A History of Ireland in Song

UVF

Ulster Volunteer Force. A militia formed in Ulster in 1913 to resist home rule for Ireland by force of arms. Since then, the name has on occasion been used as a flag of convenience for various loyalist terror groups. The most notable modern bearer of the name was formed in 1966, and committed the first bombings and killings of what have since become known as "the Troubles".

By the summer of 1966, they had already killed three times. One victim was a 77-year-old Protestant widow who died when a gasoline bomb intended for a Catholic-owned pub engulfed her house instead. Another was a tipsy 28-year-old Catholic pedestrain shot dead on the street [...] The third was an 18-year-old Catholic barman, Peter Ward, who had the misfortune of chosing a Shankill Road bar frequented by Spence and his colleagues for an after-work drink with friends.

—Ed Moloney, A Secret History of the IRA, pp.62-3

These first sordid murders set a pattern from which the UVF never diverged.

[Home] [A History of Ireland in Song] [Links] [Support] [Contact]