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Martin McGartland
Martin McGartland (born 30 January 1970) is a former British informer who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1989 to pass information to RUC Special Branch. When he was exposed as an informer in 1991 he was abducted by the IRA, but escaped and was resettled in England. His identity became publicly known after a minor court case. He was later shot six times by a gunman, but recovered from the injuries. He has written two books about his life, ''Fifty Dead Men Walking: The Terrifying True Story of a Secret Agent Inside the IRA'' and ''Dead Man Running''. Childhood in West Belfast Born into a staunchly Irish republican, Roman Catholic family in Belfast, McGartland grew up in a council house in Moyard, Ballymurphy at the foot of the Black Mountain. His parents were separated and he had one brother, Joe, and two sisters, Elizabeth and Catherine. As the Troubles escalated, republican areas such as Ballymurphy increasingly came under the control of the local P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom and the second-largest in Ireland. It had a population of 345,418 . By the early 19th century, Belfast was a major port. It played an important role in the Industrial Revolution in Ireland, briefly becoming the biggest linen-producer in the world, earning it the nickname " Linenopolis". By the time it was granted city status in 1888, it was a major centre of Irish linen production, tobacco-processing and rope-making. Shipbuilding was also a key industry; the Harland and Wolff shipyard, which built the , was the world's largest shipyard. Industrialisation, and the resulting inward migration, made Belfast one of Ireland's biggest cities. Following the partition of Ireland in 1921, Belfast became the seat of government for Northern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around east of Newcastle upon Tyne. Two notable landmarks are the Spanish City (a domed building on the seafront) and St. Mary's Lighthouse, the latter on a small island near the town. History Early history Whitley was first mentioned around 1100 when King Henry I of England, Henry I conferred it with other possessions on the Priory of Tynemouth being referred to in ancient documents and maps before that date as Witelei, Wyteley, Hwyteleg, Witelithe, Wheteley, Wytheleye, Whitlaw, Whitlathe and Whitlag. Whitley is also referred to in the charters of King Henry II of England, Henry II, King Richard I of England, Richard I and King John of England, John, confirming to the priors their possessions and liberties. Whitley was connected with the Crusad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twinbrook, Belfast
Poleglass () is an area of west Belfast in Northern Ireland. It is the name of a townland, a modern electoral ward, and a housing estate. The townland is situated in the civil parish of Derriaghy and the historic Barony of Belfast Upper. It is mainly an Irish nationalist area. Due to its proximity to both Belfast and Lisburn, it has become popular with commuters. This has led to the swift growth of housing in the area and a sharp rise in house prices. Addresses in Poleglass are classed as being in Belfast, and the telephone numbers in the area generally start with '90' as with the rest of Belfast. Early history The area currently known as Poleglass has a long history of human habitation, with a ringfort having existed in the area yielding artefacts from the early Christian era. A thirteenth century silver coin was also excavated. By the early 20th century the area had become part of the green belt between Belfast and Lisburn and was largely uninhabited. Cloona House is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irish Echo
''The Irish Echo'' is a weekly Irish-American newspaper based in Manhattan in the United States. In 2007, Máirtín Ó Muilleoir, Irish businessman and publisher of the ''Andersonstown News'', purchased the paper. Founded in 1928, it bills itself as "the USA's most widely read Irish-American newspaper" with a readership of 100,000 with circulation of about 60,000. According to ''The Irish Echo''s media kit, the newspaper is printed in both the United States and Ireland and has "newsstand presence in all major American and Irish cities". Irish writers John B. Keane, Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ..., and Tom Caulfield all contributed to the paper in the past. Events Events associated with ''The Irish Echo'' include: * "Top 40 under 40 Irish and Iris ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bangor, County Down
Bangor ( ; ) is a city and seaside resort in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to which it is linked by the A2 road and the Belfast–Bangor railway line. The population was 61,011 at the 2011 Census. Bangor was granted city status in 2022, becoming Northern Ireland's sixth city. Bangor Abbey was an important and influential monastery founded in the 6th century by Saint Comgall. Bangor grew during the 17th century Plantation of Ulster, when many Scottish settlers arrived. Today, tourism is important to the local economy, particularly in the summer months, and plans are being made for the long-delayed redevelopment of the seafront; a notable historical building in the city is Bangor Old Custom House. The largest plot of private land in the area, the Clandeboye Estate, which is a few miles from the city centre, belonged to the M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larne
Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight roll-on roll-off port. Larne is administered by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Together with parts of the neighbouring districts of Antrim and Newtownabbey and Causeway Coast and Glens, it forms the East Antrim constituency for elections to the Westminster Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly. The civil parish is in the historic barony of Glenarm Upper. History The coastal area around Larne has been inhabited for millennia, and is thought to have been one of the earliest inhabited areas of Ireland, with these early human populations believed to have arrived from Scotland via the North Channel. Knockdhu, north of Larne, was the site of a Bronze Age promontory fort and settlement. The early coastal dwellers are thought to have had a sophisticated culture which involved tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of Loch Ryan, on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries and Galloway's second-largest town, with a population including the immediate surrounding area of nearly 13,000 inhabitants. Stranraer is an administrative centre for the West Galloway Wigtownshire area of Dumfries and Galloway. It was formerly a ferry port, connecting Scotland with Belfast and Larne in Northern Ireland; the last service was transferred to nearby Cairnryan in November 2011. It lies by road southwest of Glasgow, miles southwest of Ayr and to the west of Dumfries. The name comes from Scottish Gaelic '' An t-Sròn Reamhar'' meaning "the broad headland" or "the fat nose". History The Battle of Loch Ry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Loyalist
Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a united Ireland. Unlike other strands of unionism, loyalism has been described as an ethnic nationalism of Ulster Protestants and "a variation of British nationalism". Loyalists are often said to have a conditional loyalty to the British state so long as it defends their interests.Smithey, Lee. ''Unionists, Loyalists, and Conflict Transformation in Northern Ireland''. Oxford University Press, 2011. pp.56–58 They see themselves as loyal primarily to the Protestant British monarchy rather than to British governments and institutions, while Garret FitzGerald argued they are loyal to 'Ulster' over 'the Union'. A small minority of loyalists have called for an independent Ulster Protestant state, believing they cannot rely on British governments ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosena Brown
Rosena Brown ( ga, Róisín De Brún; born c.1945) is an Irish actress of television, cinema, and stage from Belfast, Northern Ireland who also served as an intelligence officer for the Provisional IRA. Dubbed the "IRA Mata Hari","Dissidents Plan Honey Traps in Bid to Kill Troops". ''Belfast Telegraph''. Deborah McAleese. 18 December 2009 Retrieved 1 February 2012 she was named in the trial of prison officer John Hanna, who was charg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Active Service Unit
An active service unit (ASU; ) was a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) cell of four to ten members, tasked with carrying out armed attacks. In 2002, the IRA had about 1,000 active members of which about 300 were in active service units. The name “Active Service Unit” dates from the War of Independence as the official army name of the “Flying Columns” to distinguish between Volunteers who acted as support troops versus those “on the run” and actively involved in military attacks. In 1977, the IRA moved away from the larger conventional military organisational principle owing to its perceived security vulnerability. In place of the battalion structures, a system of two parallel types of unit within an IRA Brigade was introduced. Firstly, the old "company" structures were used to supply auxiliary members for support activities such as intelligence-gathering, acting as lookouts or moving weapons. The bulk of attacks from 1977 onwards were the responsibility of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook Timeline of Ulster Volunteer Force actions, an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles. It declared a ceasefire in 1994 and officially ended its campaign in 2007, although some of its members have continued to engage in violence and criminal activities. The group is a proscribed organisation and is on the List of designated terrorist organizations, terrorist organisation list of the United Kingdom. The UVF's declared goals were to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA) – and to maintain Northern Ireland's status as part of the United Kingdom. It was responsible for more than 500 deaths. The vast majority (more than two-thirds) (choose "religion summary" + "status" + "organisation") of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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