Saor Uladh (pronounced[ˌsˠiːɾˠˈʊlˠə,-ˈʊlˠuː];Irish for "Free Ulster") was a short-livedIrish republican paramilitary organisation inNorthern Ireland in the 1950s.^[1]

Seen as a splinter group of theIrish Republican Army, it was formed inCounty Tyrone byLiam Kelly andPhil O'Donnell in 1953.^[1] Kelly had been expelled from the IRA in October 1951 for carrying out an unauthorised raid inDerry, and took some of his colleagues with him into the new organisation.^[2] The new group carried out armed robberies.^[2] In 1954, a political wing,Fianna Uladh, was formed.^[2] Kelly was later elected to theSeanad in 1954, due mainly to the efforts ofSeán MacBride.^[3] Unusually for republican groups at the time, Saor Uladh recognised the legitimacy of theConstitution of Ireland and theDáil Éireann.^[3] Saor Uladh were closely associated with the leftrepublican partyClann na Poblachta^[3] – then a party in government in theRepublic of Ireland, although no formal link was ever established or admitted.

The group was armed by contacts Kelly had in theUnited States of America, from whom they received not only guns and explosives but also anti-tank weapons.^[4] Despite this arsenal, the group confined itself to attacks on barracks and the bombing of bridges and customs posts during its period of activity.^[5]

Saor Uladh was involved in three high-profile attacks from 1955 to 1957. In 1955, they launched an attack on theRoyal Ulster Constabulary barracks inRosslea,County Fermanagh in which VolunteerConnie Green was fatally injured.^[6][2] On 11 November 1956, Saor Uladh and members of a Dublin IRA splinter group destroyed six customs posts along the border in bomb attacks.^[7] In May 1957, the group blew up theNewry Canal lock withgelignite that they had stolen.^[8][9]

Their military campaign saw the destruction of several customs posts and raids on police installations. Saor Uladh had its main presence in County Tyrone and in this area the IRA was forced to tolerate the group's existence due to the popularity of Kelly.^[10] At the beginning of theBorder Campaign, the group was subsumed back into the IRA.^{[citation needed]} After the attack on the Newry Canal, twelve of the group's members were interned at theCurragh Camp in 1957, where they were ostracised by the IRA internees.^[9]

During the organisation's brief existence, two of its members were killed.^[11]

• Bowyer Bell, J (1990).The Secret Army: The IRA. Dublin: Poolbeg.ISBN 1-85371-027-X.
• Bowyer Bell, J (1997).The Secret Army: The IRA. Transaction Publishers.ISBN 978-1-56000-901-6.
• Feeney, Brian (2002).Sinn Féin: A Hundred Turbulent Years. New York: O'Brien Press.ISBN 978-0-86278-695-3.
• Flynn, Barry (2009).Soldiers of folly : the IRA border campaign 1956-1962. Collins Press.ISBN 978-1-84889-016-9.
• Hanley, Brian; Millar, Scott (2009).The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Dublin: Penguin Ireland.ISBN 978-1-84488-120-8.

• 1950s in Northern Ireland
• Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)
• Irish republican militant groups

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