Wednesday 28 March 2012
Tuesday 27 March 2012
In the early 1970’s, Britain’s then Northern Ireland secretary, Merlyn Rees, scornfully dubbed the most southerly part of County Armagh ‘bandit country’. The name stuck and the extensive military presence that followed mutated one of the most picturesque parts of County Armagh with its historical ‘Ring of Gullion’ into a demilitarised zone, which became more renowned for its ‘ brutal killing fields’ rather than its geographical natural beauty. In 1998 local Crossmaglen resident Peter John Carragher famously stated,’ the only bandits I ever saw in South Armagh were wearing British uniforms’
One might suggest that ‘Republicanism’ was running through their veins with many men from the area serving in the Fourth Northern Division of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and on the republican side in the Irish Civil War (1922–23). Men and women from the area also took part in IRA Border campaigns of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Although the campaigns were a military failure due to the co-operation of the two Governments, one might suggest that for some of its members, the campaign was justified as it had kept the IRA engaged for another generation.
For centuries South Armagh has always been a law unto itself with its proximity to the border, the absence of a Protestant community; the undulating terrain, the rolling hills and the powerful perception of rebellion carried throughout history have all combined to make South Armagh the ideal operating ground for a rebel army. Consequently this also left the area the most heavily militarised region in Western Europe with its ever present ‘big brother is watching over you’ watchtowers dotted through the gently sloping drumlins for the next thirty five years which left the area looking more like the Maginot Line during World War 2.
One might suggest that ‘Republicanism’ was running through their veins with many men from the area serving in the Fourth Northern Division of the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence (1919–21) and on the republican side in the Irish Civil War (1922–23). Men and women from the area also took part in IRA Border campaigns of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Although the campaigns were a military failure due to the co-operation of the two Governments, one might suggest that for some of its members, the campaign was justified as it had kept the IRA engaged for another generation.
For centuries South Armagh has always been a law unto itself with its proximity to the border, the absence of a Protestant community; the undulating terrain, the rolling hills and the powerful perception of rebellion carried throughout history have all combined to make South Armagh the ideal operating ground for a rebel army. Consequently this also left the area the most heavily militarised region in Western Europe with its ever present ‘big brother is watching over you’ watchtowers dotted through the gently sloping drumlins for the next thirty five years which left the area looking more like the Maginot Line during World War 2.
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