Stephen McKeag
Encyclopedia
Stephen McKeag known as Topgun or Top Gun, was a Northern Irish
loyalist who became one of the most notorious figures within the Ulster Defence Association
's (UDA) 'C' Company in the 1990s. Although most of his operations took place from the Shankill Road in Belfast
McKeag was actually a native of the lower Oldpark Road in the north of the city.
, McKeag's first group affiliation was with the white power skinhead gangs that existed on the Shankill and which were co-opted into the UDA's youth wing Ulster Young Militants
. McKeag however became a born-again Christian and married young to a woman named Alison. His interest in Christianity
would diminish as he became more involved in the UDA, whilst his marriage also broke up. Along with Adair and other younger figures, McKeag would help to fill the power vacuum left in the UDA by the deaths of John McMichael
and Jim Craig
and the departures of the likes of Andy Tyrie
and Tommy Lyttle
.
and Jim Cusack, the UDA gave an annual "Volunteer of the Year" award to the organisation's top hitman. The award, presented on the Shankill Road and usually consisting of a trophy in the form of a model gun and plaque made by loyalists prisoners, was dominated by McKeag from 1990 onwards and helped to ensure that he became known as "Top Gun" both to his UDA comrades and his republican
opponents. In all, the RUC
estimated that McKeag was responsible for at least 12 killings, although the figure was placed higher by a number of his former paramilitary associates.
One of McKeag's earliest attacks occurred on 11 March 1990 when he shot and killed Eamon Quinn outside his Kashmir Road home in the Clonard district of the Falls Road, beginning a long campaign of sectarian killings by the UDA. On 31 July he was behind a similar attack on the Springfield Road, where Catholic John Judge was killed after being shot five times by McKeag and his unit. This was followed on 16 October by the killing of Dermot McGuinness in Rosapena Street in north Belfast. Another victim was Seamus Sullivan, the son of former Belfast City Council
member Jim Sullivan of the Workers' Party
, killed on 4 September 1991 at the council depot on Springfield Avenue where he worked. Lawrence Murchan, a shopkeeper who was killed by McKeag and his unit on St James's Road on 28 September was the 2000th person to be killed during The Troubles
. This was followed on 14 November by an attack on the Devenish Arms in Finaghy
, resulting in the death of civil servant Aidan Wallace and the loss of an eye for an 8 year old boy.
Following his killing of Catholic shop worker Philomena Hanna at a chemists near the Springfield Road on 28 April 1992, eyewitnesses reported that as McKeag and his driver sped back to the Shankill via Lanark Way they shouted and sang his favourite song, 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road' from The Wizard of Oz
. Other UDA members later confirmed that the Yellow Brick Road was McKeag's nickname for Lanark Way, a street linking the Shankill and Springfield roads and favoured by loyalist hitmen as an escape route from republican west Belfast. An attack on 14 November 1992, launched by McKeag, under the orders of Johnny Adair, on a branch of Sean Graham's bookmakers on the Oldpark Road left three Catholics dead and a number of others, including some Protestants who also frequented the betting shop, injured.
As well as civilian Catholics, McKeag was also involved on attacks upon republicans
. On 1 May 1993 Alan Lundy, a former Provisional IRA
activist, was killed by McKeag in the Ardoyne area. McKeag struck again on 8 August 1993, killing Sean Lavery at the Antrim Road home of his father Bobby Lavery, a Sinn Féin
councillor who had been the target of the attack. However non-republicans continued to be targets and on 30 August he killed Marie Teresa Dowds de Mogollon in an attack on her home, although this murder was seen as extreme by UDA brigadiers outside C Company, resulting in it eventually being claimed as an accident when it was claimed under the UDA's Ulster Freedom Fighters cover name. This was followed on 7 September 1993 when McKeag and two other UDA members entered a hairdresser's shop on the upper Donegall Road
and shot the proprietor Sean Hughes dead. Although brought to trial he was not convicted after eyewitness testimony did not stand up to scrutiny. The following day shopkeeper Michael Edwards was killed at his Finaghy home by McKeag and his unit and on 15 October McKeag killed Paddy McMahon after calling for him to deliver a pizza to a derelict house. McKeag was held in prison soon after this attack for the Hughes trial and the mantle of top hitman in C Company temporarily passed to Gary "Smickers" Smyth.
