Connie Green was a member of the dissident Irish republican paramilitary group Saor Uladh

Saor Uladh

Saor Uladh - was a short-lived paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland in the 1950s.Seen as a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army, it was formed in County Tyrone by Liam Kelly and Phil O'Donnell in 1953...

. He was shot while carrying out a raid on an 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) barracks at Rosslea

Rosslea

Rosslea or Roslea is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, near the border with County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. It stands on the River Finn and is beset by small natural lakes. Roslea Forest is nearby...

 in County Fermanagh

County Fermanagh

Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....

, 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...

.

Green was originally from Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Northern Ireland, and had been a commando

Commando

In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...

 in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. After returning home to Northern Ireland he became involved with Irish republicanism and joined a small splinter group, Saor Uladh, founded by Liam Kelly

Liam Kelly (Irish republican)

Liam Kelly was an Irish republican, who was elected both to House of Commons of Northern Ireland and as a member of Seanad Éireann...

 and Phil O'Donnell

Phil O'Donnell (Irish republican)

Phil O'Donnell , was a volunteer in the 2nd Battalion, Derry Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and a founding member of Saor Uladh from the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland.-Background:...

. Kelly had been court-martial

Court-martial

A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...

ed from the Irish Republican Army

Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)

The original Irish Republican Army fought a guerrilla war against British rule in Ireland in the Irish War of Independence 1919–1921. Following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty on 6 December 1921, the IRA in the 26 counties that were to become the Irish Free State split between supporters and...

 in 1951 for insubordination and then went on to form the new paramilitary group. Saor Uladh was most active in Kelly's home ground of East 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...

. The group targeted Customs posts and security force installations, their principal objective being the removal of the border and the reunification of Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

On the morning of 25 November, 1955, Green was the lieutenant who led the raid at Rosslea, blowing up part of the building and storming the ground floor rooms, opening fire as they entered. In the exchange that followed, Green was shot and seriously injured. He was ferried away from Rosslea across the border to a, farmhouse near Tydavnet in north County Monaghan

County Monaghan

County Monaghan is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Border Region and is also located in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Monaghan. Monaghan County Council is the local authority for the county...

, Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. He died the following morning from his injuries and was buried in a nearby cemetery.

External links

• Hundreds gather to remember Connie. Article from December 2005 marking the 50th anniversary of Green's death