Catherine and Gerard Mahon were a husband and wife who lived in the Twinbrook suburb of

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. Gerard, aged twenty-eight, was a mechanic; Catherine, was twenty-seven. They were killed by the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(Provisional IRA) on 8 September 1985, the Provisional IRA alleging they were

informers An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

. However at least two of those responsible for their deaths were later uncovered as British agents within the Provisional IRA's

Internal Security Unit The Internal Security Unit (ISU) was the counter-intelligence and interrogation unit of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). This unit was often referred to as the Nutting Squad, in reference to the fact that many of the informers uncove ...

, leaving the actual status of the Mahons as informers open to doubt.

Background

The Mahons were neighbours of estate agent

Joseph Fenton Joseph "Joe" Fenton (c. 1953 – 26 February 1989) was an estate agent from Belfast, Northern Ireland, killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) for acting as an informer for RUC Special Branch. Activity as an informer In the early ...

, a supplier of 'safe houses' for the IRA, but also an informer for

RUC Special Branch RUC Special Branch was the Special Branch of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and was heavily involved in the British state effort during the Troubles, especially against the Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republica ...

. When a number of Provisional IRA missions were compromised, Fenton is believed to have directed a member of the Internal Security Unit,

Freddie Scappaticci Alfredo Scappaticci (12 January 1946 – April 2023) was an Irish IRA member named in the Kenova report as a British Intelligence mole with the codename Stakeknife. Scappaticci was a member of the IRA’s Internal Security Unit. In 2003, it ...

, and three other men, to the Mahons. Abducted in August, interrogated and beaten for prolonged periods, the Mahons eventually confessed that their flat was bugged by the

Royal Ulster Constabulary The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) was the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2001. It was founded on 1 June 1922 as a successor to the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) Richard Doherty, ''The Thin Green Line – The History of the ...

(RUC), who are alleged to have paid the couple for information, another version is that the Mahons had agreed to inform on the Provisional IRA if the RUC overlooked a number of outstanding fines and charges they were facing. One of the weapons hidden with the Mahons as a safe house was found by the Provisional IRA to have been fitted with a surveillance device.

Deaths

The Provisional IRA took the couple from the location they were being held at on the Monagh Road to an alleyway on Norglen Crescent in

Turf Lodge The Springfield Road () is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare adjacent to the Falls Road (Belfast), Falls Road in west Belfast. The local population is predominantly Irish nationalism, Irish nationalist and Irish republicanism, re ...

and shot them. It is thought Catherine Mahon was shot in the back while trying to escape. Gerard was shot in the face and then the back of the head while his wife was forced to watch. She then tried to run away and was cut down by a burst of machine gun fire. Following the killings, the three gunmen returned to their taxi and were driven away. Those who found their bodies said at the time:

Joe Hendron Joseph Gerard Hendron (born 12 November 1932) is a Northern Ireland politician, a member of the centre-left Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP). Background Hendron, also a local GP physician for 40 years, was first elected ...

of the

Social Democratic and Labour Party The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP; ) is a social democratic and Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. The SDLP currently has eight members in the Northern Ireland Assembly ( MLAs) and two members of Parliament (M ...

released a statement, remarking:

Aftermath

On 24 July 1991, Paul Pius Duffy was arrested and held in Castlereagh holding centre in relation to the murders. After a number of interviews, he had confessed to transporting the Mahons to Turf Lodge for the Provisional IRA in his taxi. He also claimed to have been a member of the Provisional IRA previously, having transported rifles and explosives for them, but had been stood down after being suspected of being a '

tout A tout is any person who solicits business or employment in a persistent and annoying manner (generally equivalent to a '' solicitor'' or '' barker'' in American English, or a '' spruiker'' in Australian English). An example would be a person w ...

', and had left the organisation in November 1985. In May 1993, Duffy was convicted for multiple counts of manslaughter, false imprisonment, being a member of a proscribed organisation, conspiracy to murder members of the security forces, and a number of charges relating to possession of explosives and firearms with intent to endanger life. All sentences were to run concurrently, resulting in a 10-year sentence. In February 2024, Duffy launched an appeal to overturn his conviction, claiming that the confession had been coerced by the RUC. In April 2024, his appeal was rejected by the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal.

References

External links

CAIN: Chronology of the conflict 1985
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahon, Catherine and Gerard 1985 deaths 1985 in Northern Ireland Deaths by person in Northern Ireland Married couples The Troubles in Belfast People murdered in Belfast 20th century in Belfast 1980s murders in Northern Ireland 1985 murders in the United Kingdom Murder victims from Belfast Paramilitary punishment attacks in Northern Ireland 1985 murders in Ireland

Background

Deaths

Aftermath

See also

References

External links