Corporals killings

1988 killings in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Corporals killings

Part of the Troubles and
Operation Banner

Father Alec Reid administers the last rites to Corporal David Howes.

Location| Andersonstown, Belfast,
Northern Ireland
Coordinates| 54°34′28″N 05°59′16″W﻿ / ﻿54.57444°N 5.98778°W﻿ / 54.57444; -5.98778
Date| 19 March 1988
Target| British Army personnel

Attack type

| Shooting, stabbing
Deaths| 2
Perpetrator| Provisional Irish Republican Army

* v
* t
* e

The Troubles
in Ireland

1960s and 1970s

* Battle of the Bogside/1969 riots
* RTÉ bombing
* Operation Banner
* Battle of St Matthew's
* Falls Curfew
* Crossmaglen bombing
* Scottish soldiers' killings
* Operation Demetrius
* Ballymurphy massacre
* Newry killings
* Red Lion Pub bombing
* McGurk's Bar bombing
* Balmoral showroom bombing
* Bloody Sunday
* Abercorn Restaurant bombing
* Donegall St bombing
* Battle at Springmartin
* Dungiven ambush
* Battle of Lenadoon
* Springhill massacre
* Bloody Friday
* Operation Motorman
* Claudy bombing
* Newry customs bombing
* Sanaghanroe attack
* Benny's Bar bombing
* Annie's Bar massacre
* Belturbet bombing
* Dublin bombings
* New Lodge Six shooting
* Coleraine bombings
* Rose & Crown Bar bombing
* Clogher barracks attack
* Dublin & Monaghan bombings
* Mountainview Tavern attack
* Bleary Darts Club shooting
* Strand Bar bombing
* Forkhill beer keg bomb
* Miami Showband killings
* Bayardo Bar attack
* Tullyvallen massacre
* October 1975 attacks
* Drummuckavall ambush
* Dublin Airport bombing
* Dundalk & Silverbridge attacks
* Central Bar bombing
* Reavey and O'Dowd killings
* Kingsmill massacre
* Castleblayney bombing
* Hillcrest Bar bombing
* Flagstaff Hill incident
* Charlemont pub attacks
* Walker's Bar attack
* Chlorane Bar attack
* Ramble Inn attack
* Stag Inn attack
* Andersonstown incident
* Garryhinch ambush
* 1976 Balmoral bombing
* Jonesborough Gazelle shootdown
* La Mon restaurant bombing
* Warrenpoint ambush
* Dungannon land mine attack

* * *

1980s

* Dunmurry train bombing
* Lough Foyle attacks
* Altnaveigh landmine attack
* Glasdrumman ambush
* Divis Flats bombing
* Droppin Well bombing
* Ballygawley land mine attack
* Darkley killings
* Kesh ambush
* Strabane ambush
* Newry mortar attack
* Ballygawley barracks attack
* Birches barracks attack
* Clontibret invasion
* Loughgall ambush
* Remembrance Day bombing
* Milltown Cemetery attack
* Corporals killings
* Avenue Bar shooting
* Lisburn van bombing
* Aughanduff Lynx shootdown
* Ballygawley bus bombing
* Drumnakilly ambush
* Jonesborough ambush
* Derryard checkpoint attack

* * *

1990s

* Derrygorry Gazelle shootdown
* Downpatrick landmine attack
* Operation Conservation
* Armagh City roadside bombing
* Fort Victoria
* Proxy bombings
* Lough Neagh ambush
* Silverbridge Lynx shootdown
* Mullacreevie ambush
* Cappagh killings
* Craigavon mobile shop killings
* Glenanne barracks bombing
* Coagh ambush
* Musgrave Park Hospital bombing
* Craigavon Hyster killings
* Teebane bombing
* Sinn Féin Headquarters shooting
* Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting
* Clonoe ambush
* Cloghoge checkpoint attack
* Coalisland riots
* South Armagh sniper campaign
* Forensic Lab bombing
* James Murray's bookmakers attack
* Castlerock killings
* Cullaville occupation
* Battle of Newry Road
* Shankill Road bombing
* Greysteel massacre
* Fivemiletown ambush
* Crossmaglen Lynx shootdown
* 1994 Shankill Road killings
* Loughinisland massacre
* Killeeshil ambush
* Drumcree conflict
* Thiepval barracks bombing
* Coalisland attack
* 1997 riots
* Quinn brothers' killings
* Banbridge bombing
* Omagh bombing

* * *

See also: The Troubles in Britain & Europe, Assassinations during the Troubles, and Loyalist feud

On 19 March 1988, the British Army corporals Derek Wood and David Howes[1] were lynched by members of the crowd attending a funeral of an IRA member, and shot dead by the Provisional IRA in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in what became known as the corporals killings.

