The gunman was a young Provo: ‘Man Gets Life for Murder at Club’, Irish Times, 24 January 1973.
It would later emerge that: ‘Rejection of Provisional IRA Policy Urged’, Irish Times, 1 July 1972.
For fifteen long minutes: ‘Club Death in IRA Power Struggle’, Telegraph, 20 June 1972; ‘Whitelaw Move Gives New Status to Belfast Prisoners’, Guardian, 20 June 1972.
The press would characterise: ‘Club Death in IRA Power Struggle’, Telegraph, 20 June 1972.
One newspaper suggested: ‘Whitelaw Move Gives New Status to Belfast Prisoners’, Guardian, 20 June 1972.
he made an alarming discovery: H-BC.
When he left the order: Interview with a member of the Lynskey family.
‘very much into running after women’: These details, and this quote, are from an oral history interview with Maria Lynskey, ‘The Disappearance of Joe Lynskey’, in The Disappeared of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, p.6.
He did not come from: Interview with a relative of Joe Lynskey’s.
‘He was a mature man but’: Price interview in I, Dolours.
Brendan Hughes had always: H-BC.
He was smart and erudite: Interview with a relative of Joe Lynskey’s.
carried in his pocket a book about his hero: Interview with Joe Clarke.
But he could be a bit aloof: Ibid.
What Hughes did not know: H-BC; Price interview in I, Dolours; ‘Disappeared Victim Killed Over Affair with IRA Man’s Wife’, Irish News, 8 February 2010.
Lynskey had ordered: Interview with Joe Clarke; Price interview in I, Dolours; ‘Disappeared Victim Killed Over Affair with IRA Man’s Wife’, Irish News, 8 February 2010; ‘Disappeared IRA Victim and Provo “Love Triangle”’, Irish Independent.
The gunman undertook this mission: Price interview in I, Dolours.
But when Russell came to the door: H-BC; Moloney, Voices from the Grave, p.114.
Rather than confess: ‘Disappeared IRA Victim and Provo “Love Triangle”’, Irish Independent, 12 July 2014; ‘I Didn’t Order Jean’s Killing’, Sunday Life, 21 February 2010.
Lynskey would have to face a court-martial: Price interview in I, Dolours; ‘IRA Man: I Held Lynskey Captive Until His Murder’, Irish News, 15 December 2009.
Like some black-ops government programme: Interviews with Hugh Feeney and Richard O’Rawe; H-BC.
McClure was in his thirties: ‘Patrick F. McClure’, obituary, Record-Journal (Meridien, Conn.), 5 December 1986.
He had actual military experience: Interview with Hugh Feeney; H-BC.
But he was regarded: Interviews with Hugh Feeney and Richard O’Rawe.
they answered directly to Gerry Adams: H-BC; P-EM.
Brendan Hughes came to think of them as ‘head hunters’: H-BC.
McClure was soft-spoken and enigmatic: Interview with Richard O’Rawe.
‘You’ll be shooting at newspapers’: Interview with Hugh Feeney.
members of the Unknowns were taken: P-EM.
responsibility for transporting: Interview with Hugh Feeney; H-BC.
There was a festive, giddy quality: Interview with Colin Smith; ‘The Night the Truce Ended’, Observer, 16 July 1972.
Dolours derived a certain mischievous: P-TKT; ‘The Sisters of Terror’, Observer, 18 November 1973.
Once, the soldiers, with their berets: ‘Violence “Not Included in IRA Principles”’, Guardian, 26 October 1973. One such photo was presented in her subsequent trial in London and published in the press. See ‘IRA Planning to Kidnap 10 Hostages from an English Village in Reprisal for Sentences’, The Times, 16 November 1973.
There was one British officer: P-TKT. They would never have the opportunity: Corden-Lloyd was killed in action in 1978, when the helicopter he was travelling in crashed while under fire by the IRA.
Because Lynskey’s work often: Interview with a relative of Joe Lynskey’s.
‘You just missed Joe’: Ibid.
When Lynskey’s mother died: Maria Lynskey interview, Marian Finucane Show, RTÉ Radio, 4 April 2015; ‘Emigration Rumour Hid Lynskey Murder’, Irish News, 8 December 2009.
In a twist that represented: P-EM.
Lynskey did not say anything much: P-EM.
‘I don’t want to know, Joe’: Price interview in I, Dolours.
I’ll take him to the ferry, she thought: P-EM.
Why doesn’t he do something to save himself?: Price interview in I, Dolours.
