The Troubles in Killeen

The Troubles in Killeen recounts incidents during, and the effects of, The Troubles in and around the village of Killeen, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Incidents in and around Killeen during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities:

1971[]

27 November 1971 - Ian Hankin (27), Protestant and James O'Neill (39), Catholic, both civilian customs officials, were shot and killed by Provisional Irish Republican Army snipers firing at a British Army patrol which had just arrived after a bomb attack on Killeen Customs Post, near Newry.

3 June 1975 - David Thompson (34) and John Presha (30), both Protestant civilians and Alfred Doyle (24), a Protestant off duty member of the Ulster Defence Regiment, were found shot dead by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in David Thompson's car at Killeen.
6 December 1975 - James Lochrie (19) and Sean Campbell (20), both Catholic members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, were killed when a land mine exploded prematurely at Kelly's Road, Killeen.

20 May 1985 - William Wilson (28), Stephen Rodgers (19), David Baird (22) and Tracy Doak (21), all Protestant members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army remote controlled bomb, hidden in a parked trailer and detonated when their mobile patrol passed at Killeen.

25 April 1987 - Lord Justice Sir Maurice Gibson (74) and Lady Cecily Gibson (67), his wife, both Protestant civilians, were killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army remote controlled bomb hidden in a parked car and detonated when they drove past at Killeen.

23 July 1988 - Robin Hanna (44), Maureen Hanna (44) and David Hanna (6), all Protestant civilians, were killed in a Provisional Irish Republican Army land mine attack on their Shogun jeep at Killeen. It was mistaken for a vehicle carrying Judge Higgins.

24 October 1990. Ranger Cyril Smith, QGM (Catholic from Northern Ireland), and five British soldiers were all killed when an explosives-laden van driven by Patrick Gillespie (who also died), a Catholic civilian employed by the British Army, exploded at the Killeen checkpoint. Gillespie had been forced to drive the van while the IRA held his wife and children hostage.^[1]