July - The OIRA shot dead UDA member James Kenna at the junction of Roden Street & Clifford Street in Belfast.
  • 30 September - A female OIRA Volunteer Patricia McKay was shot dead by the British Army during an attack on an Army barracks.
  • 16 October - Two OIRA Volunteers were shot dead by the British Army a VCP in Coagh, Tyrone.
  • 5 December - The OIRA carried out several mortar attacks using newly-developed launchers on British Army bases in Northern Ireland. Several of the devices either missed their target or failed to explode. A British soldier was killed when a shell detonated while he was examining one of the mortars in Kitchen Hill in Lurgan. The OIRA did not claim responsibility for the attacks.[9]
  • 15 December - A RUC officer was shot dead by OIRA volunteers near Kilwilkie gardens, Lurgan, Armagh.
  • 15 December - A off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead as he left his workplace near Moy Road, Armagh.

[10]

1973
  • February-March - The OIRA carried out over a dozen retaliatory attacks against British security forces after the British Army shot dead 12-year-old Kevin Heatley near his home in Derrybeg, Newry, County Down on 28 February. Allegedly the OIRA was responsible for a booby-trap bomb in a derelict cottage which killed a British soldier (Joseph Leahy) at Mullaghbawn although the CAIN database attributes responsibility to the Provisional IRA.[9][11]
  • 7 April - British Soldiers in concealed positions opened fire on an OIRA unit after an attack on a British Army patrol in Ogle Street, Armagh, killing OIRA Volunteer James McGerrigan (17) and wounding another. The OIRA strenuously denied the men were armed or had attacked the patrol.[9]
  • 9 April - The British Army shot dead OIRA Volunteer Anthony Hughes (20) while moving weapons out from his house in Culdee Terrace, Armagh.
  • 14 April - The Ulster Volunteer Force(UVF) shot dead OIRA Volunteer Robert Millen on the Ormeau Road, Belfast.
  • 27 April - A OIRA sniper shot dead a British soldier in the Creggan, Derry.
  • 21 June - The OIRA shot dead a Protestant civilian David Walker (16) near the entrance of the Falls Road, Belfast.
  • 6 July - Patrick Bracken (27) an OIRA volunteer was shot dead by the UVF along the Falls Road, Belfast
  • 25 September - Seamus Larkin (34) an ex-OIRA Volunteer was shot dead by the OIRA near Killeen, Armagh. Part of internal feud.
  • 5 November - The OIRA was blamed for a 50 lb (23 kg) bomb that wrecked a milking parlour on the estate of Sir Richard Keane at Belmont, Capoquin, County Waterford. The blast followed threats related to a dispute between Sir Richard and his 65 tenants in Cappoquin over ground rents.[12]
  • 18 November - The OIRA announced they were establishing auxiliary defence groups to guard Nationalist areas against sectarian attacks by Loyalist paramilitaries. Around this time a secret squad to carry out revenge attacks was also formed. The grouping never claimed responsibility and was kept unknown even within the OIRA.[9][13]

[11]

1974
  • 1 January - The OIRA shot and wounded a man in a punishment attack in Michael Mallon Park, Newry. An OIRA statement alleged the man had assault one of their volunteers at a New Year's dance at Warrenpoint, County Down.[14]
  • 11 January - The OIRA killed two civilians (John Dunn and Cecilia Byrne) who worked as cleaning contractors for the British Army when they exploded a bomb under their car as they left Ebrington British Army base near the Waterside, Derry. The OIRA denied responsibility for the attack, and a sympathy notice appeared in The Irish News from the Co-ordinating Committee of Andersonstown Republican Clubs, the OIRA's political wing.[9][15]
  • 13 January - The OIRA shot dead a civilian (Christopher Daly) whom they accused of arms dealing at Balholm Drive, Ardoyne, Belfast.[9]
  • 15 May - The British Army shot dead two OIRA Volunteers (Colman Rowntree and Martin McAlinden) after they caught them planting a landmine near Ballyholland close to Newry, Down. No firearms were found at the scene, although a significant quantity of bomb-making material was recovered.[16][9]
  • 18 May - The OIRA shot a British soldier in William Street, Newry, immediately after the funerals of the two OIRA volunteers who died on 15 May. Five more attacks were carried out against the British Army in the week that followed.[9][16]
  • 2 June - Paul Tinnelly (34) a former OIRA Volunteer and founder of the short-lived paramilitary group "Tinnelly's Brigade" was shot dead by the OIRA in Rostrevor, Down.
  • 6 July - The OIRA claimed responsibility for the recent shooting of two British soldiers outside Newry.[17]
  • 19 August: The OIRA claimed responsibility for shooting two youths in a punishment shooting in the Bogside area of Derry. In response the Provisional IRA issued warning that they wouldn't tolerate organisations not involved in an "official" campaign against the British Government carrying out such actions.[18]
  • 6 September - The OIRA shot dead a RUC officer during a robbery on an Ulster Bank in Rathcole, Newtownabbey, Antrim.
  • 18 September - Patrick McGreevey (15) a Volunteer in the OIRA's Youth Wing was shot dead by the UVF in Clifton Street, Belfast.
  • 10 November - The OIRA and PIRA exchanged fire in the Bawnmore area of Newtonabbey on the outskirts of Belfast. A follow-up search by the British Army recovered a revolver and ammunition.[19]
  • 8 December - There was a split in the Official Republican Movement when a large group lead by Seamus Costello left and formed the Irish Republican Socialist Party and the Irish National Liberation Army in the Spa Hotel, Dublin.

