Kingsmill massacre

In the Kingsmill massacre on January 5, 1976, ten Protestant men were killed in South Armagh, Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force".

Related Topics:
January 5 - 1976 - Protestant - Armagh - Ireland - Provisional Irish Republican Army

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The victims were textile workers returning home to Bessbrook in a Ford Transit mini-bus along the Whitecross to Bessbrook road. Shortly after passing through Whitecross, at around 17:40, the vehicle was stopped by a group of about twelve armed men waiting on the road. The van occupants were ordered out and the single Catholic identified and ordered away to walk away. The remaining men were shot, with over one hundred rounds expended in less than a minute. Ten men died at the scene, and one survived despite having eighteen wounds.

Related Topics:
Bessbrook - Whitecross - Catholic

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The Kingsmill deaths were a brutal response to the many Ulster Volunteer Force murders of Catholics in the area, with three in Whitecross and three in Ballydougan the previous day. They were given the go-ahead by local IRA commander Brian Keenan, who almost faced a court-martial for the sectarian nature of the attack. Keenan's defence was that killing the men would dissuade loyalists from attacking local Catholics, and UVF attacks on Catholics in Armagh became less frequent after Kingsmills. Keenan went on to serve on the IRA Army Council.

Related Topics:
Ulster Volunteer Force - Ballydougan - IRA - Brian Keenan - Sectarian - Loyalist - IRA Army Council

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On January 7 the British government officially announced the transfer of a Special Air Service unit into South Armagh, although some were already in the area.

Related Topics:
British government - Special Air Service

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No one has every been charged in relation to the deaths. In 1999, Reverend Ian Paisley used parliamentary privilege in the British House of Commons to name those he believed responsible - apparently quoting from a "police dossier".

Related Topics:
Ian Paisley - Parliamentary privilege - British House of Commons - Police

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In 1923, in a similar sectarian attack at nearby Altnaveigh, the IRA under Frank Aiken killed six Protestants (one a woman), as well as a B-Special. Aiken ordered the attack for the same reasons as Keenan did half a century later.

Related Topics:
Altnaveigh - Frank Aiken - B-Special

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