Wearing civilian clothes, both armed with Browning Hi-Power pistols and in a civilian car, the soldiers drove into the funeral procession of an IRA member, seemingly by mistake.[2][3] Three days before, the loyalist Michael Stone had attacked an IRA funeral and killed three people. Believing the soldiers were loyalists intent on repeating Stone's attack,[4] dozens of people surrounded and attacked their car. During this, Corporal Wood drew his service pistol and fired a shot into the air. The soldiers were then dragged from the car and taken to a nearby sports ground where they were beaten, stripped and searched. They were then driven to a nearby waste ground where they were shot dead.[4]

The incident was filmed by an overhead British Army helicopter and television news cameras; the images have been described by journalist Peter Taylor as some of the "most dramatic and harrowing" of the conflict in Northern Ireland.[1]

Two men were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder but were released in 1998 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. Several other men received lesser sentences for their part in the murders.

## Background

[edit]

The killings took place against a backdrop of violence at high-profile Irish republican funerals. The presence of large numbers of riot police and soldiers at IRA funerals was criticized for sparking unrest.[5] On 6 March 1988, three unarmed IRA members alleged to have been preparing for a bomb attack on British military personnel[6] were killed by the Special Air Service (SAS) in Gibraltar during Operation Flavius. Their joint funeral was due to be held in Belfast's Milltown Cemetery on 16 March. The security forces agreed to stay away from the funeral in exchange for guarantees that there would be no three-volley salute by IRA gunmen.[7] A member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), Michael Stone, learned of this agreement. He attacked the funeral with pistols and grenades, killing three people and wounding more than sixty.

One of those killed was IRA member Caoimhín Mac Brádaigh. Mac Brádaigh's funeral, just three days after Stone's attack, took place amid an extremely tense atmosphere, and those attending feared another loyalist attack.[8] Those attending the funeral included IRA members who acted as stewards.

Derek Tony Wood, aged 24, and David Robert Howes, aged 23, were corporals in the British Army's Royal Corps of Signals. According to the British Army, Wood and Howes ignored general orders to stay away from the area where the funeral was being held.[9] It has been presumed that the two men accidentally drove into the procession.[5][10] Howes had arrived in Northern Ireland one week before. Soldiers and police officers suggested that the corporals had gone "wandering", and that Wood was showing his newly arrived colleague the republican districts of Belfast.[11] Former British soldier Seán Hartnett stated the corporals were members of the Royal Corps of Signals attached to a military surveillance unit known as the Joint Communications Unit (JCU).[12]

## Killings

[edit]

Corporal Derek Wood produces a weapon as he tries to hold back the crowd.

Corporals Wood and Howes were wearing civilian clothes and driving in a silver Volkswagen Passat hatchback. The Mac Brádaigh funeral was making its way along the Andersonstown Road towards Milltown Cemetery when the corporals' car appeared from the opposite direction. The car was driven straight towards the front of the funeral, which was headed by several black taxis. It was driven past a Sinn Féin steward who had signalled the driver to turn. Mourners at the funeral said they believed they were under attack from Ulster loyalists.[13] The driver then mounted a pavement, scattering mourners, and turned into a small side road. When this road was blocked, the driver then reversed at speed, ending up within the funeral procession. Wood attempted to drive the car out of the procession but his exit route was blocked by a black taxi.

An angry crowd surrounded the car, smashed the windows and attempted to drag the soldiers out. Wood produced a Browning Hi-Power 9mm handgun,[14] which each of the soldiers was armed with. Wood climbed partly out of a window and fired a shot in the air, which briefly scattered the crowd. The crowd then surged back, with some of them attacking the car with a wheel-brace and a stepladder snatched from a photographer. The men were eventually pulled from the car and punched and kicked to the ground.[15]

The attack was witnessed by the media and passers-by. Journalist Mary Holland recalled seeing one of the men being dragged past a group of journalists: "He didn't cry out; just looked at us with terrified eyes, as though we were all enemies in a foreign country who wouldn't have understood what language he was speaking if he called out for help."[16]

They were taken to the Casement Park sports ground opposite. Here they were beaten, stripped to their underpants and socks, and searched by a small group of men. The BBC and The Independent wrote that the men were tortured.[2][13][10] A search revealed that the men were British soldiers. Their captors found a military ID on Howes which was marked "Herford", the site of a British military base in Germany, but it is believed they misread it as "Hereford", the headquarters of the SAS.[11]

The Redemptorist priest Father Alec Reid, who later played a significant part in the peace process leading to the Good Friday Agreement, intervened and attempted to save the soldiers, and asked people to call an ambulance.