Their dedication to the movement: P-EM; Price interview in I, Dolours.
under a lamp post: P-EM.
He reached out and shook her hand: P-EM; Price interview in I, Dolours.
‘I’ll be seeing you Joe’: P-EM.
Chapter 9: Orphans
a television crew from the BBC: Interview with Graham Leach, the BBC reporter who made the visit.
The local press had become aware: ‘Where Is Jean McConville’, Civil Rights, 14 January 1973.
noted that none of the children had reported: ‘Snatched Mother Missing a Month’, Belfast Telegraph, 16 January 1973.
the paper appealed for help: ‘Help Trace Kidnapped Mother – MP’s Appeal to Falls’, Belfast Telegraph, 17 January 1973.
‘Four young girls’: Archival BBC footage from 17 January 1973.
Granny McConville may have been: ‘Snatched Mother Missing a Month’, Belfast Telegraph, 16 January 1973.
A social worker did visit the children: Social worker’s report from a visit to the McConville children, 13 December 1972.
Jean’s mother-in-law asserted, primly: Social worker’s report from a visit to St Jude’s Walk, 13 December 1972.
Helen did not get along: Social worker’s report, 14 December 1972.
But the McConville children flatly refused: Social worker’s report, 18 December 1972.
Their mother would be returning: Interview with Michael and Susan McConville.
Bedtime was suspended: Social worker’s report, 10 January 1973.
The neighbours, rather than help: Social worker’s report, 15 January 1973.
a local parish priest was aware: Social worker’s report, 18 December 1972.
the McConvilles were running out of food: ‘Sons Recall 30 Years of Painful Memories’, Irish News, 24 October 2003.
They didn’t have much money: Interview with Michael McConville.
The children started getting into trouble: Interview with Michael McConville; social worker’s report, 15 February 1973.
Eventually he was caught: Interview with Michael McConville; Michael McConville interview, Marian Finucane Show, RTÉ Radio, 23 November 2013; McConville, ‘Disappearance of Jean McConville’, p.19.
They were starving: Interview with Michael McConville; Michael McConville interview, Marian Finucane Show.
Michael was eleven years old: Social worker’s report, 24 January 1973.
‘My daddy is dead and the IRA took my mummy away’: This detail is taken from a letter dated 23 November 2012, containing James McConville’s instructions to his solicitors, in which he spells out his own experience.
There is no record in the files: Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, ‘Report into the Complaint by James and Michael McConville Regarding the Police Investigation into the Abduction and Murder of Their Mother Mrs Jean McConville’, August 2006.
the police were not able to offer any substantive clues: Social worker’s report, 17 January 1973.
decried the kidnapping as ‘a callous act’: The MPs were Paddy Devlin and Gerry Fitt. ‘Help Trace Kidnapped Mother – MPs Appeal to Falls’, Belfast Telegraph, 17 January 1973.
rumours began to circulate: Interviews with Arthur, Susan and Michael McConville.
‘an attempt to wreck our minds’: ‘Sons Recall 30 Years of Painful Memories’, Irish News, 24 October 2003.
a posse of boys from the youth wing of the IRA: Interview with Michael McConville. There is also an army record of this event, dated 11 February: ‘2 Catholic children were taken into a car by 3 masked men in Comba
t kit. One of the children has since returned, but Michael McConville (10-RC) is still missing.’ British Army Situation Report, ‘0700 Hrs Sunday 11 February to 0700 Hrs Monday 12 February 1973’, Annex C to A/BR/30/8/M04, 12 February 1973 (National Archives, Kew).
Don’t talk to anyone about what happened to your mother: Interview with Michael McConville.
The interlude of freedom did not last: Social worker’s report, 15 February 1973.
One day, three women turned up at the flat: Social worker’s report, 27 February 1973.
the kids were made wards of court: McConville, ‘Disappearance of Jean McConville’, p.19.
The act of disappearing someone: Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998), Article 7(1)(i).
About a week after she was kidnapped: McKendry, Disappeared, p.20.
‘I was just told to give you these’: Interview with Michael McConville.
the moment he realised that his mother must be dead: Ibid.
Chapter 10: The Freds
One autumn day in 1972: ‘Shot Laundry Man Was British Agent’, Irish Times, 3 October 1972.
The van was a regular presence: Ibid.
There were not a lot of shops in the area: Ibid.
people liked Sarah: ‘Medal for Van WRAC’, Guardian, 19 September 1973.
