1991 Cappagh killings
Encyclopedia
The 1991 Cappagh killings was a gun attack by the loyalist
Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF) on 3 March 1991 in the village of Cappagh
, County Tyrone
, Northern Ireland
. A unit of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade
drove to the staunchly republican
village and shot dead three Provisional IRA
volunteers and a Catholic civilian at Boyle's Bar.
Although nobody was ever charged in connection with the killings, it was widely believed by nationalists
and much of the press that the attack had been planned and led by Billy Wright
, the charismatic leader of the Mid-Ulster Brigade's Portadown
unit. The shootings, which were boldly carried out by the UVF in a seemingly impenetrable IRA stronghold, had a devastating effect on the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade
and shattered their morale. Wright himself took credit for this and boasted to the Guardian newspaper, "I would look back and say Cappagh was probably our best".
There were allegations of collusion between the UVF and the Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR) in the shootings.
's Mid-Ulster Brigade
brazenly drove into the heartland of the East Tyrone IRA
, intent on wiping out an entire IRA unit that was based in the County Tyrone village of Cappagh. The UVF men waited outside Boyle's Bar, whilst a second team waited on the outskirts of the town. At 10.30 p.m. when a car pulled-up in the carpark outside the bar, and the three occupants got out, the gunmen opened fire, killing Provisional IRA
volunteers John Quinn (23), Dwayne O'Donnell (17) and Malcolm Nugent (20). The victims and car were riddled with bullets. Thomas G. Mitchell stated in his book, Native vs. Settler: ethnic conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa, that the dead men were part of an IRA Active Service Unit
(ASU). The gunmen then entered the pub and shot dead Catholic civilian Thomas Armstrong (50). A 21-year-old man was badly wounded. Their intended target, ASU commander Brian Arthurs, escaped with his life by crouching behind the bar during the shooting. According to the Conflict Archive on the Internet
(CAIN), the three IRA volunteers had only chosen to go to the pub "on the spur of the moment", thus they were unlikely to have been the UVF's original target.
Although an emergency 999 call was immediately made, no roadblocks were set up by the security forces, who had a strong presence in the staunch republican area and could have waylaid the getaway car. The UVF gunmen were therefore able to make their escape unhindered through the twisting country roads, taking them about 15 minutes to reach the Belfast/Dungannon dual carriageway
.
After the attack, the UVF issued a statement: "This was not a sectarian attack on the Catholic community, but was an operation directed at the very roots of the Provisional I.R.A. command structure in the Armagh–Tyrone area". The statement concluded with the promise that "if the Provisional IRA were to cease its campaign of terror, the Ulster Volunteer Force would no longer deem it necessary to continue with their military operations". Privately the UVF were hugely pleased with the attack in a republican heartland and a senior figure within the Mid-Ulster Brigade told Jim Cusack and Henry McDonald
the killings were "one of the best things we did militarily in thirty years. We proved we could take the war to the Provos in one of their strongest areas".
, the charismatic leader of the UVF Mid-Ulster's Portadown unit. According to investigative journalist Paul Larkin in his book A Very British Jihad: collusion, conspiracy and cover-up in Northern Ireland, a UVF volunteer who had participated in the Cappagh attack alleged that the other gunmen were forced to drag Wright into the car as he had become so frenzied once he had started shooting that he didn't want to stop. Indeed, Wright was arrested by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) after the killings. During interrogation he told police he had been in Dungannon
the evening of the attack. The RUC confirmed his alibi and he was released. Journalist Peter Taylor, on the other hand, said that he had been told by reliable UVF sources that Wright had not been involved at Cappagh. Whatever the truth of his involvement it was the Cappagh killings that propelled the still shadowy figure of "King Rat" into the popular media and his nickname soon became a by-word for UVF violence as a result of the attack.
The attack shattered the morale of the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade as it happened in a village which was a seemingly impenetrable IRA stronghold. Paul Larkin described the killings as a "huge coup for the UVF in Mid-Ulster". Thomas Mitchell suggested that it was the "most effective attack ever mounted by the loyalists against a republican target". Wright considered Cappagh to have been a successful UVF operation and took personal credit for the debilitating effect the shootings had on the East Tyrone IRA. He discussed this in the Guardian newspaper:
The shootings took place in an area that is strongly republican with a notable IRA tradition and presence; accordingly, the locals were suspicious of strangers or unusual activity. Moreover, the lack of roadblocks following the emergency call which had allowed the gunmen to flee in the getaway car through winding country backroads that were difficult to access and exit if one was not familiar with them led journalists Paul Larkin and Peter Taylor to allege that the UVF unit probably received help from the security forces. Taylor suggested that the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was the authority in the best position to have known the exact movements of the IRA volunteers and to have passed-on the relevant information to the UVF hit squad. Police said that a rifle-muzzle cover like those used by British soldiers was found at the scene and was under forensic examination.
