| Reavey and O'Dowd killings | |
|---|---|
| Part ofthe Troubles | |
  Whitecross Ballydougan | |
| Location | Whitecross andBallydougan, County Armagh,Northern Ireland |
| Date | 4 January 1976 18:10 and 18:20 (GMT) |
Attack type | Mass shooting,familicide |
| Deaths | 6 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Perpetrators | Ulster Volunteer Force |
TheReavey and O'Dowd killings were two coordinated gun attacks on 4 January 1976 inCounty Armagh,Northern Ireland. SixCatholic civilians died after members of theUlster Volunteer Force (UVF), anUlster loyalist paramilitary group, broke into their homes and shot them. Three members of the Reavey family were shot at their home inWhitecross and four members of the O'Dowd family were shot at their home inBallydougan.[1] Two of the Reaveys and three of the O'Dowds were killed outright, with the third Reavey victim dying ofbrain haemorrhage almost a month later.
The shootings were part of a string of attacks on Catholics andIrish nationalists by the "Glenanne gang"; an alliance of loyalist militants, rogueBritish soldiers andRoyal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) police officers.Billy McCaughey, an officer from theSpecial Patrol Group, admitted taking part and accused another officer of involvement.[2] His colleagueJohn Weir said those involved included a British soldier, two police officers and an alleged police agent:Robin 'the Jackal' Jackson.
The next day, IRA gunmen shot dead tenProtestant civilians in theKingsmill massacre. This was claimed as retaliation for the Reavey and O'Dowd shootings, and was the climax of a string of tit-for-tat killings in the area during the mid-1970s.
In February 1975, theProvisional IRA and the British Government entered into a truce and restarted negotiations. For the duration of the truce, the IRA agreed to haltits attacks on the British security forces, and the security forces mostly ended their raids and searches.[3] However, there were dissenters on both sides. Some Provisionals wanted no part of the truce, while some British commanders resented being told to stop their operations against the IRA just when they claimed they had the Provisionals on the run.[3] The security forces boosted their intelligence offensive during the truce.[3]
There was a rise in sectarian killings during the truce, which 'officially' lasted until February 1976.Loyalists, fearing they were about to be forsaken by the British government and forced into aunited Ireland,[4] increased their attacks on Irish Catholics/Irish nationalists. Loyalists killed 120 Catholics in 1975, the vast majority civilians.[5] They hoped to force the IRA to retaliate and thus end the truce.[5] Some IRA units concentrated on tackling the loyalists. The fall-off of regular operations had caused unruliness within the IRA and some members, with or without permission from higher up, engaged in tit-for-tat killings.[3] Most of the loyalist attacks in the County Armagh area have been linked to the "Glenanne gang"; a secret alliance of loyalist militants, British soldiers and RUC police officers.[6]
At about 6:10PM, at least three masked men entered the home of the Reaveys, a Catholic family, inWhitecross.[11] The door had been left unlocked.[13] Brothers John (24), Brian (22) and Anthony Reavey (17)[14] were alone in the house and were watching television in the sitting room. The gunmen opened fire on them with two 9mmSterling submachine guns, a 9mmLuger pistol and a .455Webley revolver.[15] John and Brian were killed outright. Anthony managed to run to the bedroom and take cover under a bed. He was shot several times and left for dead.[16] After searching the house and finding no one else, the gunmen left.[11][17] Badly wounded, Anthony crawled about 200 yards to a neighbour's house and sought help.[13] He died of a brain haemorrhage on 30 January. Although the pathologist said the shooting played no part in his death, Anthony is listed officially as a victim of the Troubles.[18][19] A brother, Eugene Reavey, said "Our entire family could have been wiped out. Normally on a Sunday, the twelve of us would have been home, but that night my mother took everybody [else] out to visit my aunt".[20] Neighbours claimed there had been twoRoyal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) checkpoints set up—one at either end of the road—around the time of the attack. These checkpoints could have stopped passers-by from seeing what was happening. The RUC denied having patrols in the area at the time, but said there could have been checkpoints manned by theBritish Army'sUlster Defence Regiment (UDR).[11]
At about 6:20PM, three masked men burst into the home of the O'Dowds, another Catholic family, inBallydougan, about fifteen miles away.[11][17][22] Sixteen people were in the house for a family reunion. The male family members were in the sitting room with some of the children, playing the piano.[13] The gunmen sprayed the room with bullets, killing Joseph O'Dowd (61) and his nephews Barry (24) and Declan O'Dowd (19). All three were members of theSocial Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP)[14] and the family believes this is why they were targeted.[11] Barney O'Dowd (Barry and Declan's father) was also wounded by gunfire. The RUC concluded that the weapon used was a 9mm Sterling submachine gun, although Barney believes a Luger pistol with asuppressor was also used. The gunmen had crossed a field to get to the house, and there is evidence that UDR soldiers had been in the field the day before.[11]
The killings were claimed by the "Protestant Action Force",[23] a cover name used by members of the UVF.
