Darkley killings

Mass shooting near Darkley, County Antrim (1983)

Darkley killings

Part of the Troubles

The church where the killings took place

Location| Darkley, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Coordinates| 54°13′05″N 6°40′20″W﻿ / ﻿54.2181°N 6.6723°W﻿ / 54.2181; -6.6723
Date| 20 November 1983
19:00 (GMT)

Attack type

| Mass shooting
Deaths| 3
Injured| 7
Perpetrators| Members of the INLA using the covername "Catholic Reaction Force"

The Darkley killings or Darkley massacre was a gun attack carried out on 20 November 1983 near the village of Darkley in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Three gunmen attacked worshippers attending a church service at Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church, killing three Protestant civilians and wounding seven. The attackers were members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) acting on their own. They claimed responsibility using the cover name "Catholic Reaction Force", saying it was retaliation for recent sectarian attacks on Catholics by the loyalist "Protestant Action Force".[1] The attack was condemned by the INLA leadership.

## Background

[edit]

In the months before the Darkley killings, several Catholic civilians were killed by loyalists. On 29 October 1983, a Catholic civilian member of the Workers' Party, David Nocher (26), was shot dead in Belfast.[2][3] On 8 November, Catholic civilian Adrian Carroll (24) was shot dead in Armagh,[2][4] UDR personnel were later convicted but the convictions were cleared on appeal for three of them (see UDR Four case).[5] Carroll was the brother of an INLA member who was killed a year earlier.[6] These attacks were claimed by the "Protestant Action Force" (PAF), a cover name used mostly by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). It is believed the Darkley killings were primarily a retaliation for the killing of Carroll.[6]

## Attack

[edit]

On the evening of Sunday 20 November, about sixty people were attending a church service at Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church.[1] The small, isolated wooden church was outside the village of Darkley, near the border with the Republic of Ireland and several miles from Armagh. As the service began, three masked gunmen arrived,[1] at least one of whom was armed with a Ruger semi-automatic rifle[citation needed] and opened fire on those standing at the entrance.[7] Three church elders were killed: Harold Browne (59), Victor Cunningham (39) and David Wilson (44).[1][8] The fatally wounded Wilson staggered into the service, where he collapsed and died.[1] The gunmen then stood outside the building and sprayed it with bullets, wounding a further seven people,[1][9] before fleeing in a car.[6] The service was being tape-recorded when the attack took place. On the cassette tape, the congregation can be heard singing the hymn "Are You Washed in the Blood?", followed by the sound of gunfire.[1] All of the victims were Protestant civilians.[1]

## Aftermath

[edit]

In a telephone call to a journalist, a caller claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the "Catholic Reaction Force". He said it was "retaliation for the murderous sectarian campaign carried out by the Protestant Action Force" and added, "By this token retaliation we could easily have taken the lives of at least 20 more innocent Protestants. We serve notice on the PAF to call an immediate halt to their vicious indiscriminate campaign against innocent Catholics, or we will make the Darkley killings look like a picnic". The caller named nine Catholics who had been attacked.[1]

The name "Catholic Reaction Force" had never been used before, and police said they believed the attack was carried out by members of the INLA.[6] The INLA condemned the attack and denied direct involvement, but said it was investigating the involvement of INLA members or weapons.[10] A week later, INLA leader Dominic McGlinchey admitted that one of the gunmen had been an INLA member and admitted supplying him with the gun,[11] but said there was no justification for the attack. The INLA member's brother had been killed by loyalists. McGlinchey explained that the INLA member had asked him for a gun to shoot a known loyalist who had been involved in sectarian killings.[11] However, "clearly deranged by the death of his brother", he "used it instead to attack the Darkley Gospel Hall".[12] McGlinchey said: "he must have been unbalanced or something to have gone and organised this killing. We are conducting an inquiry".[11]

There were reprisal sectarian attacks on Catholics in North Belfast, Lisburn, and Portadown within 24 hours of the Darkley massacre.[13] On 5 December, fifteen days after the Darkley attack, the PAF shot dead INLA member Joseph Craven (26) in Newtownabbey.[2]