> I got down between the two of them and I had my arm around this one and I was holding this one up by the shoulder .... They were so disciplined, they just lay there totally still and I decided to myself they were soldiers. There was a helicopter circling overhead and I don't know why they didn't do something, radio to the police or soldiers to come up, because there were these two of their own soldiers.[17]

One of the captors warned Reid not to interfere and ordered two men to take him away.[17]

The two soldiers were placed in a taxi and driven around to a waste ground near Penny Lane (South Link), just 200 yd (180 m) off the main Andersonstown Road. There they were taken out of the vehicle and shot dead. Wood was shot six times: twice in the head and four times in the chest. He had also been stabbed four times in the back of the neck. Howes was shot five times: once in the head and four times in the body. Each also had multiple injuries to other parts of their bodies.[4] The perpetrators quickly left the scene.

Reid heard the shots and rushed to the waste ground. He believed one of the soldiers was still breathing and attempted to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Upon realising that the soldiers were dead, he gave them the last rites.[18][19] According to the photographer David Cairns, although photographers were having their films confiscated by the IRA, he was able to keep his by quickly leaving the area after taking a photograph of Reid kneeling beside the almost naked body of Howes, administering the last rites. Cairns' photograph was later named one of the best pictures of the past 50 years by Life.

The whole incident was filmed by a British Army helicopter hovering overhead.[15] An unnamed soldier of the Royal Scots said his eight-man patrol was nearby and saw the attack on the corporals' car, but were told not to intervene. Soldiers and police arrived on the scene three minutes after the corporals had been shot. A British Army spokesman said the army did not respond immediately because they needed time to assess the situation and were wary of being ambushed by the IRA. The large funeral procession also prevented them getting to the scene quickly.[20]

Shortly after, the IRA released a statement:

> The Belfast brigade, IRA, claims responsibility for the execution of two SAS members who launched an attack on the funeral cortege of our comrade volunteer Kevin Brady. The SAS unit was initially apprehended by the people lining the route in the belief that armed loyalists were attacking them and they were removed from the immediate vicinity. Our volunteers forcibly removed the two men from the crowd and, after clearly ascertaining their identities from equipment and documentation, we executed them.[21]

## Aftermath

[edit]

Northern Ireland Secretary Tom King acknowledged that the Milltown Cemetery attack and the killing of Wood and Howes were "wholly unacceptable and do require immediate review in regard to policing to be followed at any future funeral".[5] The Conservative MP Michael Mates defended the "hands off" policy, saying "A return to heavy-handed policing could provoke riots, which is what the IRA want so they can say to the world 'They won't even let us bury our dead in peace.'"[9] The Fine Gael leader Alan Dukes, Labour leader Dick Spring and Taoiseach Charles Haughey all condemned the killings. The British prime minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher, called the killings "an act of appalling savagery".

On 2 August 1988, Lance Corporal Roy Butler of the Ulster Defence Regiment was shot and killed in Belfast with one of the guns taken from the corporals.[22][23]

Two men, Alex Murphy and Harry Maguire, were found guilty of the murder of the corporals.[2][13] They were jailed for life in 1989, with a recommendation of a minimum 25 years. Murphy received a further 83 years, and Maguire 79 years, for bodily harm, falsely imprisoning the soldiers, and possessing a gun and ammunition. Sir Brian Hutton, sentencing, said

> All murders are brutal, but the murders of Corporal Howes and Corporal Wood were particularly savage and vicious ... They were stripped of most of their clothing and they lay in their own blood in the back of the taxi when you took them to the waste ground to be killed, and in that pitiable and defenceless state you brought about their murders as they lay on the ground.[24]

Both men had been listed as senior members of the IRA's Belfast Brigade. In 1973, at the age of 15, Murphy had been the youngest republican internee in Long Kesh prison, which later became known as the Maze. Maguire became a member of the IRA's "camp staff" in the Maze, one of the senior IRA men effectively in control of the republican wings, and met Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlam when she visited the jail to negotiate with prisoners.[25] In November 1998, Murphy and Maguire were released from the Maze prison as part of the early prisoner release scheme under the Good Friday Agreement.[13] Maguire is now chairman of the Belfast office of Community Restorative Justice Ireland, a police-supported group aimed at dealing with low-level crime through mediation and intended to replace the practice of "punishment beatings" and kneecappings by paramilitaries.[26]

