Pádraig McKearney
Encyclopedia
Pádraig Oliver McKearney (December 1954 – May 1987) was a Marxist
-oriented Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) volunteer
. He was killed in a Special Air Service
(SAS) ambush with seven other IRA men at Loughgall
, County Armagh
in May 1987.
, in a staunchly Irish republican family. Both his grandfathers had fought in the Irish Republican Army
in the Irish War of Independence
, his maternal grandfather in the south County Roscommon
, and his paternal grandfather in east Tyrone.
Pádraig McKearney was educated at local primary schools in Collegeland and Moy, and went on to St Patrick's Academy in Dungannon
. However, his education was interrupted by the outbreak of the conflict known as The Troubles
. He joined the Provisional IRA and left school after he was first arrested in 1972 on charges of blowing up the post office in Moy. He spent six weeks on remand, but was released due to insufficient evidence being assembled.
In December 1973, he was arrested again and later sentenced to seven years for possession of a rifle. He was imprisoned in Long Kesh and later in Magilligan prison
. During this period of incarceration his younger brother Seán, also an IRA volunteer, was killed on active service on 13 May 1974. Pádraig was released in 1977 but was sentenced to 14 years in August 1980 after being caught by the SAS with a loaded sten gun along with fellow IRA man Gerard O'Callaghan. That same year Pádraig's older brother Tommy
, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, nearly died on hunger strike
after refusing food for 53 days.
On 25 September 1983 McKearney took part in the Maze Prison escape
along with 37 other prisoners. At the beginning of 1984 he returned on active service in his native east Tyrone with the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
. He advocated the commencement of the "third phase" of the armed struggle, the 'strategic defensive', in which the Royal Ulster Constabulary
, Ulster Defence Regiment
and British Army
would be denied all support in selected areas following repeated attacks on their bases. His views were very close to those of Jim Lynagh
, an IRA commander from County Monaghan
, who devised a Maoist
guerrilla strategy adapted to Irish conditions with the intent of creating liberated zones.
In 1985 Patrick Kelly
became commander of the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade
and it was under his leadership that this strategy started becoming reality. Secluded Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) bases were attacked and destroyed and building contractors who tried to repair them were targeted and sometimes killed. Prime examples of this policy were the destructions of Ballygawley
RUC barracks in December 1985 and The Birches
RUC barracks in August 1986. Padraig McKearney was a key architect in many of these attacks and he soon became one of the most experienced guerrilla fighters in the IRA.
McKearney was killed in an ambush by the SAS on 8 May 1987 during an attack on Loughgall RUC barracks which also claimed the lives of seven of his comrades: Jim Lynagh, Patrick Kelly, Declan Arthurs, Seamus Donnelly, Tony Gormley, Eugene Kelly, and Gerry O'Callaghan. He was buried in his hometown of Moy, 13 years to the day after his brother Sean died on IRA active service.
and Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997)
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
-oriented 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) volunteer
Volunteer (Irish republican)
Volunteer, often abbreviated Vol., is a term used by a number of Irish republican paramilitary organisations to describe their members. Among these have been the various forms of the Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army...
. He was killed in a Special Air Service
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...
(SAS) ambush with seven other IRA men at Loughgall
Loughgall
Loughgall is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 285 people.Loughgall was named after a small nearby loch. The village is at the heart of the apple-growing industry and is surrounded by orchards. Along the village's main street...
, 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...
in May 1987.
Background
McKearney was raised in Moy, County TyroneMoy, County Tyrone
Moy or The Moy is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The 2001 Census recorded a population of 1,218.It is about southeast of Dungannon and is beside the smaller village of Charlemont. Charlemont is on the east bank of the River Blackwater and Moy on the west; the two are...
, in a staunchly Irish republican family. Both his grandfathers had fought in the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
in the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
, his maternal grandfather in the south County Roscommon
County Roscommon
County Roscommon is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the town of Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county...
, and his paternal grandfather in east Tyrone.
Pádraig McKearney was educated at local primary schools in Collegeland and Moy, and went on to St Patrick's Academy 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...
. However, his education was interrupted by the outbreak of the conflict known as 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...
