Tag Archives: IRA

Decade Of Half Centenaries: Deaths April 1972

Posted on May 31, 2022 by fitzjameshorse

There were maybe 20 Troubles-related deaths in April 1972. British Army: Seven. Two were killed by the (Provisional) IRA and five (including four in Derry) were killed by the Official IRA. Ulster Defence Regiment. One man was found murdered at … Continue reading →

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Decade of Half Centenaries: Deaths February 1972.

Posted on March 6, 2022 by fitzjameshorse

There were 28 Troubles-related deaths in February 1972. As far as I can make out; Five British Army were killed by the (Provisional) IRA. Two off-duty members of the Ulster Defence Regiment were also killed by IRA. Seven members of … Continue reading →

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Decade Of Half Centenaries: Deaths January 1972

Posted on January 31, 2022 by fitzjameshorse

We have had the Decade of Centenaries. It was little more than an attempt by (some) academics to help us “understand” the background of the Troubles (which began in 1969) thru seminal events like the Ulster Covenant, Easter Rising, First … Continue reading →

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SDLP : New Faces: Paul Doherty (West Belfast)

Posted on January 28, 2022 by fitzjameshorse

I am of course a man from West Belfast. I still feel like that even though I only lived there from 1952 to 1979. Of course I usually worked in Belfast but oddly I have never felt totally at ease … Continue reading →

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Working Man Blues …The Troubles 1969-1972

Posted on January 1, 2022 by fitzjameshorse

This is a re-written/edited version of an article I wrote for a USA-based academic website a few years ago. I started work aged 17 on 29th September 1969. My parents were deeply disappointed that I had decided to leave school … Continue reading →

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Appalling Vistas

Posted on December 1, 2021 by fitzjameshorse

In the summer of 1966, a man called John Patrick Scullion was murdered in the Clonard area of West Belfast. It is the first killing of the (modern) Troubles. He was shot outside his home and died two weeks later. … Continue reading →

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You Probably Don’t Know What This Is?

Posted on August 6, 2020 by fitzjameshorse

If you are over 50 years old and a Catholic from West Belfast, you may know what this is. Most Catholics will be familiar with prayer cards, typically sold in Catholic “holy” shops. A holy picture, a medal and a … Continue reading →

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A Tale of Two Telephone Calls

Posted on June 27, 2020 by fitzjameshorse

Phone Call #1 It was in the mid 1970s. I had been at an evening class in the College of Business Studies in Brunswick Street.  Following the other students leaving the building and walking along Queen Street to Castle Street … Continue reading →

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Clonard Novena

Posted on June 26, 2020 by fitzjameshorse

Clonard is the Redemptorist monastery in West Belfast. It was effectively the spiritual home of West Belfast Catholics. It lies on the border line of St Peters and St Pauls and beside the Peace Line at Bombay Street. My own … Continue reading →

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The IRA By Numbers (Guest Post By Sammy McNally)

Posted on August 26, 2012 by fitzjameshorse

Guest Post here from Sammy. The nomenclature of the Irish insurgency groups is clearly in need of overhaul given the relative nature of the terms ‘old’ and ‘new’ when referring to the ‘IRA’ as highlighted in the post below by … Continue reading →

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