A further three men were in 1990 found guilty by common purpose of aiding and abetting the murder. The men (Pat Kane, Mickey Timmons, and Seán Ó Ceallaigh) were dubbed the "Casement Three" by republicans who disputed the validity of their convictions.[27] Kane's conviction was quashed on appeal due to the unreliability of his confession.[28] Ó Ceallaigh was released in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement.[29]

Terence Clarke, the chief steward on the day, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for assaulting Wood.[citation needed] Clarke had served as Gerry Adams' bodyguard; he died of cancer in 2000.[30][31]

In March 2018, BBC Two aired the Vanessa Engle documentary, The Funeral Murders, which included eyewitness testimonies of the events of that day.[32]

## See also

[edit]

* 1971 Scottish soldiers' killings
* Milltown Cemetery attack

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Taylor, p. 284.
2. ^ a b c IRA funeral killers freed Archived 27 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine. The Independent, 27 November 1998.
3. ^ Ingrao, Charles (2009). Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: A Scholar's Initiative (Central European Studies). Purdue University Press. p. 1\. ISBN 978-1557535337.
4. ^ a b c McKittrick, David. Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Mainstream Publishing, 2007. pp. 1121–1124. ISBN 978-1-84018-504-1
5. ^ a b c Tyler Marshall, "5 Slayings Prompt Review of Policy on IRA Funerals", Los Angeles Times, 22 March 1988.
6. ^ "British Commandos Testify on Gibraltar" Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 18 September 1988.
7. ^ Eckert, Nicholas (1999). Fatal Encounter: The Story of the Gibraltar Killings. Dublin: Poolbeg. p. 94\. ISBN 9781853718373.
8. ^ Taylor, Peter. Brits: The War against the IRA. London: Bloomsbury, 2001. p. 284\. ISBN 0-7475-5007-7
9. ^ a b "IRA claims killing of policeman" Archived 19 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Associated Press. 21 March 1988.
10. ^ a b David McKittrick, "Northern Ireland: The longest tour of duty is over". The Independent. 31 July 2007.
11. ^ a b Ware, John. "Guns, grenades and lynchings: Revisiting the funeral murders" Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. The Irish Times. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
12. ^ "The inside story of the brutal killing of Wood and Howes". Sunday Independent (Ireland). 18 September 2016. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
13. ^ a b c d More prisoners released Archived 16 June 2004 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News, 26 November 1998. Retrieved on 1 August 2008.
14. ^ O'Brien 1999, p. 164.
15. ^ a b "Army corporals killed at IRA funeral" Archived 14 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine. BBC History. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
16. ^ "Obituary: Mary Holland". The Independent. 10 June 2004. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
17. ^ a b "Priest reveals details of soldiers' murders". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
18. ^ "Priest reveals details of soldiers' murders" Archived 22 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine. The Irish Times. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
19. ^ "Priest recalls death of British soldiers". The Irish News. 1 August 2005. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
20. ^ Sanders, Andrew. Times of Trouble: Britain's War in Northern Ireland. Edinburgh University Press, 2012. p. 93
21. ^ Feeney, Brian. Sinn Fein: A Hundred Turbulent Years. University of Wisconsin Press, 2003. p. 353
22. ^ Ryder 1991, p. 217.
23. ^ "Sutton Index of Deaths". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
24. ^ Linklater, Magnus. "Fair, firm and unclubbable. The judge who could bring about the fall of Tony Blair Archived 6 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine". The Times, 24 January 2004
25. ^ Corporals' killers are released from Maze By Toby Harnden and Robert Shrimsley Electronic Telegraph, 27 November 1998.
26. ^ The Committee Office, House of Commons. "House of Commons - Northern Ireland Affairs - First Report". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
27. ^ O'Broin, Eoin (26 June 1997). "Freedom for one of Casement Three". An Phoblacht. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
28. ^ Randall, Colin. "Judges free man jailed over IRA funeral murders" The Daily Telegraph, 21 June 1997. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
29. ^ Corporals killings man stays in US Archived 16 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Sunday Mirror, 25 April 2004. Retrieved on 9 August 2008.
30. ^ "Adams' 'minder' dies". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 14 June 2000.
31. ^ "Fógraí bháis: Volunteer Terry `Cleaky' Clarke | An Phoblacht". www.anphoblacht.com. Retrieved 24 July 2025.
32. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (19 March 2018). "The Funeral Murders review – masterful handling of a combustible narrative". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.

