Shore Road, Belfast
The Troubles
### The Troubles

Like much of Belfast, the Shore Road saw a number of paramilitary attacks during [the Troubles](/wiki/The_Troubles "The Troubles"). Paramilitaries from both the [Ulster loyalist](/wiki/Ulster_loyalist "Ulster loyalist") and [Irish republican](/wiki/Irish_republican "Irish republican") sides were both active on the Shore Road, both in terms of recruiting members and in carrying out attacks.

#### Ulster Volunteer Force

The [Ulster Volunteer Force](/wiki/Ulster_Volunteer_Force "Ulster Volunteer Force") (UVF) was active locally from early in the Troubles. They placed a bomb in Conway's Bar, Greencastle on 29 March 1974 with two Catholic civilians, James Mitchell and Joseph Donnelly, killed in the explosion.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1974](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1974.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\. The UVF carried out a [bomb and gun attack on the same bar a year later](/wiki/1975_Conway%27s_Bar_attack "1975 Conway's Bar attack") on 13 March 1975 resulting in the deaths of a Catholic woman, Marie Doyle, and a UVF bomber, George Brown.Taylor, Peter (1999\). *Loyalists*. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., pp. 144–46 On 23 May 1975 the UVF, under its [Protestant Action Force](/wiki/Protestant_Action_Force "Protestant Action Force") (PAF) codename, killed two Catholic brothers, John and Thomas McErlane, as they visited friends in Mount Vernon, before shooting another Catholic civilian in late August, who would die from his wounds on 8 October.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1975](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch75.htm)[1975 Chronology](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1975.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\.

In 1976 a [loyalist feud](/wiki/Loyalist_feud "Loyalist feud") between the [Ulster Defence Association](/wiki/Ulster_Defence_Association "Ulster Defence Association") (UDA) and UVF broke out and this included several incidents on the Shore Road, including UVF member Alexander Frame being assaulted with a breeze block, and a former seaman, who was not a member of either organisation, being shot and killed in a bar after getting caught in the crossfire.McDonald \& Cusack, pp. 100–01 Larry Potter from [County Monaghan](/wiki/County_Monaghan "County Monaghan") was killed by a UVF [car bomb](/wiki/Car_bomb "Car bomb") on the Shore Road on 25 March 1977 when his firm's minibus was fitted with an explosive device.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1977](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1977.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\. On 29 October 1983, David Nocher, a member of the [Workers' Party](/wiki/Workers%27_Party_%28Ireland%29 "Workers' Party (Ireland)"), was killed at his Mill Road shop, with the attack claimed by the UVF again under their PAF pseudonym.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1983](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1983.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\. Sectarian killings continued, as on 31 January 1986 when Martin Quinn was shot dead at his Bawnmore home.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1986](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1986.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\.

The UVF became more active in the area during the 1990s, carrying out a number of killings. Peter McTasney was killed on 24 February 1991 at his home in Bawnmore. McTasney had no paramilitary affiliations.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1991](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1991.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\. On 17 January 1993, a Catholic young woman, Sharon McKenna was killed by the organisation as she visited a Protestant friend on the Mount Vernon estate.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1993](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1993.html) On 17 May 1994 two Catholic workmen, Eamon Fox and Gary Convie, were shot and killed by the UVF as they waited in a car outside the Tiger's Bay building site at which they were employed.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1994](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1994.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\. Later that same year, on 17 June, two Protestant workmen, Cecil Dougherty and William Corrigan, were killed in similar circumstances when the UVF, believing them to be Catholic, launched a gun attack on the hut at which their construction team was based.

