Narrative
Narrative of the Organization's History
Narrative of the Organization's History
Leadership, Name Changes, Size Estimates, Resources, Geographic Locations
Ideology, Aims, Political Activities, Targets, and Tactics
First Attacks, Largest Attacks, Notable Attacks
Foreign Designations and Listings, Community Relations, Relations with Other Groups, State Sponsors and External Influences
Mapping relationships with other militant groups over time in regional maps
OIRA targeted mostly British security forces, as well as members of the PIRA and some civilians. With the prominent exception of a 1972 bombing at a British military base that killed 7, OIRA attacks were mostly shootings with one to two fatalities.
Disclaimer: These are some selected major attacks in the militant organization's history. It is not a comprehensive listing but captures some of the most famous attacks or turning points during the campaign.
OIRA at first occasionally cooperated, and then feuded violently, with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), a more violent breakaway group that overtook the OIRA as the standard-bearer for the Northern Ireland Catholic community that sought independence from Great Britain. The worst of the feuding took place in 1975, when a shootout between the OIRA and PIRA proved fatal.
Following OIRA's 1972 ceasefire, dissident members broke away to form the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), a left-wing paramilitary organization devoted to the creation of a unified, independent, and socialist Ireland.
[1] Moloney, Ed. A Secret History of the Ira. London: Allen Lane, 2002. p. 288-289.
[2] Moloney, Ed. A Secret History of the Ira. London: Allen Lane, 2002. p. 288-289.
[3] Moloney, Ed. A Secret History of the Ira. London: Allen Lane, 2002. p. 92
[4] Cain Web Service. "Abstracts on Organizations - Official Irish Republican Army." University of Ulster. Last modified August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012, from http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/oorgan.htm
[5] Cain Web Service. "Abstracts on Organizations - Official Irish Republican Army." University of Ulster. Last modified August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012, from http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/oorgan.htm
[6] Moloney, Ed. A Secret History of the Ira. London: Allen Lane, 2002. p. 91
[7] Moloney, Ed. A Secret History of the Ira. London: Allen Lane, 2002. pp. 198, 293, and CAIN Web Service. "Biographies of Prominent People - Cathal Goulding." Last modified January 14, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012 from http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/peo
[8] Cain Web Service. "Abstracts on Organizations - Official Irish Republican Army." University of Ulster. Last modified August 10, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2012, from http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/organ/oorgan.htm