## Sources

[edit]

* O'Brien, Brendan (1999). The long war: the IRA and Sinn Féin. Irish studies (2 ed.). Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0815605978.
* Ryder, Chris (1991). The Ulster Defence Regiment: an instrument of peace?. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-413-64800-1.
* Taylor, Peter (2002). Brits: the war against the IRA. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780747558064.

* v
* t
* e

The Troubles

Participants

State security forces

United Kingdom

* British Army (Ulster Defence Regiment
* Force Research Unit)
* Royal Ulster Constabulary (Ulster Special Constabulary)

|

Ireland

* Defence Forces
* Garda Síochána

Irish republican paramilitaries

* Provisional IRA
* Official IRA
* INLA
* Irish People's Liberation Organisation
* Continuity IRA
* Real IRA
* Republican Action Force
* Saor Éire
* Irish Revolutionary Brigade

Vigilantes

* Direct Action Against Drugs

|

Ulster loyalist paramilitaries

* Ulster Volunteer Force
* Ulster Defence Association
* Red Hand Commando
* Ulster Resistance
* Loyalist Volunteer Force
* Ulster Protestant Volunteers
* Ulster Third Force
* Ulster Volunteer Service Corps
* Down Orange Welfare
* Protestant Action Force
* Woodvale Defence Association

Vigilantes

* Ulster Protestant Action
* Ulster Service Corps
* Orange Volunteers

|

Major events

* 1967–1972
* Northern Ireland civil rights movement
* 1969
* NI riots
* 1970
* Falls Curfew
* 1971
* Operation Demetrius
* Ballymurphy massacre
* McGurk's Bar bombing
* Balmoral showroom bombing
* 1972
* Bloody Sunday
* Abercorn Restaurant bombing
* Donegall Street bombing
* Beginning of direct rule
* Bloody Friday
* Operation Motorman
* Old Bailey bombing
* Sunningdale Agreement
* 1974
* M62 coach bombing
* Ulster Workers' Council strike
* Dublin & Monaghan bombings
* Guildford pub bombings
* Birmingham pub bombings
* 1975
* Miami Showband killings
* Bayardo Bar attack
* Tullyvallen massacre
* Balcombe Street siege
* 1976
* Reavey and O'Dowd killings
* Kingsmill massacre
* 1978
* La Mon restaurant bombing
* Jonesborough Gazelle downing
* 1979
* Warrenpoint ambush
* 1981
* Republican hunger strike
* 1982
* Droppin Well bombing
* 1983
* Maze Prison escape
* 1984
* Brighton hotel bombing
* 1985
* Newry mortar attack
* Anglo-Irish Agreement
* 1987
* Loughgall ambush
* Remembrance Day bombing
* 1988
* Start of peace process
* Operation Flavius
* Milltown Cemetery attack
* Corporals killings
* IRA attacks in the Netherlands
* Aughanduff Lynx shootdown
* Ballygawley bus bombing
* 1989
* Deal barracks bombing
* Attack on Derryard checkpoint
* 1990–1997
* South Armagh sniper campaign
* 1990
* Augher Lynx shootdown
* Proxy bombings
* 1991
* Downing Street mortar attack
* Cappagh killings
* 1992
* Teebane bombing
* Sinn Féin Headquarters shooting
* Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting
* 1993
* Warrington bombings
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Shankill Road bombing
* Greysteel massacre
* Downing Street Declaration
* 1994
* Crossmaglen Lynx downing
* Loughinisland massacre
* Ceasefires of the Provisional IRA, UVF, UDA and RHC
* 1996
* Docklands bombing
* Manchester bombing
* 1997
* NI riots
* Second IRA ceasefire
* 1998
* Good Friday Agreement
* Omagh bombing

Political parties

Irish republican parties

* Sinn Féin
* Official Sinn Féin
* Republican Sinn Féin
* Irish Republican Socialist Party
* Communist Party of Ireland
* Irish Independence Party
* Republican Socialist Collective
* Unity

|

Ulster loyalist parties

* Ulster Unionist Party
* Democratic Unionist Party
* Progressive Unionist Party
* Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party
* UK Unionist Party
* Ulster Democratic Party

Other parties

* Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
* Social Democratic and Labour Party

* Segregation (peace lines)
* Irish republicanism
* Irish nationalism
* Unionism
* Ulster loyalism
* United Ireland
* Free Derry
* Films
* Flags
* Murals
* Parades
* Punishment attacks
* Finances
* Special Category Status
* Shoot-to-kill policy
* HM Prison Maze
* Five techniques