Wright shortly afterwards assumed command of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, taking over from Robin "The Jackal" Jackson
, who had led the brigade since 1975. Wright formed form the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF) in 1996, after he and his Portadown unit were stood-down by the UVF Brigade Staff for breaking the group's ceasefire. He was shot dead in the Maze Prison on 27 December 1997 by three inmates, all of whom were members of the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA).
activist and self-described member of the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
who gave McPhilemy information about the activities of this alleged terrorist co-ordinating body, three car loads of UVF members, including Wright, had travelled to Cappagh on the day of the shooting but had been directed there by a fourth car containing members of the RUC close to the Committee. As a result of this escort the cars were able to pass through two police checkpoints, one outside Pomeroy
and the other outside Dungannon
. Sands added that the attack had been planned hastily based on intelligence that a meeting of the PIRA's East Tyrone Brigade was taking place at the bar. Members of the RUC's "Inner Force", as Sands named those he claimed to be in league with the Committee, had met with Wright in Dungannon and quickly drew up plans for the attack. Sands would later claim that ten UVF members had been involved in the attack and that this had constituted the entirety of the "Rat Pack" as Wright's hit team was known. He also added that Mid-Ulster Brigade commander Robin Jackson had been angry that the Rat Pack had not forced their way fully into the bar and killed all the patrons but according to Sands this was the hallmark of an Inner Force hit as they employed a quick in and quick out approach to avoid complications and minimise the possibility of witnesses.
In a subsequent interview carried out by journalist John Coulter on an anonymous figure who claimed to have been a member of the RUC Inner Force, the Committee member claimed that the main target of the raid on the bar had in fact not been killed in the attack. He did not, however reveal who this target had been.
In the months following the 1991 shootings, two former UDR soldiers were killed by the IRA near Cappagh. One of them was shot dead while driving along Altmore
Road on 5 August 1991. The other former soldier was blown up by an IRA bomb planted inside his car at Kildress
on 25 April 1993; it was claimed that he had loyalist connections. The 1993 bombing led to allegations that the IRA was killing Protestant land-owners in Tyrone and Fermanagh in an orchestrated campaign to drive Protestants out of the region. There were at least five botched IRA attempts against the life of Billy Wright before the INLA succedeed in taking him out in 1997.
Ulster loyalism
Ulster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF) on 3 March 1991 in the village of Cappagh
Cappagh
Cappagh is a small village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is between Pomeroy, Ballygawley, Galbally and Carrickmore, with the hamlet of Galbally about one mile to the east...
, County Tyrone
County Tyrone
Historically Tyrone stretched as far north as Lough Foyle, and comprised part of modern day County Londonderry east of the River Foyle. The majority of County Londonderry was carved out of Tyrone between 1610-1620 when that land went to the Guilds of London to set up profit making schemes based on...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. A unit of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
drove to the staunchly republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
village and shot dead three Provisional IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
volunteers and a Catholic civilian at Boyle's Bar.
Although nobody was ever charged in connection with the killings, it was widely believed by nationalists
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and much of the press that the attack had been planned and led by Billy Wright
Billy Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
, the charismatic leader of the Mid-Ulster Brigade's Portadown
Portadown
Portadown is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about 23 miles south-west of Belfast...
unit. The shootings, which were boldly carried out by the UVF in a seemingly impenetrable IRA stronghold, had a devastating effect on the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army , also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles"...
and shattered their morale. Wright himself took credit for this and boasted to the Guardian newspaper, "I would look back and say Cappagh was probably our best".
There were allegations of collusion between the UVF and the Ulster Defence Regiment
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
(UDR) in the shootings.
The shootings
On the evening of Sunday 3 March 1991, a unit of the Ulster Volunteer ForceUlster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
's Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
brazenly drove into the heartland of the East Tyrone IRA
Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
The East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army , also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles"...
, intent on wiping out an entire IRA unit that was based in the County Tyrone village of Cappagh. The UVF men waited outside Boyle's Bar, whilst a second team waited on the outskirts of the town. At 10.30 p.m. when a car pulled-up in the carpark outside the bar, and the three occupants got out, the gunmen opened fire, killing Provisional IRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
volunteers John Quinn (23), Dwayne O'Donnell (17) and Malcolm Nugent (20). The victims and car were riddled with bullets. Thomas G. Mitchell stated in his book, Native vs. Settler: ethnic conflict in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa, that the dead men were part of an IRA Active Service Unit
Active Service Unit
An active service unit was a Provisional Irish Republican Army cell of five to eight members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002 the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units....