[20]

1975
  • 20 February 1975 - A feud between the OIRA and the newly formed Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) began when OIRA Volunteers from the Belfast Brigade shot dead Hugh Ferguson (19), then chairman of Whiterock IRSP. The feud lasted until 5 June 1975 and all the killings by both sides happened in Belfast.[21]
  • 25 February - The INLA using the cover name People's Liberation Army (PLA) shot dead OIRA Volunteer Paul Fox (25). Part of INLA/OIRA feud.
  • 1 March - the INLA shot and wounded OIRA leader Sean Garland. The attack happened in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast; part of the feud.
  • 6 April - the OIRA shot dead INLA volunteer Daniel Loughran on Albert Street, Belfast; part of the feud.
  • 12 April - the INLA shot dead OIRA volunteer Paul Crawford on Falls Road; part of the feud.
  • 28 April - the INLA shot dead OIRA volunteer and Belfast Brigade Commander Billy McMillen on Falls Road, part of the feud.
  • 5 June - the Official IRA shot dead INLA volunteer Brendan McNamee on Stewartstown Road, Belfast; final action of the INLA/OIRA feud.
  • 10 June - The OIRA shot dead Saor Éire Volunteer Larry White (25) in County Cork.
  • 17 July - The OIRA shot and injured a British soldier in the Newry area. The OIRA on 22 July claimed the attack was retaliation for the harassment of locals by the Green Howards regiment.[22]
  • 19 July - The OIRA shot and injured a British soldier in the Newry area. The OIRA on 22 July claimed the attack was retaliation for the harassment of locals by the Green Howards regiment.[22]
  • 10 October - The OIRA shot dead a civilian during an armed robbery on his workplace in Whiterock, Belfast.
  • 19 October - A civilian died two weeks after being shot by the OIRA along Cabra Road, Dublin.
  • 29 October 1975 - The Provisional IRA (PIRA) shot and killed OIRA Volunteer Robert Elliman (27), in McKenna's Bar in the Markets area of Belfast. This was the start of a new PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 31 October - Thomas Berry (27), a Volunteer of the OIRA, was shot dead by the PIRA outside Sean Martin's Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) Club in the Short Strand, Belfast.
  • 31 October - In a revenge attack the OIRA shot dead a senior PIRA Volunteer Sean McCusker (40) in the New Lodge Road, Belfast for the recent killings of the OIRA Volunteers.
  • 9 November - The PIRA shot dead OIRA Volunteer along the New Lodge, Belfast.
  • 11 November - The OIRA shot dead a civilian who they mistook as a member of the PIRA along the Lower Falls, Belfast. Part of PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 11 November - The PIRA shot dead OIRA Volunteer John Brown (25) at his home in Cooke Place, Belfast. Part of PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 12 November - The OIRA shot dead civilian and Chairman of the Falls Road Taxi Association Michael Duggan (32) for its links to the PIRA in Hawthorne, Belfast. Part of PIRA/OIRA feud.

[23]

1976
  • 18 February - A Sinn Féin member Paul Best (19) died three months after being shot by the OIRA in Turf Lodge, Belfast. Part of the PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 13 July - Gerard Gilmore (19) an OIRA Volunteer was shot dead by Loyalist paramilitaries near Greencastle, Belfast, no specific group claimed responsibility for the killing but it is believed the UVF carried it out.

[24]

1977
  • 10 April - The PIRA shot dead a civilian (John Shortt) in the Turf Lodge, Belfast. The intended target was an OIRA volunteer who was a relative of the civilian killed.
  • 27 July - The PIRA shot dead a Republican Clubs member (a group with close links to the OIRA) in the New Lodge, Belfast. Part of a renewed PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 27 July - In retaliation for the killing of a Republican Clubs member the OIRA tried to kill a Sinn Féin member but shot dead the brother of the intended target. Part of PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 27 July - The OIRA shot dead PIRA volunteer Thomas Toland (31) in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast. Part of PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 27 July - The OIRA shot dead a civilian in his house in Andersonstown, Belfast, the previous occupant of the house was the intended target. Part of PIRA/OIRA feud.
  • 5 October - The OIRA shot dead former OIRA Volunteer, and the then-current leader of the INLA & IRSP Seamus Costello in Northbrook Avenue, Dublin. Part of INLA/OIRA feud.