Following the killing of Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF) leader Billy Wright
by the Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA) inside the Maze Prison in December 1997, Adair, who was a strong admirer of "King Rat", told McKeag that he had carte blanche to avenge the murder. McKeag did so on 28 December when he entered the Clifton Tavern in north Belfast and opened fire with an uzi, killing Edmund Trainor and injuring a number of others. On 23 January 1998 he was also involved in the killing of Liam Conway on north Belfast's Hesketh Road although McKeag was brought before the Inner Council of the UDA for this attack as the movement had declared a ceasefire a few hours earlier. McKeag claimed that the attack was in response to the continuing activity of the INLA, and his fearsome reputation meant that the Inner Council would not reprimand him, even though the murder resulted in the Ulster Democratic Party
being excluded from all-party talks. By this time McKeag was effectively in command of C Company whilst Adair was in prison.
-based girlfriend broke her waters in his car, forcing him to pull into a petrol station to deliver the baby. One of McKeag's girlfriends was Jacqueline Newell who had previously been involved with Derek Adgey, a one-time member of the Royal Marines
. Both Newell and Adgey were sentenced in 1995 for passing information about leading republicans including Brian Gillen
and Alex Maskey
to the UDA and it has been claimed that McKeag was their main point of contact with the organisation.
Outside of his loyalist activities McKeag also had a reputation for having unusual hobbies. An animal lover, McKeag variously owned a Rottweiler
dog, a parrot
, an iguana
, a scorpion
, a snake
and a collection of tropical fish
, and had even attempted to purchase a monkey
until his then live-in girlfriend prevented him from doing so. He had an extensive collection of electronic gadgets and mixed rave music
tunes as a hobby. He was also known for the flashy Christmas decoration
s with which he festooned his house every December, including flashing lights and plastic reindeer on the roof.
and stomach
damage and for a time had to urinate into a colostomy bag.
A celebrated figure within loyalism for his exploits, cracks began to show in 1999, notably at an event at the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
on the Corcrain estate in Portadown
where McKeag was mobbed by fans from the Loyalist Volunteer Force
(LVF) and on stage was applauded by all except his C Company comrades Adair and Gary "Smickers" Smyth. Smyth continued the resentment a few months later when, as McKeag received another "Volunteer of the Year" prize, he yelled "what about me" from the audience. With Adair in prison and Smyth in temporary command of C Company, McKeag fell out of favour and was soon ordered off the Shankill, ostensibly for becoming involved in fights between women at illegal UDA-run drinking dens on the Shankill.
When Adair returned to the Shankill in the summer of 2000 he brought McKeag back in order to use him for the loyalist feud
he was planning against the UVF. McKeag however refused to take part and was severely beaten by Adair and his allies and cut off from organised loyalism altogether. Some within C Company, including William "Winkie" Dodds
, felt that Adair had a long-term jealousy of McKeag's exploits as a killer and argued that Adair had based much of his own reputation for violence upon activities actually carried out by McKeag. It was also claimed in An Phoblacht
, Sinn Féin's official newspaper, that McKeag had been involved in a £70,000 cocaine deal that he had excluded Adair from, although the allegation was not quoted elsewhere. One of McKeag's last violent actions was opening fire on police with an AK-47
during riots in response to the Drumcree conflict
on Belfast's Carlisle Circus, a junction at the base of the Crumlin and Antrim roads near the city centre.
on 24 September 2000. With his face heavily bruised and a crossbow
bolt embedded into the wall nearby, it was initially assumed that he had been killed; although a post-mortem revealed his death was caused by a lethal combination of painkillers and cocaine
. Some of his supporters continued to blame Adair however, and claimed that Adair's men had entered the house, attacked McKeag, who had fired the crossbow at them, and then forced quantities of cocaine down his throat in order to kill him. There was, however, no evidence to support these claims.