* * *

Category

* v
* t
* e

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General|

* Anti-Treaty IRA
* Sinn Féin
* Republican News
* An Phoblacht
* The Green Book
* The Troubles (Timeline)
* Haughey arms crisis
* IRA campaign
* Chronology of Provisional IRA actions
* Arms importation
* Weaponry
* Barrack buster
* Improvised tactical vehicles
* Mountjoy Prison helicopter escape
* Blanket protest
* Dirty protest
* HM Prison Maze
* Anti H-Block
* 1981 Irish hunger strike
* Maze Prison escape
* Armalite and ballot box strategy
* Punishment attacks
* Disappeared
* Smithwick Tribunal
* Northern Ireland peace process
* Good Friday Agreement

Organisation|

* Chief of Staff
* IRA Army Council
* IRA Northern Command
* IRA Southern Command
* Internal Security Unit
* Active service unit
* Belfast Brigade
* Derry Brigade
* South Armagh Brigade
* East Tyrone Brigade
* Balcombe Street Gang

Actions|

| 1970–1979|

* Battle of St Matthew's
* Falls Curfew
* 1970 Crossmaglen bombing
* Scottish soldiers' killings
* Red Lion bombing
* Balmoral showroom bombing
* Abercorn bombing
* Donegall Street bombing
* Battle at Springmartin
* Battle of Lenadoon
* Bloody Friday
* Claudy bombing
* Newry customs bombing
* Old Bailey bombing
* Honey Trap killings
* King's Cross & Euston bombings
* Coleraine bombings
* 1973 Westminster bombing
* M62 bombing
* Clogher attack
* Houses of Parliament bombing
* Tower of London bombing
* Guildford pub bombings
* Harrow School bombing
* Brooks's Club bombing
* Woolwich pub bombing
* British Airways bombing attempt
* Birmingham pub bombings
* London pillar box bombings
* Talbot Arms bombing
* Bristol bombing
* Telephone exchange bombings
* 1974 Oxford Street bombing
* Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings
* Mountainview attack
* Bayardo Bar attack
* Forkhill attack
* Caterham Arms bombing
* Tullyvallen massacre
* London Hilton bombing
* Piccadilly bombing
* Trattoria Fiore bombing
* Scott's Oyster Bar bombing
* Walton's Restaurant bombing
* Drummuckavall ambush
* Balcombe Street siege
* Kingsmill massacre
* West Ham station attack
* Olympia bombing
* Walker's Bar attack
* Stag Inn attack
* Garryhinch ambush
* Jonesborough Gazelle downing
* La Mon restaurant bombing
* Crossmaglen ambush
* Warrenpoint ambush
* Brussels bombing
* Dungannon attack

|

1980–1989|

* Dunmurry train bombing
* Lough Foyle attacks
* Glasdrumman ambush
* 1981 Bessbrook attack
* Chelsea Barracks bombing
* Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings
* Harrods bombing
* Royal Artillery Barracks bombing
* Brighton hotel bombing
* Ballygawley land mine attack
* Newry mortar attack
* Ballygawley attack
* Enniskillen mortar attack
* RUC Birches barracks attack
* Rheindahlen bombing
* Loughgall ambush
* Operation Flavius
* Corporals killings
* Lisburn bombing
* Aughanduff Lynx shootdown
* 1988 Netherlands attacks
* Glamorgan barracks bombing
* Inglis Barracks bombing
* Ballygawley bus bombing
* Jonesborough ambush
* Clive Barracks bombing
* Deal barracks bombing
* Mayobridge attack
* Derryard attack

1990–1991|

* Derrygorry Gazelle downing
* South Armagh sniper
* Downpatrick roadside bomb
* Operation Conservation
* 1990 Wembley bombing
* Carlton Club bombing
* London Stock Exchange bombing
* Honourable Artillery Company bombing
* Lichfield gun attack
* RFA Fort Victoria bombing
* Proxy bombings
* Downing Street mortar attack
* Paddington & Victoria station bombings
* Mullacreevie ambush
* Glenanne barracks bombing
* Coagh ambush
* Musgrave Park Hospital bombing
* Crumlin Road Prison bombing

