Tony Geraghty
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Anthony Joseph Vincent Geraghty (13 January 1932 – 27 December 2024) was a British-Irish writer and journalist. He served in the Parachute Regiment, and was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for his work as a military liaison officer with U.S. forces during the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
. He was a journalist for ''
The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
'' and was the ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' Defence Correspondent in the 1970s.


Life and career

Geraghty was born in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
on 13 January 1932, to an
Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...
family. He was educated at the
London Oratory The London Oratory, officially the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in London, is a Catholic community of priests living under the rule of life established by Philip Neri (1515–1595). It is located in an Oratory House, next to th ...
. During the Falls Curfew in July 1970, while on assignment for the ''Sunday Times'', Geraghty was arrested by a soldier and charged with impeding the
Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
by being on the street against military orders, which carried an automatic prison sentence on conviction. In September 1970, a magistrate ruled he had no case to answer, and acquitted him. His 1998 book ''The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence'' was written following research which included interviews with members of
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
, British security forces and 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 ...
. It describes the various tactics, both military and political, used by both sides in
the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
in
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. ''Publishers Weekly'' called the book "highly opinionated" but praised "its attention to detail and its direct, potent writing." ''Library Journal'' said " e role of British Intelligence in Ulster has never been so deeply explored". On 3 December 1998 Geraghty's house was searched and he was interviewed by the
Ministry of Defence Police The Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) is a civilian special police force#United Kingdom, special police force which is part of the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence. The MDP's primary responsibilities are ...
and in May 1999, he was charged with breaching section 5 of the Official Secrets Act 1989 on the basis that he quoted from classified Army documents in the book. The Army was concerned that in mentioning their Caister/Crucible computer intelligence databases for tracking the Northern Irish population, and the Vengeful-Glutton number plate recognition and vehicle tracking system, he might have been in possession of copies of the documents. The case was dropped in November 2000. He wrote several books on the
Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terr ...
. ''The Bullet Catchers'' is a history of close protection
bodyguard A bodyguard (or close protection officer/operative) is a type of security guard, government law enforcement officer, or servicemember who protects an very important person, important person or group of people, such as high-ranking public offic ...
s. He was the godfather of magician’s assistant Debbie McGee. Geraghty died in
Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...
, England on 27 December 2024, at the age of 92.


Books

*''Who Dares Wins: The Story of the Special Air Service, 1950–1980'', 1980, () *''This is the SAS: A Pictorial History of the Special Air Service Regiment'', 1982 () *''March or Die: A New History of the French Foreign Legion'', 1987, () *''The Bullet Catchers'', 1989, () *''
BRIXMIS The British Commanders'-in-Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany (BRIXMIS) was a Military liaison missions, military liaison mission which operated behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany during the Cold War. BRIXMIS existed from 1946 †...
: The Untold Exploits of Britain's Most Daring Cold War Spy Mission'', 1997, () *''The Irish War: The Hidden Conflict Between the IRA and British Intelligence'', 1998, () *''Guns for Hire: The Inside Story of Freelance Soldiering'', 2007, ()


See also

* British military intelligence systems in Northern Ireland


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geraghty, Tony 1932 births 2024 deaths 20th-century English writers 20th-century British Army personnel English male journalists English people of Irish descent British Parachute Regiment soldiers British Army personnel of the Gulf War Journalists from Liverpool People educated at London Oratory School Military personnel from Liverpool☆