According to the Reavey and O'Dowd families, the RUC officers sent to investigate the shootings were hostile and unhelpful. The Reavey family claimed the RUC's attitude was that "your brothers were not shot for nothing". The police inquest, however, found that the families had no links with paramilitaries.[11]
The killings were found to be among a string of attacks carried out by the "Glenanne gang";[17] a secret alliance of UVF members, British soldiers from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), and police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).[17]
In 1988, while imprisoned, former RUC officerBilly McCaughey (died 2006) admitted being one of the men who took part in the Reavey attack—although he denied firing any shots.[11] At that time he was a member of the RUC'sSpecial Patrol Group (SPG), but in 1980 he was imprisoned for his involvement in the sectarian murder of William Strathearn.[2] McCaughey was not charged in connection with the Reavey shooting.[2] He also claimed that RUC reservistJames Mitchell (died 2008) had driven the getaway car, along with his housekeeper Lily Shields.[11] Eugene Reavey, who had worked as a poultry advisor, knew Mitchell and used to visit his farm once a week.[11]
RUC SPG officerJohn Weir, in hisaffidavit made to Irish Supreme Court JusticeHenry Barron, named those involved in the Reavey shootings asRobert McConnell (a soldier of the British Army'sUlster Defence Regiment), Laurence McClure (an RUC SPG officer), James Mitchell, and another man.[11] In a meeting with Eugene Reavey, the RUC officer heading the investigation also named McConnell, McClure and Mitchell as suspects.[11] Anthony Reavey's description of the man carrying the submachine gun closely fits that of McConnell, despite the gunman having worn a black woollenbalaclava.[11] McConnell was implicated in the1974 Dublin car bombings[24] and many sectarian attacks.[25]
In 2021, thePolice Ombudsman askedprosecutors to decide whether there is enough evidence to charge a former RUC officer with the Reavey killings.[26]
Weir named Mid-Ulster UVF leaderRobin "the Jackal" Jackson (died 1998) as the main gunman in the O'Dowd shootings.[11] Investigating officers told Barney O'Dowd that Jackson was involved but they did not have enough evidence to charge him.[11] Jackson was also named as having a key role in the 1974 Dublin car bombings,Miami Showband massacre and a series of sectarian killings. A number of sources claim he was anRUC Special Branch agent.[25][27]
Human rights group thePat Finucane Centre (PFC), along with the families of those killed, have stated their belief that the killings were part of "a security-force-inspired 'dirty war' aimed at terrorising the Catholic/Nationalist community into isolating the IRA" and were "intended to provoke a bloody and ever escalating response" from the IRA. This would then bring about tougher measures against it from both governments, and/or "provoke acivil war".[17] John Weir, a former member of the group who carried out the attacks, said they wanted to provoke a civil war, believing that if civil war erupted they could then "crush the other side".[28]
The next day, gunmen stopped a minibus carrying ten Protestant workmen near Whitecross and shot them dead by the roadside. This became known as theKingsmill massacre. The "South Armagh Republican Action Force" claimed responsibility, saying it was retaliation for the Reavey and O'Dowd killings. Following the massacre, the British Government declared County Armagh to be a "Special Emergency Area" and announced that theSpecial Air Service (SAS) was being sent into South Armagh.[1][17]
Some of the Reavey family came upon the scene of the Kingsmill massacre while driving to the hospital to collect the bodies of John and Brian.[29] Some members of the security forces immediately began a campaign of harassment against the Reavey family, and accused Eugene Reavey of orchestrating the Kingsmill massacre.[30] On their way home from the morgue, the Reavey family were stopped at a checkpoint. Eugene claims the soldiers assaulted and humiliated his mother, put a gun to his back, and danced on his dead brothers' clothes.[29] The harassment would later involve the3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment.[31] In 2007, thePolice Service of Northern Ireland apologised for the "appalling harassment suffered by the family in the aftermath at the hands of the security forces".[32]
After the killings of the Reavey brothers, their father made his five surviving sons swear not to retaliate or to join any republican paramilitary group.[20]
In 1999,Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leaderIan Paisley stated in theHouse of Commons that Eugene Reavey "set up the Kingsmill massacre". In 2010, a report by the policeHistorical Enquiries Team cleared Eugene of any involvement. The Reavey family sought an apology, but Paisley refused to retract the allegation and died in 2014.[33]
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