Peter Cleary
Encyclopedia
Peter Joseph Cleary was a Northern Ireland republican
and a leading member of the 1st Battalion of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA)'s South Armagh Brigade. He held the rank of Staff Officer and served as the unit's treasurer. He was implicated by journalist and author Joe Tiernan in the killing of Ulster Defence Regiment
(UDR) corporal and alleged Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member Robert McConnell
. Ten days after the purported killing, Cleary himself was shot dead by the SAS
after being arrested at the home of his girlfriend outside Forkhill
. He was the first person in Northern Ireland to be killed by the SAS, following their full deployment to Northern Ireland in January 1976. According to the SAS, he was shot after attempting to take the rifle from the officer who was guarding him in a bid to escape.
, County Down
; although David McKittrick
's book Lost Lives states he had lived in Magee Terrace, Belleeks, Newtownhamilton
, County Armagh
. At some stage after The Troubles
broke out in 1968, Cleary joined the 1st Battalion of the South Armagh Brigade of the IRA. He served as the unit's treasurer and held the rank of Staff Officer. He made his living as a scrap-metal dealer.
Author and journalist Joe Tiernan claims that Cleary was part of the three-man IRA unit that ambushed and killed part-time UDR corporal Robert McConnell in the garden of his home at Tullyvallen, near Newtownhamilton. Cleary and his team hid in the bushes and when McConnell appeared, Cleary shot him twice in the head, killing him. McConnell had allegedly been a member of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade and part of the Glenanne gang
that carried out sectarian killings. In 1993 Yorkshire Television aired a programme, The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre, which implicated McConnell in the 1974 Dublin car bombings
. The narrator also claimed he was a British Military Intelligence agent with links to Captain Robert Nairac
. RUC
Special Patrol Group
officer John Weir confirmed this in his affidavit and named him as the perpetrator of a series of sectarian attacks. He also alleged that McConnell had been set up by Military Intelligence who passed on confidential information about McConnell to the IRA, through Nairac, in an attempt to infiltrate the organisation. The IRA upon receiving this information ordered the execution of McConnell.
then took the rifle from the officer who had shot him, and killed him with a final, third shot to "end his misery". Before returning the weapon to its owner, he wiped away his fingerprints. An inquest into the killing was held nine months later. A witness who had been inside the house from where Cleary was arrested testified that immediately after the soldiers had taken Cleary away he heard somebody crying over the ditch, then a single shot. Three of the SAS team attended the inquest, a statement was read on behalf of the officer (using the nom de Guerre "Soldier A") who first shot Cleary. The statement defended his actions by describing Cleary as "heavier and stronger" than him, as well as a "notorious killer"; "Soldier A" went on to say
An open verdict was returned by the inquest.
Author Mike Ryan claimed in his book Secret Operations of the SAS that Cleary had actually managed to escape and was shot by the pursuing soldiers who had ordered him to stop as he tried to make his way to the Republic of Ireland border. Cleary received three shots to the chest.
Peter Cleary was the first person killed by the SAS since they were deployed to Northern Ireland in full force in January 1976 by order of British Prime Minister Harold Wilson
in the wake of the Kingsmill massacre
; although there had been an SAS presence in the province prior to then, having had a proxy intelligence role through the 14th Intelligence Company, and their sub-unit 4 Field Survey Troop.
John Weir claimed in his affidavit that Robert Nairac's cover had been blown when he was recognised at the SAS shooting of Peter Cleary, the implication being that Nairac had been present when the incident took place.
On 17 April 1976 the Cork Examiner described Cleary's killing as "an act of utter folly".
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...
and a leading member of the 1st Battalion of the Provisional Irish Republican Army
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...
(IRA)'s South Armagh Brigade. He held the rank of Staff Officer and served as the unit's treasurer. He was implicated by journalist and author Joe Tiernan in the killing of 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) corporal and alleged Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) member Robert McConnell
Robert McConnell (loyalist)
Robert William McConnell , was a Northern Irish loyalist who allegedly carried out or was an accomplice to a number of sectarian attacks and killings, although he never faced any charges or convictions...
. Ten days after the purported killing, Cleary himself was shot dead by the SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
after being arrested at the home of his girlfriend outside Forkhill
Forkhill
Forkhill or Forkill is a small village in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is within the Ring of Gullion, near Slieve Fuad. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 366.- Name :...
. He was the first person in Northern Ireland to be killed by the SAS, following their full deployment to Northern Ireland in January 1976. According to the SAS, he was shot after attempting to take the rifle from the officer who was guarding him in a bid to escape.
Irish Republican Army
Cleary was born on 18 September 1950 in Northern Ireland, the second eldest of the 13 children of Hugh and Mary Cleary. He was brought up in the Roman Catholic religion, and according to author Tony Geraghty he was originally from NewryNewry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
; although David McKittrick
David McKittrick
David McKittrick is a Belfast-born journalist who has reported on Northern Ireland since 1971.-Professional career:McKittrick began his career as a reporter for the East Antrim Times. He joined the Irish Times in 1973 as a reporter in Belfast, becoming Northern editor in 1976 and London editor in...