McKeag was buried at Roselawn Cemetery in the east of the city in front of around 1000 mourners, including Adair, Smyth and UVF representatives, with floral tributes sent by Ulster Young Militants
and Combat 18
. Although by this time he was estranged from the leadership of C Company, McKeag's litany of violence meant he retained his hero status with the younger members of the group and as a result a new mural was painted on the lower Shankill in commemoration of McKeag.
People of Northern Ireland
Northern Irish people or people of Northern Ireland are "all persons born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British citizen, an Irish citizen or is otherwise entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of...
loyalist who became one of the most notorious figures within the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
's (UDA) 'C' Company in the 1990s. Although most of his operations took place from the Shankill Road in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
McKeag was actually a native of the lower Oldpark Road in the north of the city.
Early years
Like Johnny AdairJohnny Adair
Jonathan Adair, better known as Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair is the former leader of the "C Company", 2nd Battalion Shankill Road, West Belfast Brigade of the "Ulster Freedom Fighters" . This was a cover name used by the Ulster Defence Association , an Ulster loyalist paramilitary organisation...
, McKeag's first group affiliation was with the white power skinhead gangs that existed on the Shankill and which were co-opted into the UDA's youth wing Ulster Young Militants
Ulster Young Militants
The Ulster Young Militants are considered to be the youth wing of the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. Commonly known as the Young Militants or UYM, the group formed in 1974 when the Troubles were at their height...
. McKeag however became a born-again Christian and married young to a woman named Alison. His interest in Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
would diminish as he became more involved in the UDA, whilst his marriage also broke up. Along with Adair and other younger figures, McKeag would help to fill the power vacuum left in the UDA by the deaths of John McMichael
John McMichael
John "Big John" McMichael was a leading Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent figure within the Ulster Defence Association as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade. He was also commander of the organisation's cover name, the "Ulster Freedom Fighters"...
and Jim Craig
James Craig (loyalist)
James Pratt "Jim" Craig was a Northern Irish loyalist, who served as a fund-raiser for the Ulster Defence Association and sat on its Inner Council. He also ran a large protection racket from west Belfast's Shankill Road area, where he lived...
and the departures of the likes of Andy Tyrie
Andy Tyrie
Andrew "Andy" Tyrie is an Ulster loyalist and served as commander of the Ulster Defence Association during much of its early history...
and Tommy Lyttle
Tommy Lyttle
Tommy "Tucker" Lyttle , was a high-ranking Northern Irish loyalist who was a member of the Ulster Defence Association . He served as the UDA's spokesman as well as the leader of the organisation's West Belfast Brigade from 1975 until his arrest and imprisonment in 1990...
.
Killings
McKeag first became involved in 'C' Company of the lower Shankill, the leading section of the UDA, in around 1989, heading up his own section of the company which was a hit squad (other sections concentrating on drug-dealing, money laundering and similar activities). According to Henry McDonaldHenry 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...
and Jim Cusack, the UDA gave an annual "Volunteer of the Year" award to the organisation's top hitman. The award, presented on the Shankill Road and usually consisting of a trophy in the form of a model gun and plaque made by loyalists prisoners, was dominated by McKeag from 1990 onwards and helped to ensure that he became known as "Top Gun" both to his UDA comrades and his 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...
opponents. In all, the 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...
estimated that McKeag was responsible for at least 12 killings, although the figure was placed higher by a number of his former paramilitary associates.