. He joined the Provisional IRA and left school after he was first arrested in 1972 on charges of blowing up the post office in Moy. He spent six weeks on remand, but was released due to insufficient evidence being assembled.
In December 1973, he was arrested again and later sentenced to seven years for possession of a rifle. He was imprisoned in Long Kesh and later in Magilligan prison
Magilligan (HM Prison)
Magilligan Prison is a prison run by the Northern Ireland Prison Service situated near Limavady, County Londonderry. It was first opened in May 1972 and comprised eight Nissen huts on the site of an army camp...
. During this period of incarceration his younger brother Seán, also an IRA volunteer, was killed on active service on 13 May 1974. Pádraig was released in 1977 but was sentenced to 14 years in August 1980 after being caught by the SAS with a loaded sten gun along with fellow IRA man Gerard O'Callaghan. That same year Pádraig's older brother Tommy
Tommy McKearney
Tommy McKearney is an Irish republican, socialist, and former hunger striker and volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.-Background:McKearney was born into a family with a long republican tradition...
, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, nearly died on hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
after refusing food for 53 days.
On 25 September 1983 McKearney took part in the Maze Prison escape
Maze Prison escape
The Maze Prison escape took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe, and held prisoners convicted of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles...
along with 37 other prisoners. At the beginning of 1984 he returned on active service in his native east Tyrone with the Provisional IRA 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"...
. He advocated the commencement of the "third phase" of the armed struggle, the 'strategic defensive', in which 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...
, 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...
and 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...
would be denied all support in selected areas following repeated attacks on their bases. His views were very close to those of Jim Lynagh
Jim Lynagh
Jim Lynagh from Monaghan Town, County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland, was a volunteer in the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army .-Background:...
, an IRA commander from 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...
, who devised a Maoist
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...
guerrilla strategy adapted to Irish conditions with the intent of creating liberated zones.
In 1985 Patrick Kelly
Patrick Joseph Kelly
Patrick Joseph Kelly born Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was the head of the Tyrone Brigade and the Commander of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the mid 1980s until his death in a Special Air Service ambush at Loughgall, County Armagh in May...
became commander of the Provisional IRA 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 it was under his leadership that this strategy started becoming reality. Secluded Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) bases were attacked and destroyed and building contractors who tried to repair them were targeted and sometimes killed. Prime examples of this policy were the destructions of Ballygawley
Attack on Ballygawley barracks
The attack on Ballygawley RUC barracks was an attack carried out on 7 December 1985 by a Provisional Irish Republican Army group against a Royal Ulster Constabulary barracks at Ballygawley, County Tyrone...
RUC barracks in December 1985 and The Birches
The Birches, County Armagh
The Birches is a small village in northern County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is 6 miles northwest of Portadown, close to junction 12 on the M1 Motorway and to the southern shore of Lough Neagh. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 150...
RUC barracks in August 1986. Padraig McKearney was a key architect in many of these attacks and he soon became one of the most experienced guerrilla fighters in the IRA.
McKearney was killed in an ambush by the SAS on 8 May 1987 during an attack on Loughgall RUC barracks which also claimed the lives of seven of his comrades: Jim Lynagh, Patrick Kelly, Declan Arthurs, Seamus Donnelly, Tony Gormley, Eugene Kelly, and Gerry O'Callaghan. He was buried in his hometown of Moy, 13 years to the day after his brother Sean died on IRA active service.
Footnote
The "Third Phase" in Provisional IRA thinking represented an escalation of the conflict in Northern Ireland with eventual aim of using conventional warfare by taking and holding "liberated zones" along the border. Due to a number of factors, including the loss of experienced activists at Loughgall and the interception of 150 tonnes of Libyan weaponry aboard the Eksund ship, this strategy was never carried out. (See also: Provisional IRA arms importationProvisional IRA arms importation
The Provisional Irish Republican Army began importing large quantities of weapons and ammunition into the Republic of Ireland for use in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s...
and Provisional IRA campaign 1969-1997)
Sources
- Ed Moloney, Secret History of the IRA
- Derek Dunne, Out of the Maze
- Peter Taylor, Provos The IRA and Sinn Féin