1992–1997|

* Teebane bombing
* Clonoe ambush
* London Bridge bombing
* Staples Cnr bombing
* Baltic Exchange bombing
* Sussex Arms bombing
* Cloghoge attack
* Coalisland riots
* Forensic Science Laboratory bombing
* Stoke Newington Road bomb
* 1992 Manchester bombing
* Night of the Long Knives
* 1993 Harrods bombing
* Warrington bombings
* Cullaville occupation
* Camden bombing
* Bishopsgate bombing
* Finchley Road bombings
* Battle of Newry Road
* Shankill Road bombing
* 1993 Fivemiletown ambush
* Heathrow attacks
* Crossmaglen Lynx downing
* Drumcree conflict
* Docklands bombing
* Aldwych bus bombing
* 1996 Manchester bombing
* Hammersmith Bridge bombing
* Osnabrück mortar attack
* Thiepval barracks bombing
* Coalisland attack
* 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)|

* Paddy Agnew
* Martina Anderson
* Declan Arthurs
* Thomas Begley
* Ivor Bell
* Patricia Black
* Charles Breslin
* Edward Butler
* Paul Butler
* Joe Cahill
* Liam Campbell
* Fergal Caraher
* Malachy Carey
* Owen Carron
* Gerard Casey
* Carál Ní Chuilín
* Gabriel Cleary
* Peter Cleary
* Eamon Collins
* Eddie Copeland
* Marion Coyle
* Gerard Davison
* Matt Devlin
* Hugh Doherty
* Joe Doherty
* Kieran Doherty
* Martin Doherty
* Pat Doherty
* Colin Duffy
* Rose Dugdale
* Dessie Ellis
* Mairéad Farrell
* William Fleming
* Kieran Fleming
* Bernard Fox
* Angelo Fusco
* Michael Gaughan
* John Francis Green
* Dessie Grew
* George Harrison
* Brendan Hughes
* Francis Hughes
* Martin Hurson
* Pearse Jordan
* Brian Keenan
* Gerry Kelly
* John Kelly
* Patrick Joseph Kelly
* Sean Kelly
* Jim Lynagh
* Proinsias Mac Airt
* Breandán Mac Cionnaith
* Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde
* Joseph MacManus
* Seán Mac Stíofáin
* Patrick Magee
* Paul Magee
* Donna Maguire
* Larry Marley
* Paul Marlowe
* Leo Martin
* Alex Maskey
* Pearse McAuley
* Daniel McCann
* Fra McCann
* Jennifer McCann
* Raymond McCartney
* Martin McCaughey
* Raymond McCreesh
* Joe McDonnell
* Séamus McElwain
* Thomas McElwee
* Brendan McFarlane
* Tom McFeely
* Gerry McGeough
* Pat McGeown
* John Joe McGirl
* Martin McGuinness
* Pádraig McKearney
* Tommy McKearney
* Billy McKee
* Kevin McKenna
* Laurence McKeown
* Michael McKevitt
* Thomas McMahon
* Jackie McMullan
* Martin Meehan
* Ian Milne
* Arthur Morgan
* Danny Morrison
* Conor Murphy
* Thomas "Slab" Murphy
* Kieran Nugent
* Ruairí Ó Brádaigh
* Ed O'Brien
* Dáithí Ó Conaill
* Éamonn O'Doherty
* Joe B. O'Hagan
* Siobhán O'Hanlon
* Rita O'Hare
* Diarmuid O'Neill
* Dolours Price
* Marian Price
* Liam Quinn
* Paddy Quinn
* Billy Reid
* Bobby Sands
* Seán Savage
* Pat Sheehan
* Frank Stagg
* Jimmy Steele
* Bobby Storey
* Gerard Tuite
* Seamus Twomey
* Roy Walsh
* Séanna Walsh

Espionage and
Supergrasses|

* Eamon Collins
* Denis Donaldson
* Joseph Fenton
* Kevin Fulton
* Raymond Gilmour
* Martin McGartland
* Sean O'Callaghan
* Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates|

* Cumann na mBan
* Fianna Éireann
* South Armagh Republican Action Force
* Direct Action Against Drugs
* NORAID
* Clan na Gael
* Troops Out Movement

