November 1976: Ulster Can Survive Unfettered
November 1976 was famous for the premiere of ‘Rocky’ in New York. Directed by John G. Avildsen and starring Sylvester Stallone, the smash hit went on to win Best Picture in 1977. In Northern Ireland, the conflict continued to go blow-for-blow between both sides of the divide.
Political Developments in November 1976
Politically, November began with the Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee issuing a plan, 'Ulster Can Survive Unfettered', to set up an Independent Northern Ireland on the 11th.
On the 26th of November, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Roy Mason said that the region might be left behind by 'the tide of devolution'.
The month ended with The Peace People holding a rally in London on the 27th of November which was attended by approximately 30,000 people. Republican sympathisers held a small counter-demonstration and chanted 'troops out'.
Shootings in November 1976
02/11/76 - 26-year-old undercover RUC detective DC Noel McCabe was shot dead by the IRA on the Falls Road, Belfast. He was later posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.
02/11/76 - An RUC officer was shot by the IRA at Fintona, County Tyrone as he alighted his patrol car in the town's main street. He survived the attack.
03/11/76 - Protestant businessman and former B-Special, Samuel McConnell (59), was shot dead by the IRA at his farm in Dunrod, County Antrim.
03/11/76 - Protestant civilian, Georgina Strain (50), was shot dead by the IRA at her home on Hogarth Street in the Tigers Bay area of North Belfast.
04/11/76 - Catholic civilian Cornelius McCrory (17) was found shot dead on the bank of the Forth River in Glencairn, Belfast. An RUC detective said it was a sectarian killing carried out by the UDA.
05/11/76 - The UVF shot 15-year-old Catholic civilian Carol McMenamy as she stood outside a friend's home on Newington Street, Belfast. She died the following day. It is believed the UVF was responsible.
06/11/76 - The UVF shot dead Catholic civilian Eugene McDonagh (23) outside his workplace, the Jordanstown Inn, in Whiteabbey.
07/11/76 - Off-duty UDR member Ronald Bond (53) died ten days after being shot outside his home on Harding Street, Derry.
09/11/76 - UDR soldier Lance Corporal Jimmy Spears (46), a father of three, was shot dead by two IRA gunmen as he worked off-duty at his garage in County Londonderry.
11/11/76 - 33-year-old UDR soldier Lance Corporal Winston McCaughey, a father of two, was shot dead by the IRA outside his home on Abercorn Road, Derry.
11/11/76 - Former IRA quartermaster Patrick Smyth (24) was shot dead inside a social club on Saul Street, Belfast. He allegedly gave information to the RUC under interrogation and was ordered to leave the district. It was reported he was shot for repeatedly returning to the district.
13/11/76 - The UDA kidnapped Catholic civilian John Patch (34) from the Cliftonville Road and shot him dead, before leaving his body on the edge of Ballysillan Playing Fields in a random sectarian killing.
15/11/76 - The UFF claimed responsibility for shooting Catholic civilian James Loughrey (35) at his home in Greysteel, County Londonderry. He died ten days later, on 25 November.
15/11/76 - During a rain storm in Lurgan, North Armagh, a four-man UDR foot patrol was ambushed in the town centre by IRA gunmen, one of whom was firing an American-supplied Armalite. Two soldiers were hit. One was a 19-year-old who later recovered in hospital, the other was 41-year-old Private George Lutton who died at the scene.
16/11/76 - Catholic civilian, James Duffy (48), was shot dead by a lone republican gunman on the Falls Road in an apparent case of mistaken identity. The man was shot in the back of the head as he chatted with a colleague while making a delivery to a butcher's shop.
18/11/76 - Off-Duty UDR soldier William Kidd (37) was shot dead in an IRA attack at his workplace, a building site, in Altnagelvin, County Londonderry.
22/11/76 - The UFF claimed responsibility for shooting Catholic civilian John Toland (35) dead at the Happy Landing Bar in Eglinton, County Londonderry.
23/11/76 - Civilian Joseph Glover (60) was shot at his workplace in Crawford Square, Derry.
25/11/76 - The INLA shot dead British soldier Andrew Crocker (18) when he arrived at the scene of an armed robbery at a post office in the Turf Lodge area of Belfast.
30/11/76 - An army foot patrol on High Street in Newry came under sustained attack from IRA gunmen hidden in the grounds of St Clare's school. No soldiers were injured.
30/11/76 - IRA volunteers started a fire as a 'come on' on Derry Lane, Dungiven. The RUC and fire brigade attended and came under fire from gunmen secreted in nearby fields. One RUC officer was hit in the neck and badly injured.
30/11/76 - The UDA shot Catholic civilian Elizabeth Luney (36) dead at her home on Silverstream Road, Belfast.
If you’d like to support the newsletter, why not buy me a ☕️ ?
Bombings in November 1976
02/11/76 - An RUC reservist was seriously injured when a booby-trapped device planted by the IRA exploded in his lorry at Grange Park, Balleygawley.
06/11/76 - A former RUC sergeant now working for the force as an office manager lost both legs when the IRA left a booby-trapped device attached to the garage door of his house in Newry, County Down.
07/11/76 - 40 people were injured by a 500lbs bomb planted by the IRA in a stolen car that exploded outside the Raglan Bar, Queen Street, Ballymena, County Antrim.
07/11/76 - Two British soldiers were seriously injured by an IRA landmine which caught two armoured vehicles at Donagh, County Fermanagh.
13/11/76 - A 35-year-old employee of the Ministry of Agriculture was forced by the IRA to drive a van packed with explosives into Magherafelt, County Londonderry, and to the Co-op on Union Street. Explosives partially neutralised by the British Army caused less damage than intended when the remainder exploded.
27/11/76 - The IRA accidentally killed two Catholic civilians in separate booby-trap bomb attacks on buildings being used as British Army observation posts. 16-year-old Philomena Green was killed as she passed a derelict house in Mary Street, Lurgan, County Armagh. She entered the house and switched on a light which triggered a bomb, killing her instantly. Shortly afterwards, 46-year-old father of ten Frank McConnellogue noticed a suspicious device in an alleyway (regularly used by on-patrol British soldiers) close to the Bluebell Bar on Lecky Road in the Bogside area of Derry. He rushed to warn two men who were standing nearby when the device exploded. The two men survived but McConnellogue was killed instantly. An IRA statement apologised for the killings, stating that when it was clear the bomb plan had failed they had contacted the British Army and a local priest. Soldiers and the priest then warned people to stay away.
30/11/76 - Three masked IRA volunteers left a bomb in a grocery shop near Loughgall and escaped in a stolen car. The Army EOD carried out a controlled explosion inside McArtarsey's Store and the resultant fire caused major damage to the premises.
Thanks very much for reading. I hope you found it interesting and will come back on Sunday!
I appreciate everyone who recently hit that heart icon ❤️ at the bottom. It makes it easier for other people to find this newsletter.
Thanks for the support!
If you’d like to let me know what you thought of today’s instalment, feel free to leave a comment below.
Some recommended reading based on research for this instalment.
Wasted Years, Wasted Lives Volume 1: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1975–77 by Ken Wharton.