(ASU). The gunmen then entered the pub and shot dead Catholic civilian Thomas Armstrong (50). A 21-year-old man was badly wounded. Their intended target, ASU commander Brian Arthurs, escaped with his life by crouching behind the bar during the shooting. According to the Conflict Archive on the Internet
Conflict Archive on the Internet
CAIN is a database containing information about Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the Present. The project began in 1996, with the website launching in 1997. The project is based within the University of Ulster at its Magee campus...
(CAIN), the three IRA volunteers had only chosen to go to the pub "on the spur of the moment", thus they were unlikely to have been the UVF's original target.
Although an emergency 999 call was immediately made, no roadblocks were set up by the security forces, who had a strong presence in the staunch republican area and could have waylaid the getaway car. The UVF gunmen were therefore able to make their escape unhindered through the twisting country roads, taking them about 15 minutes to reach the Belfast/Dungannon dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
.
After the attack, the UVF issued a statement: "This was not a sectarian attack on the Catholic community, but was an operation directed at the very roots of the Provisional I.R.A. command structure in the Armagh–Tyrone area". The statement concluded with the promise that "if the Provisional IRA were to cease its campaign of terror, the Ulster Volunteer Force would no longer deem it necessary to continue with their military operations". Privately the UVF were hugely pleased with the attack in a republican heartland and a senior figure within the Mid-Ulster Brigade told Jim Cusack and Henry McDonald
Henry McDonald (writer)
Henry McDonald is a writer and is the Irish editor for The Observer, the sister paper of The Guardian.McDonald has written extensively about The Troubles, its precedents, its consequences, its demographics, and such. He was born in the nationalist Markets area of Belfast and attended St. Malachy's...
the killings were "one of the best things we did militarily in thirty years. We proved we could take the war to the Provos in one of their strongest areas".
Allegations
It was widely believed by nationalists and much of the media that the man who led the attack was Billy WrightBilly Wright (loyalist)
William Stephen "Billy" Wright was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the period of violent religious/political conflict known as "The Troubles". He joined the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1975 and became commander of its Mid-Ulster Brigade in the early 1990s...
, the charismatic leader of the UVF Mid-Ulster's Portadown unit. According to investigative journalist Paul Larkin in his book A Very British Jihad: collusion, conspiracy and cover-up in Northern Ireland, a UVF volunteer who had participated in the Cappagh attack alleged that the other gunmen were forced to drag Wright into the car as he had become so frenzied once he had started shooting that he didn't want to stop. Indeed, Wright was arrested by the Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) after the killings. During interrogation he told police he had been in Dungannon
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
the evening of the attack. The RUC confirmed his alibi and he was released. Journalist Peter Taylor, on the other hand, said that he had been told by reliable UVF sources that Wright had not been involved at Cappagh. Whatever the truth of his involvement it was the Cappagh killings that propelled the still shadowy figure of "King Rat" into the popular media and his nickname soon became a by-word for UVF violence as a result of the attack.
The attack shattered the morale of the IRA's East Tyrone Brigade as it happened in a village which was a seemingly impenetrable IRA stronghold. Paul Larkin described the killings as a "huge coup for the UVF in Mid-Ulster". Thomas Mitchell suggested that it was the "most effective attack ever mounted by the loyalists against a republican target". Wright considered Cappagh to have been a successful UVF operation and took personal credit for the debilitating effect the shootings had on the East Tyrone IRA. He discussed this in the Guardian newspaper:
"I genuinely believe that we were very successful, and that may sound morbid but they know that we hammered them into the ground and we didn't lose one volunteer. Indeed, members of the security forces had said that we done what they couldn't do, we put the East Tyrone brigade of the IRA on the run. It was the East Tyrone brigade which was carrying on the war in the North, including in Belfast. East Tyrone were decimated, the UVF wiped them out and that's not an idle boast".When asked about the military importance of specific UVF operations, Wright replied, "I would look back and say that Cappagh was probably our best".
The shootings took place in an area that is strongly republican with a notable IRA tradition and presence; accordingly, the locals were suspicious of strangers or unusual activity. Moreover, the lack of roadblocks following the emergency call which had allowed the gunmen to flee in the getaway car through winding country backroads that were difficult to access and exit if one was not familiar with them led journalists Paul Larkin and Peter Taylor to allege that the UVF unit probably received help from the security forces. Taylor suggested that the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was the authority in the best position to have known the exact movements of the IRA volunteers and to have passed-on the relevant information to the UVF hit squad. Police said that a rifle-muzzle cover like those used by British soldiers was found at the scene and was under forensic examination.
