The Troubles in Garvagh affected Garvagh,

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulste ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, during the period of

ethno-nationalist Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various politi ...

conflict known as

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

, which affected Northern Ireland from 1968 to 1998. The Troubles claimed the lives of five people in Garvagh. All were

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and all were murdered by the

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

(PIRA). A corporal in the

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

(UDR), John Conley (43), killed by a car bomb on 23 July 1974.
'The Last Coleraine Militia', amateur history of E Coy 5 UDR An off-duty

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 Roy ...

(RUC) constable, Norman Annett (56), was shot dead on 1 July 1989. The first

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatan ...

casualty was Arthur McGraw (29), shot dead at his home on the Moneycarrie Road on 10 August 1979. A Protestant civilian, Winston McCaughey, was shot dead in Boveedy, three miles east of Garvagh, but closer to Kilrea, on 11 November 1976. On 20 April 1994, Alan Smyth (40) and John McCloy (28) were shot dead by the PIRA while sitting in a stationary car on Main Street, Garvagh. A third occupant of the vehicle was also injured in the attack. Both were civilians. In May 1994, at a special court in

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern I ...

, Patrick Kelly (29) and Liam Averill (29), both of

Maghera Maghera (pronounced , ) is a small town at the foot of the Glenshane Pass in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Its population was 4,220 in the 2011 Census, increasing from 3,711 in the 2001 Census. It is situated within Mid-Ulster Distri ...

, County Londonderry, were accused of murdering Smyth and McCloy, and of the attempted murder of the third occupant of the vehicle. They were remanded in custody to appear at a court in Belfast in May 1994. Averill was sentenced to life imprisonment shortly before the IRA announced its 1994 ceasefire. However, in 1997 he escaped from jail and was later reported to be living in Donegal in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:The Troubles In Garvagh Garvagh