The driver, Ted Stuart: ‘Shot Laundry Man Was British Agent’, Irish Times, 3 October 1972.
he was an easy-going fellow: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.26–27. This description is derived from an interview with Ted Stuart’s mother after his killing. See ‘Provos Admit Killing Army Secret Agent’, Belfast Telegraph, 3 October 1972.
The kids on the estate called him Teddy: ‘Shot Laundry Man Was British Agent’, Irish Times, 3 October 1972.
Twinbrook was home to both Catholics and Protestants: Ibid.
A housewife came to the door: Ibid.
spraying bullets from close range: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.26–27.
one of the gunmen turned in her direction: Ibid., pp.26–27.
he might have an informant in D Company: H-BC; Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.30–31; ‘IRA Never Got Spy’s Secrets’, Guardian, 14 May 1973.
Hughes paid a visit: ‘More Double Agents at Work’, Irish Times, 14 May 1973.
He was in Birmingham: Taylor, Brits, p.134.
He planned to flee: H-BC.
Seamus Wright returned: Ibid.
They told Seamus that if he would: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.31–32.
Hughes was dismayed: Taylor, Brits, p.135.
Wright described a secret compound: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.32–34.
individuals who had been induced to switch sides: Ibid., pp.32–34.
‘There is a guy I have seen in there’: Ibid., p.34.
The man Wright named was a young Provo: H-BC. Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.32–34.
He was still a teenager: ‘Kevin and the Pain That Has Never Disappeared’, Belfast Telegraph, 30 August 2013. Some sources maintain that McKee was seventeen, but in this article, Philomena McKee writes that the family never knew whether Kevin made it to his seventeenth birthday, suggesting that he would have been sixteen when he disappeared.
big blue eyes: ‘The IRA and the Disappeared: Tell Us Where Kevin Is Buried and I’ll Shake Hands’, Irish Times, 5 October 2013.
People called him ‘Beaky’: H-BC.
He had grown up in West Belfast: ‘The IRA and the Disappeared: Tell Us Where Kevin Is Buried and I’ll Shake Hands’, Irish Times, 5 October 2013; Phil McKee, ‘The Disappearance of Kevin McKee’, in The Disappeared of Northern Ireland’s Troubles, p.10.
He joined the youth wing of the IRA: Marie McKee interview in The Disappeared, directed by Alison Millar (BBC Northern Ireland, 2013).
But he also went on ‘snipes’: Interview with Richard O’Rawe.
One night, Kevin McKee was arrested: Interview with Richard O’Rawe; McKee, ‘The Disappearance of Kevin McKee’, p.11.
Two of his aunts ventured to the barracks: McKee, ‘The Disappearance of Kevin McKee’, p.11.
the family received letters from Kevin in England: Ibid., p.11.
A British Army log: Watch Keeper’s Diary, C Company, 1 Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, 28 December 1971 – 24 April 1972 (National Archives, Kew).
Wright told Hughes that McKee ‘loved’ his involvement: H-BC.
the MRF took a shine to the cocksure teenager: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.34–35.
the very best recruits: Kitson, Gangs and Counter-Gangs, p.126.
the MRF gave Kevin McKee a pistol: H-BC.
McKee was wearing the shoulder holster: Dillon, The Dirty War, p.35.
he confessed to his betrayal: Ibid., p.35.
gather intelligence on the British, as triple agents: H-BC.
low-level information or, better still, misinformation: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.33–34.
they would be granted ‘immunity’: H-BC.
The centrepiece of the operation: Adams, Before the Dawn, pp.212–13.
‘Sit back,’ Adams said. ‘Do more intelligence’: H-BC.
in addition to the laundry service and the office: H-BC; Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.39–40.
launch three near-simultaneous strikes: See Taylor, Brits, p.135, in which, without naming Adams, Taylor characterises his position.
Ted Stuart, was an undercover British sapper: ‘Provos Admit Killing Army Secret Agent’, Belfast Telegraph, 3 October 1972.
told them that this must be a loyalist ambush: Dillon, The Dirty War, pp.26–27.
The woman helped Warke: Brendan Hughes interview in Brits, part 1: ‘The Secret War’, directed by Sam Collyns (BBC, 2000).
if there was a third soldier concealed in the van: Dillon, The Dirty War, p.39.
Elsewhere in Belfast, another team: Ibid., pp.28, 37–39.
major victory for the Provos: H-BC; Adams, Before the Dawn, p.213.
Wright came home: ‘More Double Agents at Work’, Irish Times, 14 May 1973.