Wright shortly afterwards assumed command of the Mid-Ulster Brigade, taking over from Robin "The Jackal" Jackson
Robin Jackson
Robert John "Robin" Jackson, known as the Jackal was a Northern Irish loyalist who held the rank of brigadier in the Ulster Volunteer Force during the period of violent religious and political conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.From his home in the small village of Donaghcloney,...
, who had led the brigade since 1975. Wright formed form the breakaway Loyalist Volunteer Force
Loyalist Volunteer Force
The Loyalist Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed by Billy Wright in 1996 when he and the Portadown unit of the Ulster Volunteer Force's Mid-Ulster Brigade was stood down by the UVF leadership. He had been the commander of the Mid-Ulster Brigade. The...
(LVF) in 1996, after he and his Portadown unit were stood-down by the UVF Brigade Staff for breaking the group's ceasefire. He was shot dead in the Maze Prison on 27 December 1997 by three inmates, all of whom were members of the Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
(INLA).
The Committee
Further allegations about the nature of the killing and the involvement of collusion were made in Sean McPhilemy's controversial book The Committee. According to Jim Sands, an Ulster Independence MovementUlster Independence Movement
The Ulster Independence Movement was an Ulster nationalist political party founded on 17 November 1988. The group emerged from the Ulster Clubs, after a series of 15 public meetings across Northern Ireland...
activist and self-described member of the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
The Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee was set up in 1974 in the aftermath of the Ulster Workers Council Strike, in order to facilitate meetings and policy co-ordination between the Ulster Workers Council, the loyalist paramilitaries and the political representatives of...
who gave McPhilemy information about the activities of this alleged terrorist co-ordinating body, three car loads of UVF members, including Wright, had travelled to Cappagh on the day of the shooting but had been directed there by a fourth car containing members of the RUC close to the Committee. As a result of this escort the cars were able to pass through two police checkpoints, one outside Pomeroy
Pomeroy
- Places :* Pomeroy, County Tyrone, a village in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland* Pomeroy , a townland in the parish of Desertcreat, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland* Pomeroy, Derbyshire, England* Pomeroy, Iowa, USA* Pomeroy, Ohio, USA...
and the other outside Dungannon
Dungannon
Dungannon is a medium-sized town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the third-largest town in the county and a population of 11,139 people was recorded in the 2001 Census. In August 2006, Dungannon won Ulster In Bloom's Best Kept Town Award for the fifth time...
. Sands added that the attack had been planned hastily based on intelligence that a meeting of the PIRA's East Tyrone Brigade was taking place at the bar. Members of the RUC's "Inner Force", as Sands named those he claimed to be in league with the Committee, had met with Wright in Dungannon and quickly drew up plans for the attack. Sands would later claim that ten UVF members had been involved in the attack and that this had constituted the entirety of the "Rat Pack" as Wright's hit team was known. He also added that Mid-Ulster Brigade commander Robin Jackson had been angry that the Rat Pack had not forced their way fully into the bar and killed all the patrons but according to Sands this was the hallmark of an Inner Force hit as they employed a quick in and quick out approach to avoid complications and minimise the possibility of witnesses.
In a subsequent interview carried out by journalist John Coulter on an anonymous figure who claimed to have been a member of the RUC Inner Force, the Committee member claimed that the main target of the raid on the bar had in fact not been killed in the attack. He did not, however reveal who this target had been.
Provisional IRA retaliation
The Provisional IRA initially didn't acknowledge that three of the victims were within its ranks, apparently with the aim of gathering sympathies from the outside world towards the nationalist community.In the months following the 1991 shootings, two former UDR soldiers were killed by the IRA near Cappagh. One of them was shot dead while driving along Altmore
Altmore
Altmore is a hamlet and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is five miles from Carrickmore and four miles from Pomeroy. Most of the community consists of farmers who make their livelihood in cattle and pig farming...
Road on 5 August 1991. The other former soldier was blown up by an IRA bomb planted inside his car at Kildress
Kildress
Kildress is a village on the outskirts of Cookstown in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is home to a Gaelic Athletics club of the same name, as well as being located close to Drum Manor Forest Park and Wellbrook Beetling Mill....
on 25 April 1993; it was claimed that he had loyalist connections. The 1993 bombing led to allegations that the IRA was killing Protestant land-owners in Tyrone and Fermanagh in an orchestrated campaign to drive Protestants out of the region. There were at least five botched IRA attempts against the life of Billy Wright before the INLA succedeed in taking him out in 1997.
See also
- Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actionsTimeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actionsThis is a timeline of actions by the Ulster Volunteer Force , a loyalist paramilitary group formed in 1966. It includes actions carried out by the Red Hand Commando , a group integrated into the UVF shortly after their formation in 1972. It also includes attacks claimed by the Protestant Action...