Kesh ambush facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kesh ambush |
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| Part of the Troubles and Operation Banner | |||||||
 Drumrush Lodge, close to where the ambush took place |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Provisional IRA |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Kieran Fleming | Lance Corporal Alistair Slater † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 4 IRA volunteers | unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2 killed (1 died from drowning) 2 captured |
1 killed | ||||||
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On December 2, 1984, a group of four men from the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) were surprised by a special team from the British Army. This event is known as the Kesh ambush. The IRA group was trying to bomb a police patrol from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). They had tried to trick the police into coming to the Drumrush Lodge Restaurant. During this event, two IRA members and one British soldier were killed.
Contents
What Happened Before the Ambush
Before this ambush, the IRA had been increasing their actions against the British government. In October 1984, two months earlier, the IRA carried out a bomb attack. This happened at the Grand Hotel in Brighton, England. The hotel was being used for a big meeting of the Conservative Party. Five people died in that attack, and many more were badly hurt. The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was almost hurt too. The bombing was an attempt to harm her. After the attack, the IRA said, "Today, we were unlucky, but remember, we only have to be lucky once - you will have to be lucky always."
One of the IRA members involved in the Kesh ambush was Kieran Fleming. He was one of 38 IRA prisoners who escaped from the Maze Prison in September 1983.
The Ambush in Kesh
On a Sunday morning, December 2, 1984, two IRA members, Kieran Fleming and Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde, stole a Toyota van. This happened in Pettigo, County Donegal. They then filled the van with nine beer kegs. Each keg held about 100 pounds of explosives.
The two men then crossed the border into Northern Ireland. They drove to Kesh, County Fermanagh. There, they met two other IRA members. At the Drumrush Lodge Restaurant, just outside Kesh, the group planted a bomb in a lane. This lane led to the restaurant. They also set up a device connected to a special observation spot. From this spot, they made a fake phone call. They pretended there was a firebomb in the restaurant. Their goal was to trick the British Army into coming to the restaurant.
Events Unfold
Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde saw an RUC police car coming near the restaurant. He gave the secret code word "one" to set off the bomb. But the bomb did not explode. Mac Giolla Bhrighde also saw another car in the car park. He thought it had regular people inside. He got out of the van he was watching from. He wanted to warn the people in the civilian car to leave the area.
Some sources from the Republican side say that when he went up to the car, two Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers got out. They told him to stop and drop his gun. Mac Giolla Bhrighde said he did not have a gun. Then, one of the SAS soldiers stepped forward and shot him on his left side. He was then handcuffed and shot dead.
However, other sources, like the Conflict Archive on the Internet, say something different. They report that there was a gunfight at the scene. This fight was between several IRA men and British soldiers. Mac Giolla Bhrighde was killed during this exchange of gunfire. A British Army soldier, Lance Corporal Alistair Slater, was also killed in the fight. This information goes against what the Republican sources say. Charles "Nish" Bruce, who was with Slater, wrote about this event. His book, Freefall, describes a gunfight and the deaths of both Slater and Mac Giolla Bhrighde. Another former SAS soldier, Andy McNab, also supported this view in his book Immediate Action.
The British Army officially said Slater was part of the Parachute Regiment. But an article in the SAS magazine Mars & Minerva said Slater was a member of the SAS.
After the gunfight, Fleming and the other IRA members came under fire from the SAS. They tried to get away. Fleming could not swim. He got stuck between the SAS soldiers and the fast-flowing River Bannagh. He was swept away by the river and drowned. The two remaining IRA members were caught and arrested.
What Happened After
There was a lot of fighting between the RUC police and Republican mourners at Kieran Fleming's funeral. Many people were hurt.
Just four days later, on December 6, 1984, two more IRA members were killed by the SAS. One of them was Kieran Fleming's cousin, William Fleming. The other was Danny Doherty. They were killed on the grounds of Gransha hospital while riding a motorcycle.
See also
