Remembering Loughgall: May 8th, 1987
Remembering the East Tyrone Brigade and Loughgall: May 8th, 1987 There are many themes that come to mind when thinking about the East Tyrone men and Loughgall: the A.S.U.’s relentless barracks campaign, “liberated zones”, “the third phase”, taking the war up a notch, “defenderism”, “continuity”, “martyrdom” “shoot-to-kill”, the British government’s denial of “war”, etc. There are also more controversial issues, such as the targeting of construction firm owners and workers, and the killing of the Stronges at Tynan Abbey. I think though that Loughgall, and republican Tyrone in general, have kept the spirit of Irish resistance alive in the hearts and minds of many, just as the Battle of Kinsale, Vinegar Hill, the Manchester Martyrs, the Fenians, Easter 1916, and so many countless examples of Irish men and women sacrificing their lives for their nation’s freedom. As long as the Irish people remember men like Lynagh, McKearney, Kelly, and the Loughgall martyrs, the cause of Irish freedom is secure. A few interesting quotes I found: “Joseph was twenty when he joined the IRA, leaving his course at Sligo Regional College to take up arms for Ireland. In his obituary in Republican News readers were told that Joseph decided he wanted to join when he was seventeen after attending the republican funeral of another IRA Volunteer- Jim Lynagh- killed by the SAS in an ambush at Loughgall in County Armagh in 1987.” – Kevin Toolis, Rebel Hearts, 351 “They were working on the basis that a radical departure had to be made. The idea was either total war or no war at all, to force the British out of their bases and to make the place ungovernable. They said that either the IRA should take it to that level or finish with the war…They believed the ‘Green Book’…was shit, that it was based upon the false idea that the IRA would be able to operate from its home base and at the same time be able to resist interrogation at Castlereagh”.- Ed Moloney interviews associate of Lynagh and McKearney, A Secret History of the IRA, 312 “Once again, the ‘funeral factor’ was back at work for the I.R.A., reversing another S.A.S. inflicted defeat”- Tim Pat Coogan, The IRA: A History, 439 “I naively asked Margaret whether Loughgall was his first major operation after his escape, having failed at the time to have worked out the chronology clearly in my mind. She laughed. 'It was more like his hundred and first! He was extremely active. He would 'go inside' and stay in for six and seven months at a time. The danger in the North is crossing the border. Once you're in you stay in. After I'd seen him that Christmas, he went back inside and never really left the North after that.'” – Journalist Derek Dunne interviews Margaret McKearney, sister of Padraig, PBS Frontline: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ira/readings/family.html Interesting facts: Pádráig McKearney’s maternal grandfather, Tom Murray, fought with the Roscommon IRA in the Black and Tan War. (Moloney, 306) Paddy Kelly’s father, Liam Kelly, was OC of the IRA in Tyrone before being expelled for unauthorized military action. He then led a group that sealed off the town of Pomeroy, Tyrone in 1953. He “…almost single-handedly forced the IRA leadership into launching its 1956 Border Campaign” (Moloney, 310) Kelly’s grandfather, William John Kelly, was a Fenian comrade of Tom Clarke. Declan Arthurs (21), Seamus Donnelly (19), Tony Gormley (25), Eugene Kelly (25), were all from the republican village of Galbally, home of the dead IRA hunger-striker, Martin Hurson (Moloney, 307). Multimedia: The Loughgall Martyrs 20th Anniversary Committee has produced some excellent videos on the Loughgall martyrs, below is the first part of Paddy Kelly’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-LGx4jfBW0 Loughgall Martyrs: Paddy Kelly (30) Jim Lynagh (31) Pádráig McKearney (32) Declan Arthurs (21) Seamus Donnelly (19) Tony Gormley (25) Eugene Kelly (25) Gerry O’Callaghan (29

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I just read "The Irish War" which detailed the intelligence behind that ambush. One of those who died was the informant. He was supposed to wear a red shirt but apparently the IRA O/C Lynaugh would never tell them exactly when an operation was or where they were going until the last minute so apparently he didn't have his red shirt with him. Talk about a tragedy upon a tragedy.

I don't think the informant was within the East Tyrone A.S.U. I think it was Freddie Scappaticci. That is what Ed Moloney seems to hint at. Scappaticci seems to be the informer involved with a long list of ambushes against the IRA, including Gibraltar in 88', and operations in Tyrone in the late 80s, early 90s. As Moloney points out, that was the danger of the "cell" system: one well-placed informer could do tremendous damage. The "red shirt" thing doesn't make sense to me, as they were all wearing boiler suits...wouldn't a red t-shirt be extremely obvious? In an operation such as that, why would an IRA operative be wearing a bright colored t-shirt anyway?

I've read and heard before about the allegation that one of the members of the unit was the informant. I find it unlikely that it would be the case. Particularly when the informant would likely have known that the volunteers would have been murdered on the job, and therefore he himself would have died too. It is also claimed that Declan Arthurs was closest to escaping from the trap. Seven of the volunteers wore blue boiler suits. I think Arthurs may have been wearing a white one. He is not the man alleged to have been the informant however.

I dont believe scap would have known about that operation.I think the informer could be the same person Marian Price was talking about in her article in sunday tribune. Some one who has been at the height of the movement for a long time."Maybe they still are"