One of McKeag's earliest attacks occurred on 11 March 1990 when he shot and killed Eamon Quinn outside his Kashmir Road home in the Clonard district of the Falls Road, beginning a long campaign of sectarian killings by the UDA. On 31 July he was behind a similar attack on the Springfield Road, where Catholic John Judge was killed after being shot five times by McKeag and his unit. This was followed on 16 October by the killing of Dermot McGuinness in Rosapena Street in north Belfast. Another victim was Seamus Sullivan, the son of former Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council
Belfast City Council is the local authority with responsibility for the city of Belfast, the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland. The Council serves an estimated population of , the largest of any district council in Northern Ireland, while also being the fourth smallest by area...
member Jim Sullivan of the Workers' Party
Workers' Party of Ireland
The Workers' Party is a left-wing republican political party in Ireland. Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970 after a split within the party, adopting its current name in 1982....
, killed on 4 September 1991 at the council depot on Springfield Avenue where he worked. Lawrence Murchan, a shopkeeper who was killed by McKeag and his unit on St James's Road on 28 September was the 2000th person to be killed during 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...
. This was followed on 14 November by an attack on the Devenish Arms in Finaghy
Finaghy
Finaghy is an electoral ward in the Balmoral district of Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland. It is based on the townland of Ballyfinaghy...
, resulting in the death of civil servant Aidan Wallace and the loss of an eye for an 8 year old boy.
Following his killing of Catholic shop worker Philomena Hanna at a chemists near the Springfield Road on 28 April 1992, eyewitnesses reported that as McKeag and his driver sped back to the Shankill via Lanark Way they shouted and sang his favourite song, 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road' from The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
. Other UDA members later confirmed that the Yellow Brick Road was McKeag's nickname for Lanark Way, a street linking the Shankill and Springfield roads and favoured by loyalist hitmen as an escape route from republican west Belfast. An attack on 14 November 1992, launched by McKeag, under the orders of Johnny Adair, on a branch of Sean Graham's bookmakers on the Oldpark Road left three Catholics dead and a number of others, including some Protestants who also frequented the betting shop, injured.
As well as civilian Catholics, McKeag was also involved on attacks upon republicans
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...
. On 1 May 1993 Alan Lundy, a former 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...
activist, was killed by McKeag in the Ardoyne area. McKeag struck again on 8 August 1993, killing Sean Lavery at the Antrim Road home of his father Bobby Lavery, a Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
councillor who had been the target of the attack. However non-republicans continued to be targets and on 30 August he killed Marie Teresa Dowds de Mogollon in an attack on her home, although this murder was seen as extreme by UDA brigadiers outside C Company, resulting in it eventually being claimed as an accident when it was claimed under the UDA's Ulster Freedom Fighters cover name. This was followed on 7 September 1993 when McKeag and two other UDA members entered a hairdresser's shop on the upper Donegall Road
Donegall Road
The Donegall Road runs from Shaftesbury Square in Belfast city centre to the Falls Road in west Belfast. It is bisected by the Westlink, and the largest part of the road, prior to the Westlink junction, is predominantly unionist...
and shot the proprietor Sean Hughes dead. Although brought to trial he was not convicted after eyewitness testimony did not stand up to scrutiny. The following day shopkeeper Michael Edwards was killed at his Finaghy home by McKeag and his unit and on 15 October McKeag killed Paddy McMahon after calling for him to deliver a pizza to a derelict house. McKeag was held in prison soon after this attack for the Hughes trial and the mantle of top hitman in C Company temporarily passed to Gary "Smickers" Smyth.
Following the killing of 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) leader 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...
by 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) inside the Maze Prison in December 1997, Adair, who was a strong admirer of "King Rat", told McKeag that he had carte blanche to avenge the murder. McKeag did so on 28 December when he entered the Clifton Tavern in north Belfast and opened fire with an uzi, killing Edmund Trainor and injuring a number of others. On 23 January 1998 he was also involved in the killing of Liam Conway on north Belfast's Hesketh Road although McKeag was brought before the Inner Council of the UDA for this attack as the movement had declared a ceasefire a few hours earlier. McKeag claimed that the attack was in response to the continuing activity of the INLA, and his fearsome reputation meant that the Inner Council would not reprimand him, even though the murder resulted in the Ulster Democratic Party
Ulster Democratic Party
The Ulster Democratic Party was a small loyalist political party in Northern Ireland. It was established in June 1981 as the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party by the Ulster Defence Association to replace their New Ulster Political Research Group...
being excluded from all-party talks. By this time McKeag was effectively in command of C Company whilst Adair was in prison.