[25]

1978
  • 4 September - OIRA volunteers fired several shots at Gardaí during a robbery on a dairy at Tramore Road, Cork before surrendering.[18]

1979
  • 9 June - The UDA shot dead Joseph McKee (33) an OIRA Volunteer inside a shop in Castle Street, Belfast.
  • 10 September - A group of OIRA Volunteers badly beat a civilian man to death in the Ballymurphy area of Belfast.

[26]

1980
  • September - The OIRA opened fire on rioters near the Divis Flats, Belfast during disturbances related to the ongoing H-Block protests. A youth was hit in the head and seriously wounded.[9]

1982
  • 4 June - The INLA shot dead OIRA volunteer James Flynn (37) on North Strand Road, Dublin. End of the INLA/OIRA feud.

[27]

1990
  • 30 July - A member of the Provisional IRA was shot and injured and another had his arm broken during clashes with the OIRA in the Markets area of Belfast. In response the PIRA moved large numbers of its members into the area, while 30-40 members of the Workers Party/OIRA barricaded themselves inside the social club where the fighting began, for days afterwards. Sinn Féin sources alleged the OIRA were threatening to shoot a "public and prominent member" of the party.[28][29]
  • 24 November - The OIRA allegedly attempted to abduct a former Provisional IRA prisoner at gunpoint from a pub in the Twinbrook area of Belfast, following an argument. In the brawl that followed an OIRA revolver was lost and an OIRA member beaten unconscious.[28]

1992
  • 22 February - There was a split in the Workers' Party of Ireland (long believed to be the political wing of the OIRA) when Proinsias de Rossa failed to get assurance that the Workers' Party had severed all links with the Official IRA.[30]
  • 17 October - OIRA gunmen wounded two men at a bookmakers shop in the Markets area of Belfast.[31]

1993
  • 29 August - gunshots were exchanged between the Provisional and the Official IRA in the Markets area of Belfast.[32]

1995

Some members of the OIRA broke away to form the Official Republican Movement (ORM). The ORM members were angry with the lack of support the Workers Party gave to OIRA prisoners.

1997
  • 6 January - A man was shot in the leg as so-called "punishment attack" in West Belfast. It's claimed Volunteers from the OIRA carried out the attack.[33]
  • 6 August - A Taxi driver was shot in the legs in another "punishment attack", people claimed the OIRA were responsible for the attack.[34]

1998
  • 11 June - Shots were fired at a Sinn Féin election worker in south Belfast. Sinn Féin claimed the attack was carried out by the Official IRA.[35]

See also

Further reading

References
  1. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1969". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  2. Interview with Kieran Conway, 'HARDtalk' BBC, 20 October 2016. Published on Youtube 27 October 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGu78sfInPA
  3. Jack Holland & Henry McDonald, INLA – Deadly Divisions, 1994, p. 10
  4. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. "Rightist Ulster Senator Slain by Gunmen in Home". The New York Times. 1971-12-13. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  6. Taylor, Steven (2018-06-30). Air War Northern Ireland: Britain's Air Arms and the 'Bandit Country' of South Armagh, Operation Banner 1969–2007. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1-5267-2155-6.
  7. "CAIN: Events: Bloody Sunday: Menu Page". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  8. Holland, Jack; McDonald, Henry (1994). INLA Deadly Divisions.
  9. Brian Hanley and Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Penguin UK, 2009. Chapter 4: Defence and Retaliation.
  10. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  11. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  12. Belfast Telegraph. 6 November 1973.
  13. Daily Mirror. 19 November 1973.
  14. The Belfast Telegraph, 2 January 1974.
  15. The Belfast Telegraph, 11 January 1974.
  16. The Belfast Telegraph, 18 May 1974.
  17. Sunday Independent, 7 July 1974.
  18. The Belfast Telegraph, 20 August 1974.
  19. The Belfast Telegraph, 13 November 1974.
  20. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  21. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  22. The Belfast Telegraph, 23 July 1974.
  23. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  24. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  25. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  26. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  27. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  28. Sunday Tribune, 3 December 1990.
  29. Sunday Tribune, 26 August 1990.
  30. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1992". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  31. Fortnight Magazine, Issue 312, p. 24-25. Fortnight Publications, 1992.
  32. Fortnight Magazine, Issues 319-23, p. 33 (1993)
  33. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1997". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  34. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1997". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  35. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1998". cain.ulster.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
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