Informal alliance of Ulster loyalists active in the 1970s
Glenanne gang
Fields near the farm where the gang was based (Ballylane townland, near Glenanne, County Armagh)
Leaders
John Weir Billy McCaughey Billy Hanna Robin Jackson Harris Boyle
Dates of operation
1972–1980
Headquarters
Glenanne, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Active regions
Mainly County Armagh and east County Tyrone
Ideology
Ulster loyalism Irish unionism
Size
40 Known members
Part of
Ulster Volunteer Force
Opponents
Irish nationalists
Battles and wars
the Troubles, RUC
Glenanne
Glenanne (Northern Ireland)
v
t
e
The Troubles in Ireland
1960s and 1970s
Battle of the Bogside/1969 riots
RTÉ bombing
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
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
Garryhinch ambush
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
The Glenanne gang or Glenanne group was a secret informal alliance of Ulster loyalists who carried out shooting and bombing attacks against Catholics and Irish nationalists in the 1970s, during the Troubles.[1] Most of its attacks took place in the "murder triangle" area of counties Armagh and Tyrone in Northern Ireland.[2] It also launched some attacks elsewhere in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. The gang consisted of soldiers from the British Army's Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).[3][4] Twenty-five UDR soldiers and RUC police officers were named as purported members of the gang.[5] Details about the group have come from many sources, including the affidavit of former member and RUC officer John Weir; statements by other former members; police, army and court documents; and ballistics evidence linking the same weapons to various attacks. Since 2003, the group's activities have also been investigated by the 2006 Cassel Report, and three reports commissioned by Irish Supreme Court Justice Henry Barron, known as the Barron Reports.[6] A book focusing on the group's activities, Lethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland, by Anne Cadwallader, was published in 2013.[7] It drew on all the aforementioned sources, as well as Historical Enquiries Team investigations. The book was the basis for the 2019 documentary film Unquiet Graves, directed by Sean Murray.
According to Lethal Allies, permutations of the group killed about 120 people – almost all of whom were Catholic civilians with no links to Irish republican paramilitaries.[5] The Cassel Report investigated 76 killings attributed to the group and found evidence that UDR soldiers and RUC police officers were involved in 74 of those.[8] John Weir said his superiors knew he was working with loyalist militants but allowed it to continue.[9] The Cassel Report also said that some senior officers knew of the crimes but did nothing to prevent, investigate or punish.[8] It has been alleged that some key members were double agents working for British military intelligence and RUC Special Branch.[4][10]
Attacks attributed to the group include the Dublin and Monaghan bombings (1974), the Miami Showband killings (1975), the Reavey and O'Dowd killings (1976) and the Hillcrest Bar bombing (1976).[4] Many of the victims were killed at their homes or in indiscriminate attacks on Catholic-owned pubs with guns and/or bombs. Some were shot after being stopped at fake British Army checkpoints, and a number of the attacks were co-ordinated.[11] When it wished to "claim" its attacks, the group usually used the name "Protestant Action Force". The name "Glenanne gang" has been used since 2003 and is derived from the farm at Glenanne (near Markethill, County Armagh) that was used as the gang's main 'base of operations'.[12][13] It also made use of a farm near Dungannon.[14]
^The Cassel Report (2006), cain.ulst.ac.uk; retrieved 28 September 2013.
^Tiernan, Joe (2000). The Dublin Bombings and the Murder Triangle. Ireland: Mercier Press.
^ abcCollusion in the South Armagh/Mid Ulster Area in the mid-1970s Archived 26 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Pat Finucane Centre; retrieved 2 January 2011.
^ abLethal Allies: British Collusion in Ireland - Conclusions Archived 22 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine, PatFinucaneCentre.org; accessed 7 May 2015.
^The First Barron Report (2003); retrieved 14 December 2010.
^Lethal Allies review, irishtimes.com; accessed 7 May 2015.
^ abThe Cassel Report (2006), p. 4
^The Cassel Report (2006), p. 63
^The First Barron Report (2003). pp. 136, 172
^The Cassel Report (2006), p.12
^The First Barron Report (2003). pp. 144-45.
^"Victims' families sue over UVF Glenanne gang collusion claims". BBC News, 15 November 2013.
^"Book claims 'indisputable evidence of security forces collusion'", BBC News, 24 October 2013.
GlenanneGlenanne (Northern Ireland) The Glenannegang or Glenanne group was a secret informal alliance of Ulster loyalists who carried out shooting and...
Ireland Glenanne, a village near Mountnorris, County Armagh, Northern Ireland Glenannegang, a secret informal alliance of Ulster loyalists Glenanne barracks...
Hanna was still a member of the UDR. Hanna's unit formed part of the "Glenannegang", a loose alliance of loyalist extremists which allegedly functioned...
been linked to the "Glenannegang". 29 October: The UVF shot dead a Catholic civilian at his home in Lurgan. 25 November: The UVF gang known as the "Shankill...
Armagh and Tyrone counties from 1974 to 1976 have been linked to the Glenannegang, which was a group consisting of members of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade...
loyalist paramilitaries, such as taking part in loyalist attacks (e.g. the Glenannegang), giving weapons and intelligence to loyalists, not taking action against...
mother and brother were wounded. The attack has been linked to the Glenannegang. 1973 6 January 1973: Loyalists threw a grenade into the home of a Catholic...
Unquiet Graves: The Story of the GlenanneGang is a 2018 documentary film about The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Unquiet Graves was filmed in Dolby Surround...
that a former RUC officer connected with the Ulster Volunteer Force's Glenannegang will not face prosecution for ten Troubles-era murders due to lack of...
Mid-Ulster unit was part of the group of loyalist extremists known as the Glenannegang, comprising members of the RUC, UDR, UDA as well as the UVF, which carried...
the same area. Many of the loyalist attacks have been linked to the Glenannegang; an alleged secret alliance of loyalist militants, British soldiers...
its territory and the entire conflict came on 17 May 1974, when the Glenannegang–an informal alliance of loyalist militants and British security forces–exploded...
Sunday) or colluded with illegal loyalist paramilitaries (for example the Glenannegang) during The Troubles. Irish nationalist groups, and victims' groups...
Regiment soldiers and Royal Ulster Constabulary officers known as the Glenannegang. No one was ever prosecuted for the killing. Green was born in Lurgan...
their own bomb. The Miami Showband killings were carried out by the Glenannegang; a secret informal Loyalist alliance that included members of the UDR...
British Army, the RUC, and the civilian population. During the 1970s, the Glenannegang – a secret alliance of loyalist militants, British soldiers, and RUC...
and injuring 17 other people. The attack has been attributed to the Glenannegang. Since at least 5 August 1969, Ulster loyalists had been planting bombs...
attacks: Bombings killed two civilians. The attack was linked to the Glenannegang. 20 December – Biddy Mulligan's pub bombing: The UDA bombed a popular...
Force (UVF) on the 15 May 1976. The attacks have been attributed to the Glenannegang which was a coalition of right-wing Loyalist paramilitaries and subversive...
wounding a fourth. The attack is one of many that has been linked to the Glenannegang. The 'Bleary Darts Club' was frequented mainly by Catholics but was...
drove into the laneway of their home at Congo, Edendork. The attack has been linked to the "Glenannegang". NI Conflict Archive on the Internet v t e...
out by the Ulster Volunteer Force. The attack has been linked to the Glenannegang. 17 June 1978 - William Turbitt (42) and Hugh McConnell (32), both Protestant...
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