Personal life
Physically McKeag, like Johnny Adair, was shaven-headed, muscular and heavily tattooed and he wore a miniature golden gun around his neck on a thick gold chain. Maintaining a number of girlfriends simultaneously, McKeag fathered four children by four different women - two daughters both called Stephanie and two sons both called Stephen. In the case of one child, McKeag even delivered it himself after his NewtownardsNewtownards
Newtownards is a large town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies at the most northern tip of Strangford Lough, 10 miles east of Belfast, on the Ards Peninsula. Newtownards is the largest town in the Borough of Ards. According to the 2001 Census, it has a population of 27,821 people in...
-based girlfriend broke her waters in his car, forcing him to pull into a petrol station to deliver the baby. One of McKeag's girlfriends was Jacqueline Newell who had previously been involved with Derek Adgey, a one-time member of the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
. Both Newell and Adgey were sentenced in 1995 for passing information about leading republicans including Brian Gillen
Brian Gillen
Brian "Ginger" Gillen is a volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and also a member of the IRA Army Council....
and Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey
Alex Maskey is an Irish politician who was the first member of Sinn Féin to serve as Belfast's Lord Mayor. He is Sinn Féin's longest sitting councillor and is currently an MLA for South Belfast as well as being a councillor for the Laganbank area of Belfast.-Early life:Maskey was educated at St...
to the UDA and it has been claimed that McKeag was their main point of contact with the organisation.
Outside of his loyalist activities McKeag also had a reputation for having unusual hobbies. An animal lover, McKeag variously owned a Rottweiler
Rottweiler
The Rottweiler is a medium to large size breed of domestic dog that originated in Rottweil, Germany. The dogs were known as "Rottweil butchers' dogs" because they were used to herd livestock and pull carts laden with butchered meat and other products to market...
dog, a parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
, an iguana
Iguana
Iguana is a herbivorous genus of lizard native to tropical areas of Central America and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena...
, a scorpion
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arthropod animals of the order Scorpiones within the class Arachnida. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by the pair of grasping claws and the narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back, ending with a venomous stinger...
, a snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
and a collection of tropical fish
Tropical fish
Tropical fish include fish found in tropical environments around the world, including both freshwater and salt water species.Tropical fish are popular as aquarium fish, due to their often bright coloration...
, and had even attempted to purchase a monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
until his then live-in girlfriend prevented him from doing so. He had an extensive collection of electronic gadgets and mixed rave music
Rave music
Rave music may either refer the late 1980s genre or any genre of electronic dance music that may be played at an electronic dance party such as a rave. Very rarely, the term is used to refer to less electronic related genres glam, powerpop, psychedelic rock and dub music parties...
tunes as a hobby. He was also known for the flashy Christmas decoration
Christmas decoration
A Christmas decoration is any of several types of decorations used at Christmastime. The traditional colours of Christmas are pine green , snow white, and heart red. Blue and white are often used to represent winter, or sometimes Hanukkah, which occurs around the same time. Gold and silver are...
s with which he festooned his house every December, including flashing lights and plastic reindeer on the roof.
Decline
In June 1998 McKeag, a keen motorcyclist, suffered serious injuries when his vehicle collided with a car being driven by a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). He suffered a number of broken bones and required several operations, including the insertion of pins into his leg, and as a consequence he also developed an addiction to painkillers. He also had a collapsed lungCollapsed lung
Collapsed lung can refer to:* Pneumothorax, accumulation of air in the chest leading to collapse of the lung* Atelectasis, collapse of the air-containing sacs of the lung* Collapsed Lung, a British hip-hop band active in the 1990s...
and stomach
Stomach
The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...
damage and for a time had to urinate into a colostomy bag.
