Mcgurk's Bar Bombing


Book Description

In the early evening of Saturday 4th December 1971, British extremists of the Ulster Volunteer Force planted a no-warning bomb on the doorstep of a family-run bar in north Belfast. They killed 15 men, women and children - the country's most devastating massacre of civilians since the Nazi Blitz. Nevertheless, the innocent victims were to become the fogotten victims of a dirty war.




UVF


Book Description

UVF: Behind the Mask is the gripping new history of the Ulster Volunteer Force from its post-1965 incarnation to the present day. Aaron Edwards blends rigorous research with unprecedented access to leading members of the UVF to unearth the startling inner-workings of one of the world’s oldest and most ruthless paramilitary groups. Through interviews with high-profile UVF leaders, such as Billy Mitchell, David Ervine, Billy Wright, Billy Hutchinson and Gary Haggarty, as well as their loyalist rivals including Johnny Adair, Edwards reveals the grisly details behind their sadistic torture and murder techniques and their litany of high-profile atrocities: McGurk’s Bar, the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, the Miami Showband massacre and the Shankill Butchers’ serial-killing spree, amongst others. Edwards’ life and career has led him to the centre of the UVF’s long, dark underbelly; in this defining work he offers a comprehensive and authoritative study of an armed group that continues to play a pivotal role in Northern Irish society.




Kitson's Irish War


Book Description

The British government has taken steps to halt the prosecution of soldiers responsible for the deaths of civilians in Northern Ireland, most of whom had no connection to paramilitary activities. These killings were part of a ruthless dirty war that commenced in 1970 when Brigadier Frank Kitson, a counter-insurgency specialist, was sent to Northern Ireland. Kitson had spent decades in Britain's colonies refining old, and developing new, techniques which he applied in Northern Ireland. He became the architect of a clandestine war, waged against Nationalists while ignoring Loyalist atrocities. Kitson and his colleagues were responsible for: •The establishment of the clandestine Military Reaction Force (MRF) which carried out assassinations on the streets of Belfast of suspected IRA members; •They unleashed the most violent elements of the Parachute Regiment [1 Para] to terrorise Nationalist communities which, they adjudged, were providing support for the Official and Provisional IRA; •Spreading black propaganda designed to undermine Republican but not Loyalist paramilitary groups; •Deployed psychological warfare techniques, involving the torture of internees; •Sent Kitson's 'Private Army' – Support Company of 1 Para - to Derry where they perpetrated the Bloody Sunday massacre. The British Widgery and Saville inquiries did not hold Kitson and his elite troops accountable for Bloody Sunday. Kitson's Irish War lays bare the evidence they discounted: Kitson's role in the events leading up to and surrounding that massacre; evidence from a deserter from 1 Para who joined the IRA; a deceitful MI5 agent; a courageous whistle blower whom the British state tried to discredit, and much more, all of which points to a motive for the attack on the Bogside. This book unlocks the some of the key secrets of the Dirty War that the British government is still determined to cover-up.




Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland


Book Description

'. . . a well-written piece of investigative journalism that asks some deeply troubling questions . . .' - NY Journal of Books 'Cadwallader has written a brave, powerful and forensically detailed book about a shameful and denied aspect of our conflict's history.' - The Irish Times. 'Anne Cadwallader's remarkable book focusses on collusion in the British security forces (the RUC, the British Army, and the UDR) in the mid-Ulster "Murder Triangle". Over 120 people were killed by a loyalist gang operating in mid-Ulster and Cadwallader has created a convincing argument that collusion with certain elements of the security forces was crucial in the committing of these crimes and the lack of proper investigation into many of these crimes' - The Dublin Reader Farmers, shopkeepers, publicans and businessmen were slaughtered in a bloody decade of bombings and shootings in the counties of Tyrone and Armagh in the 1970s. Four families each lost three relatives; in other cases, children were left orphaned after both parents were murdered. For years, there were claims that loyalists were helped and guided by the RUC and Ulster Defence Regiment members. But, until now, there was no proof. Drawing on 15 years of research, and using forensic and ballistic information never before published, this book includes official documents showing that the highest in the land knew of the collusion and names those whose fingers were on the trigger and who detonated the bombs. It draws on previously unpublished reports written by the PSNI's own Historical Enquiries Team. It also includes heartbreaking interviews with the bereaved families whose lives were shattered by this cold and calculated campaign.




Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries


Book Description

In the violent maelstrom of early 1970s Belfast many young members of the loyalist youth gangs known as 'Tartans' joined the fledgling paramilitary groups - this is an in-depth account of that dramatic convergence.




ANGELS WITH BLUE FACES.


Book Description




Lost Lives


Book Description

This is a unique work filled with passion and violence, with humanity and inhumanity. It is the story of the Northern Ireland troubles told through the lives of those who have suffered and the deaths which have resulted from the conflict.




Who Was Responsible for the Troubles?


Book Description

The Troubles claimed the lives of almost four thousand people in Northern Ireland, most of them civilians; forty-five thousand were injured in bombings and shootings. Relative to population size this was the most intense conflict experienced in Western Europe since the end of the Second World War. The central question posed in this book is fundamental, yet it is one that has rarely been asked: Who was primarily responsible for the prosecution of the Troubles and their attendant toll of the dead, the injured, and the emotionally traumatized? Liam Kennedy, who lived in Belfast throughout most of the conflict, was long afraid to raise the question and its implications. After years of reflection and research on the matter he has brought together elements of history, politics, sociology, and social psychology to identify the collective actors who drove the conflict onwards for more than three decades, from the days of the civil rights movement in the late 1960s to the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. The Troubles in Northern Ireland are a world-class problem in miniature. The combustible mix of national, ethnic, and sectarian passions that went into the making of the conflict has its parallels today in other parts of the world. Who Was Responsible for the Troubles? is an original and controversial work that captures the terror and the pain but also the hope of life and the pursuit of happiness in a deeply divided society.




Making History


Book Description

Written by market-leading History author, Dermot Lucey, whose name is synonymous with History education in Ireland, Making History provides everything you need for Junior Cycle History. Specification Learning Outcomes are broken into clear, achievable Learning Intentions The Nature of History strand is introduced and then reinforced in each chapter through skills-based activities and the frequent use of sources Integrates recommended Junior Cycle teaching strategies, such as Think-Pair-Share, Hot Seat and Venn Diagrams Analysing Sources sections encourage students to investigate intriguing historical questions and to hone the skills of the historian The order of the chapters and the pictorial timelines at the start of each promote chronological awareness and help students acquire the 'big picture' The frequent use of questions in headings promotes exploratory learning, encourages lively classroom debate and develops historical consciousness Assessment features include: - Suggested CBAs for each topic - Focus Tasks for groupwork and research - Activities that encourage historical empathy - Range of questions on a vast array of primary and secondary sources The Making History package includes: Making History Skills Book - Included FREE with the textbook: Written by Stacy Stout with Dermot Lucey, this book includes skills-based activities, and reflection and revision exercises Making History Teacher's Resource Book with detailed schemes of work and How to' guides for incorporating technology and active teaching methods A suite of digital resources including curriculum-focused videos, PowerPoints and quizzes, all available on GillExplore.ie Free eBook of the textbook with embedded videos, weblinks and quizzes. See inside front cover for details. Adopting teachers also get access to free eBooks of the Skills Book and Teacher's Resource Book. Gill Education eBooks are accessible both online and offline. The Making History Author Team DERMOT LUCEY is an experienced teacher of History and an active member of the Cork History Teachers' Association. He is the author of a number of best-selling History textbooks, including The Past Today and Modern Europe. STACY STOUT is a History teacher, examiner and a member of the Cork History Teachers' Association. She is well known for her popular YouTube channel, Miss Stout's History Class, her @ MsStacyS page on Twitter, and for her creative, student-focused teaching methodologies.




Sister Kate


Book Description

Kate O'Hanlon spent sixteen years as sister in charge of A & E at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast during the most violent period of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. She helped treat the victims of bombings, shootings and punishment attacks such as the Malvern Street shootings of 1966, the loyalist bomb attack on McGurk's Bar, the IRA bombing of the Abercorn Restaurant, the car-bombing in Donegall Street which saw 150 casualties arrive, and Bloody Friday. Gun battles occasionally spread into the grounds of the hospital, and Kate would find herself ordering police and soldiers out, while stopping crowds of people from forcing their way inside, afterwards sharing a brandy with her shaken colleagues. Through it all, she held her team together with warmth, compassion, humour, and an indomitable spirit - this is her story.