Kingsmills service for 10 slain Protestant workmen

The ten Protestant workmen murdered by the IRA at Kingsmills in January 1976 have been remembered at an emotional outdoor service in south Armagh.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Jan 2020, 15:07 BST
Updated 5th Jan 2020, 15:41 BST
Remembrance service for the Kingsmills shootings at the memorial wall outside Whitecross in Co. Armagh. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEyeRemembrance service for the Kingsmills shootings at the memorial wall outside Whitecross in Co. Armagh. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye
Remembrance service for the Kingsmills shootings at the memorial wall outside Whitecross in Co. Armagh. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Family members and friends of the slain textile workers gathered at the roadside memorial to pay their respects on Sunday afternoon.

On January 5, 1976, republican gunmen flagged down a minibus being used to take the workers home to Bessbrook after their shift at a factory a few miles away.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The twelve men on board were ordered out of the vehicle and gunned down by the killers. One man, Alan Black, survived despite being shot several times. The only Catholic in the party was spared.

Pastor Barrie Halliday at the Kingsmills memorial. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEyePastor Barrie Halliday at the Kingsmills memorial. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye
Pastor Barrie Halliday at the Kingsmills memorial. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye

The Kingsmills massacre took place amid a cycle of ruthless sectarian violence across Co Armagh.

Just a few months earlier in September 1975, republican gunmen had murdered five Protestant men at Tullyvallen Orange Hall. Then, the day before the Kingsmills atrocity, loyalist gunmen shot and killed three members of the Reavey family at Whitecross, and four members of the O’Dowd family at Ballydougan near Lurgan. All were Catholics.

Ulster Unionist councillor David Taylor attended yesterday’s service. Afterwards he described the Kingsmills attack as “one of the most shocking and cruel incidents carried out by the IRA”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

On Saturday, DUP MP Carla Lockhart tweeted: “Tomorrow marks 44 years since the Kingsmill massacre. An act of pure sectarian hatred.”

Several relatives and friends of the Kingsmills massacre victims attended Sunday's memorial service. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEyeSeveral relatives and friends of the Kingsmills massacre victims attended Sunday's memorial service. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye
Several relatives and friends of the Kingsmills massacre victims attended Sunday's memorial service. Picture: Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Also on Twitter, Alliance MLA Sorcha Eastwood said: “Thinking of my friend @EugeneReavey1 as he remembers his brothers on anniversary of their horrendous murders. Thinking also of O’Dowd & Kingsmills families – an evil cycle of violence over a period of hours that left many broken hearts & many questions”.