The name "Catholic Reaction Force" was used several other times. In August 1984 it was used to issue a threat to newspapers against the families of Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers, after a Catholic man (Sean Downes) died after the RUC shot him with a plastic bullet during an anti-internment march on the Andersontown Road, Belfast.[14] In May 1986 it was used to claim the killing of Protestant civilian David Wilson (39), who was shot while driving his firm's van in Donaghmore. The IRA also claimed responsibility, saying Wilson was a member of the UDR.[15] The "Catholic Reaction Force" declared a ceasefire on 28 October 1994.[16] In 2001 the name was used to claim two attacks on homes in which there were no injuries,[17] and in 2002 was used to issue a threat to hospital workers suspected of links to the security forces.[18]

## See also

[edit]

* 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
* Store Bar shooting
* 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

* Kingsmill massacre
* South Armagh Republican Action Force

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i David McKittrick; Seamus Kelters; Brian Feeney; Chris Thornton; David McVea (2001). Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. pp. 963–964\. ISBN 978-1840185041.963-964&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-1840185041&rft.au=David+McKittrick&rft.au=Seamus+Kelters&rft.au=Brian+Feeney&rft.au=Chris+Thornton&rft.au=David+McVea&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=sdYcw7Zs3W4C&pg;=PA963&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Darkley+killings" class="Z3988">
2. ^ a b c Sutton, Malcolm. "Sutton Index of Deaths: 1983". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
3. ^ McKittrick, Lost Lives, pp.956-957
4. ^ gov.uk, Police Legacy FOI Team (20 July 2018). "Request for information" (PDF).
5. ^ "UDR soldier cleared of Catholic murder: 'I've suffered far more than the guys who were found guilty and were then compensated'". Belfast Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
6. ^ a b c d "Gunmen Fire Into Ulster Church; 3 Protestants Killed, 7 Wounded". The New York Times. 21 November 1983.
7. ^ Jess, Mervyn (19 November 2023). "Darkley: A singing congregation silenced by gunfire". BBC News. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
8. ^ "Sutton Index of Deaths". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 31 October 2015.
9. ^ "Chronology of the Conflict: 1983". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 31 October 2015.
10. ^ The Starry Plough. November/December 1983 issue. p.5
11. ^ a b c Ireland's Terrorist Dilemma. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1986. pp.104-105
12. ^ Coogan, Tim. The IRA. Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. pp.535-536
13. ^ Fortnight Magazine, Issue 200, p. 9-10. Fortnight Publications, 1984.
14. ^ Aberdeen Evening Express, 15 August 1984.
15. ^ McKittrick, Lost Lives, p.1037
16. ^ "Chronology of the Conflict: 1994". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
17. ^ "Controlled explosion on suspect device". BBC News. 21 August 2001.
18. ^ "Hospital staff get threats". The Guardian. 6 August 2002.

* v
* t
* e

INLA and the IRSP

General|

* The Troubles
* Official Sinn Féin
* Official IRA
* Irish Republican Socialist Movement
* The Starry Plough
* Marxism–Leninism
* Blanket protest
* Dirty protest
* HM Prison Maze
* Anti H-Block
* 1981 Irish hunger strike
* July 1997 riots
* Northern Ireland peace process
* Good Friday Agreement
* Organized crime
* INLA Belfast Brigade

Attacks|

* Central Bar bombing
* Assassination of Airey Neave
* 1982 Divis Flats bombing
* Droppin Well bombing
* Darkley killings (denied)
* 1994 Shankill Road killings
* Newtownhamilton bombing

Personalities|

* Jimmy Brown
* Ronnie Bunting
* Patrick Campbell
* Seamus Costello
* Miriam Daly
* Mickey Devine
* Bernadette Devlin
* Gino Gallagher
* Raymond Gilmour
* Tony Gregory
* Dessie Grew
* Seamus Grew
* Stephen King
* Harry Kirkpatrick
* Kevin Lynch
* Dominic McGlinchey
* Christopher "Crip" McWilliams
* Colm Murphy
* Patsy O'Hara
* Dessie O'Hare
* Martin "Rook" O'Prey
* Michael Plunkett
* Thomas "Ta" Power
* Mary Reid
* Gerard Steenson
* Hugh Torney
* Sammy Ward
* Johnnie White

Associates|

* Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America

Derivatives|

* Independent Socialist Party
* Irish People's Liberation Organisation
* Republican Socialist Collective

Prominent killings|

* Billy McMillen
* Henry Byrne
* John Morley
* William McCullough
* John McKeague
* Patrick Joseph Morrissey
* Trevor King
* Billy Wright

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