's book Lost Lives states he had lived in Magee Terrace, Belleeks, Newtownhamilton
Newtownhamilton
Newtownhamilton is a small village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is within the townland of Tullyvallan and the barony of Upper Fews. It is part of the Newry and Mourne District Council area...
, County Armagh
County Armagh
-History:Ancient Armagh was the territory of the Ulaid before the fourth century AD. It was ruled by the Red Branch, whose capital was Emain Macha near Armagh. The site, and subsequently the city, were named after the goddess Macha...
. At some stage after The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
broke out in 1968, Cleary joined the 1st Battalion of the South Armagh Brigade of the IRA. He served as the unit's treasurer and held the rank of Staff Officer. He made his living as a scrap-metal dealer.
Author and journalist Joe Tiernan claims that Cleary was part of the three-man IRA unit that ambushed and killed part-time UDR corporal Robert McConnell in the garden of his home at Tullyvallen, near Newtownhamilton. Cleary and his team hid in the bushes and when McConnell appeared, Cleary shot him twice in the head, killing him. McConnell had allegedly been a member of the UVF's Mid-Ulster Brigade and part of the Glenanne gang
Glenanne gang
The Glenanne gang was a name given, since 2003, to a loose alliance of Northern Irish loyalist extremists who carried out sectarian killings and bomb attacks in the 1970s against the Irish Catholic and Irish nationalist community. Most of its attacks took place in the area of County Armagh and mid...
that carried out sectarian killings. In 1993 Yorkshire Television aired a programme, The Hidden Hand: The Forgotten Massacre, which implicated McConnell in the 1974 Dublin car bombings
Dublin and Monaghan Bombings
The Dublin and Monaghan bombings of 17 May 1974 were a series of car bombings in Dublin and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. The attacks killed 33 civilians and wounded almost 300 – the highest number of casualties in any single day during the conflict known as The Troubles.A loyalist...
. The narrator also claimed he was a British Military Intelligence agent with links to Captain Robert Nairac
Robert Nairac
Captain Robert Laurence Nairac GC was a British Army officer who was abducted from a pub in south County Armagh during an undercover operation and killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on his fourth tour of duty in Northern Ireland as a Military Intelligence Liaison Officer...
. RUC
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...
Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally-based mobile capability for combating serious public disorder and crime that could not be dealt with by local divisions....
officer John Weir confirmed this in his affidavit and named him as the perpetrator of a series of sectarian attacks. He also alleged that McConnell had been set up by Military Intelligence who passed on confidential information about McConnell to the IRA, through Nairac, in an attempt to infiltrate the organisation. The IRA upon receiving this information ordered the execution of McConnell.
Killing
Cleary was on the run, living in the Republic of Ireland; however on 15 April 1976 (ten days after the McConnell shooting), he returned secretly to Northern Ireland where he was promptly arrested at the home of his pregnant girlfriend outside Forkhill. He was seized by an SAS team who had been watching the house from observation positions as part of a week-long surveillance job and taken to a field to await transport by a military helicopter, as travelling by road was deemed too risky for British military personnel. On the previous 31 March at 9h30am a group of Scots soldiers and SAS men had raided the Cleary family home in Magee Terrace, Belleeks. In their account of Cleary's killing, the SAS claimed that while four of the men were holding lanterns guiding the aircraft to a landing in the dark, the young officer (who was allegedly on his maiden SAS operation) left to guard Cleary was forced to shoot him twice after the latter made an attempt to wrest the officer's rifle from him in a bid to escape. Cleary, although gravely wounded, was still alive, and an NCONon-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
then took the rifle from the officer who had shot him, and killed him with a final, third shot to "end his misery". Before returning the weapon to its owner, he wiped away his fingerprints. An inquest into the killing was held nine months later. A witness who had been inside the house from where Cleary was arrested testified that immediately after the soldiers had taken Cleary away he heard somebody crying over the ditch, then a single shot. Three of the SAS team attended the inquest, a statement was read on behalf of the officer (using the nom de Guerre "Soldier A") who first shot Cleary. The statement defended his actions by describing Cleary as "heavier and stronger" than him, as well as a "notorious killer"; "Soldier A" went on to say
An open verdict was returned by the inquest.
Author Mike Ryan claimed in his book Secret Operations of the SAS that Cleary had actually managed to escape and was shot by the pursuing soldiers who had ordered him to stop as he tried to make his way to the Republic of Ireland border. Cleary received three shots to the chest.
Peter Cleary was the first person killed by the SAS since they were deployed to Northern Ireland in full force in January 1976 by order of British Prime Minister Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
in the wake of the Kingsmill massacre
Kingsmill massacre
The Kingsmill massacre took place on 5 January 1976 near the village of Kingsmill in south County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Ten Protestant men were taken from a minibus and shot dead by a group calling itself the South Armagh Republican Action Force...
; although there had been an SAS presence in the province prior to then, having had a proxy intelligence role through the 14th Intelligence Company, and their sub-unit 4 Field Survey Troop.
John Weir claimed in his affidavit that Robert Nairac's cover had been blown when he was recognised at the SAS shooting of Peter Cleary, the implication being that Nairac had been present when the incident took place.
On 17 April 1976 the Cork Examiner described Cleary's killing as "an act of utter folly".