The Troubles in Crossmaglen

The Troubles in Crossmaglen recounts incidents during, and the effects of, The Troubles in Crossmaglen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

During the Troubles, at least 58 police officers and 124 soldiers were killed by the Provisional IRA in South Armagh, many in Crossmaglen itself. It was here that a team of snipers killed 12 members of the security forces in the 1990s.

Incidents in Crossmaglen during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities:

1970

• 11 August 1970 - Samuel Donaldson (23) and Robert Millar (26), both Protestant members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army booby trap bomb attached to an abandoned car, near Crossmaglen.

1972

• 16 July 1972 - James Lee (25) and Terence Graham (24), both members of the British Army, were killed in a Provisional Irish Republican Army land mine attack on their Armoured personnel carrier, near Crossmaglen.
• 18 September 1972 - Edmund Woolsey (32), Catholic civilian, was killed by a booby trap bomb attached to his stolen car which had been abandoned at Glassdrumman, near Crossmaglen. Two of his friends were injured. The car had been stolen a week earlier. The police informed Woolsey that the car had been found abandoned. The bomb exploded as they went to retrieve their vehicle. While not a member of the Official IRA, Woolsey socialised in similar circles and was known to double agent Kenneth Littlejohn. The Official IRA claimed that Woolsey had been lured to his death by the British Army who had set up the booby trap based on information supplied by Littlejohn.

1973

• 5 May 1973 - John Gibbons (21), Terence Williams (35) and William Vines (37), all members of the British Army, were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army booby trap bomb while on foot patrol near Crossmaglen.

1974

• 16 March 1974 - Roy Bedford (22) and Philip James (22), both members of the British Army, were shot and killed by Provisional Irish Republican Army snipers while on foot patrol at Moybane, near Crossmaglen.

• 13 August 1974 - Dennis Leach (24) and Michael Southern (19), both members of the British Army, were killed in a Provisional Irish Republican Army remote controlled bomb attack on their hilltop observation post at Drummuckavall, near Crossmaglen.

• 6 November 1974 - Stephen Windsor (26) and Brian Allen (20), both members of the British Army, were shot and killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army sniper while on foot patrol at Crossmaglen.

1975

• 22 November 1975 - James Duncan (19), Peter McDonald (19) and Michael Sampson (20), all members of the British Army, were shot and killed during a Provisional Irish Republican Army gun attack on their observation post at Drummuckavall, near Crossmaglen. For more information see: Drummuckavall Ambush.

1978

• 4 March 1978 - Nicholas Smith (20), 7 Platoon, B Company, 2 RGJ, Royal Green Jackets, British Army was killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army booby trap bomb while removing an Irish flag from a telegraph pole in Crossmaglen.

• 17 June 1978 - William Turbitt (42) and Hugh McConnell (32), both Protestant members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, were shot and killed by Provisional Irish Republican Army snipers while on mobile patrol near Crossmaglen. McConnell was killed at the scene, but Turbitt was kidnapped. The next day a Catholic priest (Hugh Murphy) was kidnapped in retaliation but later released after appeals from Protestant clergy. The body of Turbitt was found on 10 July 1978. In December 1978 three RUC officers were charged with kidnapping the priest and were also charged, along with two other officers, of killing a Catholic shopkeeper in Ahoghill on 19 April 1977.

• 21 December 1978 - Graham Duggan (22), Kevin Johnson (20) and Glen Ling (18), all members of the British Army, were shot and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army from a passing van while on foot patrol at Crossmaglen.

1983

• 13 July 1983 - Eamon McMahon (35) and Patrick Mackin (37), both Catholic civilians, were found shot and killed by the Irish National Liberation Army in Eamon McMahon's car, near Crossmaglen.

1986

• 22 May 1986 - Andrew French (35), a member of the British Army and David McBride (27), Protestant and William Smyth (25), Catholic, members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army remote controlled bomb, hidden in a ditch, which was detonated when their joint foot patrol passed near Crossmaglen.

• 9 July 1986 - Carl Davies (24) and Robert Bertram (20), both members of the British Army, were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army remote controlled bomb hidden in a car and trailer which was detonated when their foot patrol passed near Crossmaglen.

1992

• 28 August 1992 - Paul Turner (18), member of the British Army, killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army sniper while on foot patrol at The Square, Crossmaglen.

1993

• 25 February 1993 - Jonathan Reid (30), member of the RUC, killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army sniper at Castleblayney Road, Crossmaglen, while on joint foot patrol with the British Army..

• 17 July 1993 - Kevin Pullin (28), member of the British Army, killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army sniper while on foot patrol at Carran Road, Crossmaglen.

• 30 December 1993 - Daniel Blinco (23), member of the British Army, killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army sniper while on foot patrol outside Murtagh's Bar, Crossmaglen.

See also

• Provisional IRA South Armagh Brigade
• South Armagh Sniper (1990–1997)