The Woodvale Defence Association (WDA) was an

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Unionism in Ireland, Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland (and formerly all of I ...

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

group in the Woodvale district 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 ...

, an area immediately to the north of the

Shankill Road The Shankill Road () is one of the main roads leading through West Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It runs through the working-class, predominantly loyalist, area known as the Shankill. The road stretches westwards for about from central Belfast ...

. The organisation grew from a few smaller vigilante groups. It initially met in a pigeon fancier's club on Leopold Street, a location found on the initiative of

Charles Harding Smith Charles Harding Smith (24 January 1931 – 1997) was a Northern Irish loyalist and the first effective leader of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA). An important figure in the Belfast-based "defence associations" that formed the basis of the U ...

, who kept some birds. Sources differ on its actual date of foundation; many claim it was founded in 1969, around the same time as the

Shankill Defence Association The Shankill Defence Association was a loyalist vigilante group formed in May 1969 for the defence of the loyalist Shankill Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland during the communal disturbances that year. The Shankill Defence Association was fo ...

, which covered a neighbouring area, but Ian Wood's detailed study of the Ulster Defence Association dates its origin to June 1970, when a loyalist

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, ...

on the

Springfield Road The Springfield Road () is a residential area and road traffic thoroughfare adjacent to the Falls Road in west Belfast. The local population is predominantly Irish nationalist and republican. Along parts of the road are several interface are ...

was attacked by Catholic protesters, leading to a riot.Wood, Ian S., ''Crimes of loyalty: a history of the UDA'', pp.1–2 The WDA was initially led by Alan Moon, with

Sammy Smyth Samuel Smyth (25 February 1925 – 19 October 2016) was a Northern Irish footballer who played in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City and Liverpool. Career Smyth was born in Belfast in 1925 and played for local clubs D ...

acting as its main spokesman, although Moon was soon replaced by Harding Smith. Initial membership of the WDA was primarily middle-aged and disinclined to take violent action. However, Davy Fogel interrupted an early meeting to call for members to receive military training. Harding Smith instructed him to start this, members bringing both legally held guns and dummy weapons. In 1971, many local loyalist groups merged to form the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

. Its core components were the Woodvale and the Shankill Defence Associations, the Woodvale organisation being the largest of its forerunners. The new organisation was a loose confederation, and the Woodvale group continued to publish a newsletter, the ''WDA News''. Its 1 May 1972 issue carried a notorious article justifying genocide against

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

s and calling for

racial purity The term racial hygiene was used to describe an approach to eugenics in the early 20th century, which found its most extensive implementation in Nazi Germany (Nazi eugenics). It was marked by efforts to avoid miscegenation, analogous to an animal ...

. When the UDA was restructured, the WDA became its "B" Company. Several leading members of the UDA started out in the WDA, including Jim Anderson,

Davy Payne H. David Payne (c. 1949 – March 2003) was a Northern Irish loyalist and a high-ranking member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during the Troubles, serving as brigadier of the North Belfast Brigade. He was first in command of the Sha ...

Ernie Elliott Ernest "Ernie" Elliott (1943/1944 – 6 December 1972), nicknamed "Duke", was a Northern Irish loyalist activist and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) during its early days. Unusually for the generally right-wing UDA, ...

and John White.Henry McDonald and Jim Cusack, ''UDA: inside the heart of Loyalist terror'', p.55

References

{{Authority control History of Belfast The Troubles in Belfast Ulster Defence Association Vigilantes