Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries ：The Loyalist Backlash

Publication subTitle ：The Loyalist Backlash

Author： Mulvenna   Gareth  

Publisher： Liverpool University Press‎

Publication year： 2016

E-ISBN: 9781781383742

P-ISBN(Paperback): 9781781383254

Subject： L No classification

Language：

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Description

Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries is a new oral history of the loyalist backlash of the early 1970s in Northern Ireland. In the violent maelstrom of Belfast in 1971 and 1972 many young members of loyalist youth gangs known as ‘Tartans’ converged with fledgling paramilitary groups such as the Red Hand Commando, Ulster Volunteer Force and Young Citizen Volunteers. This fresh account focuses on the manner in which the loyalist community in Belfast reacted to an increasingly vicious Provisional IRA campaign and explores the violent role that young loyalist men played in the period from 1970 – 1975. Through the use of unique one-on-one interviews former members of Tartan gangs and loyalist paramilitaries explain what motivated them to cross the Rubicon from gang activity to paramilitaries. The book utilises a wide range of sources such as newspaper articles, loyalist newssheets, coroners’ inquest reports and government memorandums to provide the context for a dynamic new study of the emergence of loyalist paramilitarism.

  • This is the first historical account of this period of the Northern Ireland Troubles to examine the emergence of loyalist paramilitarism in the broader context of youth subcultures and gangs, meaning that it shall provide a fresh and dynamic analysis of the Tartan gangs’ convergence with paramilitary groups such as the Red Hand Commando and Young Citizen Volunteers. 
  • The book is the first to analyse in any depth the formation of the Red Hand Commando and its involvement in the early years of the Troubles, investigating its relationship with leading loyalist John McKeague as told by former members who were interviewed during the research. 
  • The first book to consider in depth the importance that football supporter violence played in heightening tensions during the early years of the Troubles in Belfast and particularly in bringing loyalists into conflict with the armed forces. The book contains completely original interview material with former members of the Tartans, UVF, YCV, RHC and UDA about their formative experiences as young men in Belfast and their eventual passage into violence. 
  • The book relates the issues facing young loyalists in the early 1970s with those contemporaneous problems of socio-economic marginalization and identity which are perilous to the Northern Ireland peace dividend.
'A well written and convincing study of a neglected aspect of loyalist formation and identity, this book makes a valuable contribution to the literature on loyalism.'


In the violent maelstrom of early 1970s Belfast many young members of the loyalist youth gangs known as ‘Tartans’ joined the fledgling paramilitary groups – this is an in-depth account of that dramatic convergence.
'Gareth Mulvenna has written a classic with this study of the emergence of the Tartan gangs of Belfast in the early 1970’s and their subsequent absorption, often as enthusiastic killers, into the ranks of the UVF, Red Hand Commando and Ulster Defence Association. With their origins in the Glasgow gangs and the Protestant reaction to the growth of IRA violence in 1970-72, symbolised by the killing of three Scottish soldiers in 1971, the Tartan gangs were an important part of Unionist selfhood at the outbreak of the Troubles. He has also shown that despite the best efforts of the British security establishment and their political allies

Chapter

Cover

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Introduction

1. Drills, Fights and Defence

2. ‘Civil rights, unrest, death’ (1960s)

3. Football, Flags and Fighting (1970–71)

4. Protestants at War? (1971–72)

5. Convergence (1972)

6. From Boys Brigade Belts and Bibles to Bombs and Bullets (1972–75)

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

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