During the Troubles an active UVF unit was based in the Shore Road's Mount Vernon estate and in 2011 the [Historical Enquiries Team](/wiki/Historical_Enquiries_Team "Historical Enquiries Team") (HET) undertook a wide\-ranging investigation into its activities. A number of alleged members were brought to trial based on evidence provided by [supergrass](/wiki/Supergrass_%28informer%29 "Supergrass (informer)") Robert Stewart with crimes including the killing of UDA and [Ulster Democratic Party](/wiki/Ulster_Democratic_Party "Ulster Democratic Party") (UDP) activist Tommy English as part of a [loyalist feud](/wiki/Loyalist_feud "Loyalist feud"). The trial, which involves some 13 alleged members of the Mount Vernon unit, ended in February 2012 when all but one of the defendants was acquitted after the judge called into question the testimonies of the central witnesses.[Nine men cleared of murdering UDA man Tommy English](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-17126475)[UVF supergrass case: 'Gunman told to miss English family'](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-14811349), bbc.co.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\. As part of the same feud the UVF had also killed Tiger's Bay [Ulster Defence Association](/wiki/Ulster_Defence_Association "Ulster Defence Association") (UDA) activist David Greer, an attack for which the UDA killed [Progressive Unionist Party](/wiki/Progressive_Unionist_Party "Progressive Unionist Party") member Herbert Rice in the same area.[Sutton Index of Deaths 2000](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/2000.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\.

#### Ulster Defence Association

[thumb\|Boundary Bar, January 2012](/wiki/File:Boundary_Bar.JPG "Boundary Bar.JPG")
The UDA has been active in the area since the 1970s with the Shore Road divided between the North Belfast and [South East Antrim](/wiki/UDA_South_East_Antrim_Brigade "UDA South East Antrim Brigade") brigades. Killings committed by the UDA in the area include Gordon Harron, a policeman, was killed near Mount Vernon after stopping a car containing UDA members on 21 October 1972\.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1972](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1972.html) and on 13 July 1976 the shooting of Gerard Gilmore, an [Official IRA](/wiki/Official_IRA "Official IRA") (OIRA) member, outside the Boundary Bar. The *[Irish Times](/wiki/Irish_Times "Irish Times")* reported that he was on vigilante duty and was believed to have been armed at the time. An Official IRA death notice in the *[Irish News](/wiki/Irish_News "Irish News")* confirmed he had been on vigilante duty. He was also a member of the [Workers' Party](/wiki/Workers%27_Party_%28Ireland%29 "Workers' Party (Ireland)").McKittrick, David; Seamus Kelters, Brian Feeney, Chris Thornton (2000\). *Lost Lives*. Mainstream Publishing, p. 662 However, one of their most notorious attacks in the area occurred on 11 February 1974 when a group of Catholic workers from Abbey Meats, a Shore Road meat packing plant, were shot at with machine guns by UDA members from East Antrim. Two teenagers, Margaret McErlean (17\) and Thomas Donaghy (16\), were killed in the attack.Henry McDonald \& Jim Cusack, *UDA – Inside the Heart of Loyalist Terror*, Penguin Ireland, 2004, p. 70\.

The group was also responsible for the killing of Henry Corbett of Bawnmore Grove, Greencastle, on 3 September 1979\.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1979](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1979.html) On 30 August 1993 [Stephen McKeag](/wiki/Stephen_McKeag "Stephen McKeag") of the [UDA West Belfast Brigade](/wiki/UDA_West_Belfast_Brigade "UDA West Belfast Brigade") killed Marie Teresa Dowds de Mogollon in an attack on her Fortwilliam home, although this murder was disowned by the UDA, which resulted in the killing being claimed as an accident when it was claimed under the UDA's [Ulster Freedom Fighters](/wiki/Ulster_Freedom_Fighters "Ulster Freedom Fighters") cover name; the group said it had intended to kill her husband, a native of [Peru](/wiki/Peru "Peru"), whom the group accused of providing safe houses and apartments for IRA volunteers.David Lister \& Hugh Jordan, *Mad Dog: The Rise and Fall of Johnny Adair and C Company*, Mainstream Publishing, 2004, pp. 155–56\.