Derivatives|

* Continuity Irish Republican Army
* Real Irish Republican Army

Prominent
killings|

* Jeffery Stanford Agate
* Johnathan Ball
* Anthony Berry
* Robert Bradford
* Joe Bratty
* Matthew Burns
* Martin Cahill
* Eamon Collins
* Raymond Elder
* Gerard Evans
* Christopher Ewart-Biggs
* Joseph Fenton
* Billy Fox
* Maurice Gibson
* Ian Gow
* Heidi Hazell
* Donald Kaberry
* Andrew Kearney
* Baroness Brabourne
* William "Frenchie" Marchant
* Martin McBirney
* Jerry McCabe
* Robert McConnell
* Jean McConville
* Columba McVeigh
* Ross McWhirter
* Stephen Melrose
* Lord Mountbatten
* Lenny Murphy
* Robert Nairac
* Thomas Oliver
* Tim Parry
* Paul Quinn
* Robert Seymour
* Robert McCartney (allegedly)
* Joseph Rafferty (allegedly)
* Ray Smallwoods
* Sammy Smyth
* Nick Spanos
* James Stronge
* Norman Stronge
* Richard Sykes
* Stephen Tibble
* Sammy Ward
* Michael Willetts

* v
* t
* e

Murders in the United Kingdom in the 1980s

1980|

* Dunmurry train bombing (17 January)
* Elizabeth McCabe (11 February)
* Iranian Embassy siege (30 April–5 May)
* Jessie Earl (15–18 May)
* John Turnley (5 June)
* Patsy Morris (16 June)
* Miriam Daly (26 June)
* Denmark Place fire (16 August)
* John Greenwood and Gary Miller (16 August)

1981|

* James and Norman Stronge (21 January)
* Marion Crofts (6 June)
* Karen Price (c. 2 July)
* Vishal Mehrotra (c. 29 July)
* Jennifer Cardy (12 August)
* Charles Armstrong (c. 16 August)
* Claire Woolterton (27 August)
* Nude in the Nettles (28 August)
* Chelsea Barracks bombing (10 October)
* Kenneth Howorth (28 October)
* Robert Bradford (14 November)

1982|

* Roberto Calvi (17 June)
* David Haigh, George Luckett and David Winter (17, 23 & 28 June)
* Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings (20 July)
* Susan Maxwell (c. 30 July)
* Divis Flats bombing (16 September)
* Droppin Well bombing (6 December)

1983|

* Sheila Anderson (7 February)
* Caroline Hogg (c. 8 July)
* Peter Arne (1 August)
* George Murdoch (29 September)
* Colette Aram (30 October)
* Darkley killings (20 November)
* Lynda Mann (21 November)
* Edgar Graham (7 December)
* Harrods bombing (17 December)

1984|

* Ravindra Mhatre (6 February)
* Hilda Murrell (c. 24 March)
* Mary Travers (8 April)
* Yvonne Fletcher (17 April)
* Mark Tildesley (1 June)
* Brian Bishop (27 August)
* Brighton hotel bombing (12 October)
* Anthony Berry (12 October)
* Dierdre Sainsbury (December)
* Lisa Hession (8 December)

1985|

* Aristos Constantinou (1 January)
* Newry mortar attack (28 February)
* Carole Packman (June)
* White House Farm murders (6–7 August)
* Catherine and Gerard Mahon (8 September)
* Barry Lewis (15 September)
* Keith Blakelock (6 October)
* Jason Swift (November)
* Attack on Ballygawley barracks (7 December)
* Northolt siege (25–26 December)
* Alison Day (29 December)

1986|

* Sarah Harper (c. 26 March)
* Maartje Tamboezer (17 April)
* Anne Lock (18 May)
* Dawn Ashworth (31 July)
* Diane Sindall (2 August)
* Ughill Hall shootings (21 September)
* Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway (9 October)
* Linda Cook (9 December)

1987|

* Daniel Morgan (10 March)
* Helen Fleet (28 March)
* Maurice and Cecily Gibson (25 April)
* Hungerford massacre (19 August)
* Naji al-Ali (29 August)
* Simon Dale (September)
* Shirley Banks (c. 8 October)
* Remembrance Day bombing (8 November)
* Dormers Wells High School shooting (11 November)
* Jayatirtha Dasa (13 November)
* George Seawright (3 December)
* John McMichael (22 December)

1988|

* Helen McCourt (c. 9 February)
* Lynette White (14 February)
* Milltown Cemetery attack (16 March)
* Gillian Johnston (18 March)
* Corporals killings (19 March)
* Deborah Linsley (23 March)
* Avenue Bar shooting (15 May)
* Tessa Davies (1 June)
* Robert Seymour (15 June)
* Marie Wilks (18 June)
* Pan Am Flight 103 (21 December)
* Matthew Gannon (21 December)

1989|

* Pat Finucane (12 February)
* Monkseaton shootings (30 April)
* Raymond Codling (14 September)
* Deal barracks bombing (22 September)
* Alwyn Harris (8 October)

1970s 1990s
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[c.]: circa