A celebrated figure within loyalism for his exploits, cracks began to show in 1999, notably at an event at the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes
The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes is a Fraternal, Benevolent and Social Organisation in the United Kingdom. It has no Royal patronage; it was founded after the Flood, it is not a recognised Order of chivalry and has no connection with buffaloes...
on the Corcrain estate in 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...
where McKeag was mobbed by fans from the 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) and on stage was applauded by all except his C Company comrades Adair and Gary "Smickers" Smyth. Smyth continued the resentment a few months later when, as McKeag received another "Volunteer of the Year" prize, he yelled "what about me" from the audience. With Adair in prison and Smyth in temporary command of C Company, McKeag fell out of favour and was soon ordered off the Shankill, ostensibly for becoming involved in fights between women at illegal UDA-run drinking dens on the Shankill.
When Adair returned to the Shankill in the summer of 2000 he brought McKeag back in order to use him for the loyalist feud
Loyalist feud
A loyalist feud refers to any of the sporadic feuds which have erupted almost routinely between Northern Ireland's various loyalist paramilitary groups since they were founded shortly before and after the religious/political conflict known as The Troubles broke out in the late 1960s...
he was planning against the UVF. McKeag however refused to take part and was severely beaten by Adair and his allies and cut off from organised loyalism altogether. Some within C Company, including William "Winkie" Dodds
William "Winkie" Dodds
William "Winkie" Dodds is a Northern Irish loyalist activist. He was a leading member of the West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association and for a number of years a close ally of Johnny Adair...
, felt that Adair had a long-term jealousy of McKeag's exploits as a killer and argued that Adair had based much of his own reputation for violence upon activities actually carried out by McKeag. It was also claimed in An Phoblacht
An Phoblacht
An Phoblacht is the official newspaper of Sinn Féin in Ireland. It is published once a month, and according to its website sells an average of up to 15,000 copies every month and was the first Irish paper to provide an edition online and currently having in excess of 100,000 website hits per...
, Sinn Féin's official newspaper, that McKeag had been involved in a £70,000 cocaine deal that he had excluded Adair from, although the allegation was not quoted elsewhere. One of McKeag's last violent actions was opening fire on police with an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
during riots in response to the Drumcree conflict
Drumcree conflict
The Drumcree conflict or Drumcree standoff is an ongoing dispute over a yearly parade in the town of Portadown, Northern Ireland. The dispute is between the Orange Order and local residents. The residents are currently represented by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition ; before 1995 they were...
on Belfast's Carlisle Circus, a junction at the base of the Crumlin and Antrim roads near the city centre.
Death and aftermath
McKeag was found dead by family members at his home at Florence Court off the Crumlin RoadCrumlin Road
The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road.-Lower Crumlin Road:...
on 24 September 2000. With his face heavily bruised and a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
bolt embedded into the wall nearby, it was initially assumed that he had been killed; although a post-mortem revealed his death was caused by a lethal combination of painkillers and cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. Some of his supporters continued to blame Adair however, and claimed that Adair's men had entered the house, attacked McKeag, who had fired the crossbow at them, and then forced quantities of cocaine down his throat in order to kill him. There was, however, no evidence to support these claims.
McKeag was buried at Roselawn Cemetery in the east of the city in front of around 1000 mourners, including Adair, Smyth and UVF representatives, with floral tributes sent by Ulster Young Militants
Ulster Young Militants
The Ulster Young Militants are considered to be the youth wing of the Ulster Defence Association, a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. Commonly known as the Young Militants or UYM, the group formed in 1974 when the Troubles were at their height...
and Combat 18
Combat 18
Combat 18 is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members...
. Although by this time he was estranged from the leadership of C Company, McKeag's litany of violence meant he retained his hero status with the younger members of the group and as a result a new mural was painted on the lower Shankill in commemoration of McKeag.