Bandit Country: The IRA and South Armagh

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Between 1971 and 1997, there were 123 British soldiers killed in south Armagh – about a fifth of British military Trouble-related deaths in the North – along with 41 Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officers and 75 civilians.

Contae Ard Mhacha is the Irish name; Coontie Armagh [3] and Coontie Airmagh [4] are Ulster Scots spellings. The life they are living in comparison to the life that guys like me had, when we were growing up at that age. Bandit country is a haunting exploration of this place and its people, looking back to the Troubles and forward towards Brexit – and to the ever-looming fences and boundaries with which we must reckon, collectively and urgently. On Sunday 30 January 1972, a civil rights march in Derry became the focus of international attention when British troops killed 14 people and wounded another 13.Armagh once had a well-developed railway network with connections to, among others, Armagh City, Culloville, Goraghwood, Markethill, Vernersbridge, Tynan (see History of rail transport in Ireland ) but today only Newry (Bessbrook), Portadown, Poyntzpass, Scarva, and Lurgan are served by rail. Ulsterbus provides the most extensive public transport system within the county, including frequent bus transfers daily from most towns to Belfast. Summers are mild and wet and although with sunshine often interspersed with showers, daylight lasts for almost 18 hours during high-summer.

In August protest and violence increased further with the introduction of internment: the arrest, interrogation and detention of Republican suspects without trial. Mains became deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and was involved in many high-profile cases, giving evidence to the Smithwick tribunal about claims of IRA/Garda collusion relating to the murders of two senior RUC colleagues. The advantage of this was that soldiers had an end in sight and there was a limit to the length of their exposure to stress and danger. Places likes Creggan (a village beside Crossmaglen where the ‘lost’ O’Neill clan vault was accidentally discovered in a graveyard in 1973) are unique. Outside Keenan’s Bar, an official Northern Ireland tourist information sign hangs which serves as the “centre point” for Walsh’s walking tours.With a population of less than 1,200 during that period, there were between 2,000 and 3,000 British troops in and around the republican stronghold. The Roman Catholic population of Northern Ireland had little faith in the local police force, viewing the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) as a pro-Protestant organisation. Further attempts at creating devolved government in the region foundered with the Unionists staunchly resisting the idea of power sharing. However, they were eventually driven out of the area by the Three Collas, who invaded in the 4th century and held power until the 12th.