Wright exchanged a few words: This detail is from an interview Wright’s wife, Kathleen, gave to Rev. Brian Brady of Trench House, in Andersonstown, in 1973. See ‘More Double Agents at Work’, Irish Times, 14 May 1973; ‘IRA Never Got Spy’s Secrets’, Guardian, 14 May 1973.
not been taken by the IRA: ‘More Double Agents at Work’, Irish Times, 14 May 1973.
might have been snatched by the army: Ibid.; ‘IRA Never Got Spy’s Secrets’, Guardian, 14 May 1973.
Military sources suggested: ‘IRA Never Got Spy’s Secrets’, Guardian, 14 May 1973.
McKee vanished as well: The Disappeared, directed by Alison Millar (BBC Northern Ireland, 2013).
both men had been taken by the IRA: P-EM.
It was just Price driving: Ibid.
McKee ended up in a house in County Monaghan: ‘Every Time We Met a Family We Found New Material, New Facts’, Irish Independent, 10 November 2013.
people who were minding him grew fond: H-BC.
telephoned his mother: McKee, ‘The Disappearance of Kevin McKee’, p.12.
‘He’ll not be back’: ‘The IRA and the Disappeared: Tell Us Where Kevin Is Buried and I’ll Shake Hands’, Irish Times, 5 October 2013; ‘Every Time We Met a Family We Found New Material, New Facts’, Irish Independent, 10 November 2013.
found themselves unable to shoot him: H-BC.
dispassionate gunmen were sent from Belfast: Ibid.
they summoned a priest: Dillon, The Dirty War, p.44.
The act of killing itself had a ritual: Ibid., p.44. The journalist Martin Dillon has identified the two gunmen as Jim Bryson and Tommy ‘Todler’ Tolan (both now dead). Dillon, The Dirty War, p.44.
Hughes felt betrayed by the decision: H-BC.
in July 1973, Adams was heading: Adams, Before the Dawn, pp.217–18; H-BC; ‘IRA Chiefs Among 17 Held in Army Raids’, Guardian, 20 July 1973.
As officer commanding for Belfast: H-BC.
July was a tricky time to be on the run: Adams, Before the Dawn, p.217.
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br /> he noticed that there was someone in the car: Taylor, Brits, pp.154–55; British soldier interviewed in Brits: ‘The Secret War’.
A hasty decision was made: Adams, Before the Dawn, pp.217–18.
startled to behold a sea of British troops: Ibid., pp.217–18.
Adams casually pulled out some matches and lit his pipe: Ibid., p.218.
The businessman in the car: Taylor, Brits, pp.154–55.
they were beaten and tortured: H-BC.
water to revive him, then started beating him again: H-BC. Adams and Hughes raised charges of brutal treatment at the time. See ‘Brutality against Adams Alleged’, Irish Times, 23 July 1973.
dump his body on the Black Mountain: H-BC.
The British forces were hugely pleased: Taylor, Brits, p.156.
‘trophy’ photographs with the two captives: H-BC; ‘Portrait of a Hunger Striker: Brendan Hughes’, The Irish People, 6 December 1980. One of the intelligence officers involved later acknowledged to journalist Peter Taylor that there were trophy photographs taken, adding that Hughes and Adams were ‘in a pretty bad way’. Peter Taylor, Provos: The IRA and Sinn Fein (London: Bloomsbury, 1998), p.158.
Hughes was defiant: H-BC.
one of the greatest in his life: Ibid.
Chapter 11: Close England!
The crocuses were already in bloom: ‘Bombs in Placid London’, Christian Science Monitor, 10 March 1973.
There was a rail strike that day: Ibid.
Just after lunchtime: ‘Police Admit “Human Error” Which Garbled Bomb Warning’, Irish Times, 10 March 1973; ‘Warnings on Phone Sent Reporters Rushing to Find Named Cars’, Irish Times, 21 September 1973.
Huckerby was on duty that day in the newsroom: Interview with Martin Huckerby.
He was looking for a green Ford Cortina estate: ‘Warnings on Phone Sent Reporters Rushing to Find Named Cars’, Irish Times, 21 September 1973.
Before long, he spotted it: Interview with Martin Huckerby; ‘A Taste of Ulster’s Violence’, Guardian, 9 March 1973.
They started evacuating people: ‘Warnings on Phone Sent Reporters Rushing to Find Named Cars’, Irish Times, 21 September 1973; ‘Police Holding 10 in London Blasts’, New York Times, 10 March 1973.
Huckerby took cover in a doorway: ‘Warnings on Phone Sent Reporters Rushing to Find Named Cars’, Irish Times, 21 September 1973.
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