Glen Branagh, a 16\-year\-old member of the UDA's youth group [Ulster Young Militants](/wiki/Ulster_Young_Militants "Ulster Young Militants"), was killed in the Tiger's Bay area on 11 November 2001 after a pipe bomb he was wielding during clashes at the [interface area](/wiki/Interface_area "Interface area") exploded prematurely.[Sutton Index of Deaths 2001](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/2001.html) UDA members have frequently used the Alexandra Bar on York Road as a meeting place. In March 2006 six UDA members, including [Ihab Shoukri](/wiki/Ihab_Shoukri "Ihab Shoukri"), were arrested there as part of a police raid.["Shoukri suffered 'epileptic fit'"](http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/shoukri_suffered_epileptic_fit_1_1878579), newsletter.co.uk; accessed 2 March 2015\. Several years earlier, on 15 March 1975, two UDA members John Fulton and Stephen Goatley, had been shot dead by the UVF as part of a feud between the two groups.

#### Provisional IRA

[thumb\|Republican memorial garden, Bawnmore](/wiki/File:Bawnmore_memorial.JPG "Bawnmore memorial.JPG")
The [Provisional Irish Republican Army](/wiki/Provisional_Irish_Republican_Army "Provisional Irish Republican Army") (PIRA) launched a number of attacks in the area. One of the first came on 5 January 1973 when 18\-year\-old Trevor Rankin was killed at a petrol station on the road. It was later claimed that the killers had mistaken the civilian Rankin for an off\-duty member of the [Ulster Defence Regiment](/wiki/Ulster_Defence_Regiment "Ulster Defence Regiment").[Sutton Index of Deaths 1973](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1973.html) John Beattie, a 17\-year\-old member of the UDA, was killed by the PIRA on 12 July 1974 in the Tiger's Bay area.

On 5 June 1976, the IRA launched a bomb attack on the Times Bar on York Road killing two Protestant patrons. In response to the attack the UVF launched a reprisal hit on the [Chlorane Bar](/wiki/Chlorane_Bar_attack "Chlorane Bar attack") in the city centre, killing five people.Dillon, Martin (1989\). *The Shankill Butchers: the real story of cold\-blooded mass murder*. New York: Routledge. p. 125 On 4 February 1978 the PIRA shot a civilian dead while mounting an attack on a [Royal Ulster Constabulary](/wiki/Royal_Ulster_Constabulary "Royal Ulster Constabulary") (RUC) foot patrol on the road.[Sutton Index of Deaths by Malcolm Sutton – 1978](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1978.html) A similar attack, carried out from the [Seaview](/wiki/Seaview_%28football_ground%29 "Seaview (football ground)") football ground on 12 January 1980 resulted in the death of David Purse, a member of the RUC.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1980](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1980.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\.

#### Others

During the early years of the Troubles a number of people were killed in attacks in which the group responsible remains unknown. On 21 June 1974 loyalists killed Protestant Stanley Lemon as he arrived at work on the Shore Road, mistakenly believing he was a Catholic. The Railway Bar in Greencastle was damaged in a bomb attack on 20 February 1975 with patron Gerald McKeown killed in the explosion. The attack was carried out by loyalists but not claimed by one group. The shooting of Joseph Branagh in Tiger's Bay later that year was likewise unclaimed, although it was the work of republicans. Michael Boothman was killed on 25 September 1976 as he stood outside the Shore Road's Wolfe Tone Social Club. Boothman's killing was carried out by loyalists but not claimed by a specific group. Later that same year, on 3 November, Georgina Strain was killed at her home in Tiger's Bay in an attack carried out by republicans but also not claimed by a specific group.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1976](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1976.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\.

Peter McGuinness, a 41\-year\-old Catholic civilian was killed by a [plastic bullet](/wiki/Plastic_bullet "Plastic bullet") fired by the RUC outside his home in Greencastle on 9 August 1981\.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1981](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1981.html) Elsewhere the republican [Irish People's Liberation Organisation](/wiki/Irish_People%27s_Liberation_Organisation "Irish People's Liberation Organisation") killed 66\-year\-old William Sergeant on 5 May 1992, shooting him as he stood outside the Mount Inn, Tiger's Bay.[Sutton Index of Deaths 1992](http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1992.html), cain.ulst.ac.uk; accessed 4 March 2015\.


Who was mistakenly believed to be a Catholic by loyalists who killed him in 1974?