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A Case Study in Genocide

February 2010

TThhee AAllttaanneeiigghh MMaassssaaccrree

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A HISTORY OF HURT

The June of 1922 saw one of the vilest acts against humanity committed by the Republican movement. An event took place just outside of Newry involving the slaughter of nine people, which became deeply embedded on the psyche of local people - The Altnaveigh Massacre.

This massacre was the first and one of the clearest examples of ethnic cleansing in our area. It came about after the partition of Ireland, which was accepted by the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland. However anti-democratic elements decided to oppose partition and erase the border by force of arms. To this end the IRA, with the support of Michael Collins and the Dublin Government attacked the fledgling Northern State in an attempt to destroy it and to force the majority population into a United Ireland against its will.

Often forgotten even by the Unionist Community new research and work by FAIR has led to a revisiting of this atrocity and interest in those responsible and the last effects of it on the minority protestant Community. It has become an International Case Study in genocide cited in leading academic publications. The Journal of Genocide Research is one such publication.

Locally research into the Massacre was kick-started in 2000 by the FAIR Research and Policy unit headed by William Wilkinson MA. As a follow up to his greound breaking paper on the violence surrounding the creation of the Northern Ireland State entitled “ A Lost Dream and a Forgotten War”, he outlined the terrorist campaign waged against the fledgling state terming it the Ulster-

Irish War.

The idea of this aspect to the foundation of the state was taken up in the Irish Historical Studies Journal1 which looked at the relationship of the Orange Order and by extension the Unionist Hierarchy to the Border. The aim of Sinn Fein/IRA was to destabilise and destroy the newly created State of Northern Ireland.

The ethnic cleansing and terrorisation of Protestants along the border was aimed at influencing the Boundary Debate which was a protracted issue left to a Boundary Commission. Republicans hoped to destroy the state by pushing the border back north and east to make the new state untenable.

1 The Orange Order and the Border, by David Fitzpatrick © 2002 Irish Historical Studies Publications

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In what was to be repeated decades later the republican movement took up the gun when its political aspirations were frustrated by democracy. Many facets of what can only be described as the Ulster-Irish War of 1922, have been duplicated during the present conflict. The Dublin government continues to participate in collusion with the IRA at a number of levels, and Republican murder gangs are still engaged in sectarian assassination and ethnic cleansing of the protestant population along the border. This was brutally repeated in the 1970s with a series of massacres including Kingsmill, Darkley and Tullyvallan. We have often been told to stop living in the past, however when the past repeats itself with such obvious and brutal consequences we are forced to face it. It is only by learning from it and dealing effectively with the issues it creates that we can move on. Over 92% of the murders remain unsolved and many of those responsible are living freely in the Republic of Ireland. Many factors contribute to the feeling of the victims that the IRA could not have operated so effectively without help from the Republic of Ireland. In short there can be no peace without justice and no justice without truth. To this end we dedicate ourselves to telling the truth of what happened to our family and friends and defending the ideals for which they died.

There is a history of hurt in the South Armagh area that goes well beyond the present troubles. The protestant and unionist people of this area can trace their origins back for centuries and their bond with the land and faith in God has given them an amazing resilience. They are the same stock that went on to colonise and shape the United States of America, with their survival instinct and rugged individuality. The two peoples learned to live together, and indeed within living memory that was so. The cause of conflict was not injustice or irreconcilable differences but the poison of Republicanism with its message of hate spelt out in the blood of innocents. In a farming community like South Armagh protestant and Roman Catholic helped one another especially at harvest time. There was little discernible difference as the people of the area worked together and played together. Sadly the bomb and bullet of the IRA shattered this picture of rural normality, as such relations were brought sharply to an end by IRA violence which affected both communities. For Republican politics to survive there had to be hate, for their ideas to flourish there had to be division, for their aims to be achieved there had to be murder.

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The Altnaveigh Massacre

The IRA did not take long to establish its sectarian agenda as it attempted to destroy the protestant population along the border. The aim was to actually affect the outcome of a Border Commission, which was attempting to define the border. Making Northern Ireland so small as to no longer be viable was coupled with a general attempt to destabilise the state. Border raids, mass kidnappings, murder and various human rights abuses were intended to show the Unionist Government that it could not control areas of the country or protect its innocent citizens. As the infant state struggled for its survival it raised a Special Constabulary to restore law and order and protect vulnerable people from Republican murder gangs. The B Specials as it became known was composed of ordinary people from both traditions, both protestant and Roman Catholic - yes Roman Catholic! However Roman Catholic recruits were especially targeted for assassination and ostricisation by Republicans. The force as a whole became the focus for Republican attack and propaganda. Many in our area served valiantly and voluntarily in this Special Constabulary as a means of defending their family and home. They did this out of a sense of duty and loyalty, to their country, faith and family. This band of ordinary men was drawn from all walks of life and gave up their spare time to guard the homes of Ulster. Their success and dedication meant that innocent families could sleep safely in their beds free from the murderous attack of the IRA. It is nigh time for a reassessment of this force after decades of lies and propaganda. We therefore pay tribute to all those who served in the Ulster Special Constabulary and in particular those who paid the ultimate price for our continuing freedom.

The Altnaveigh Massacre is only one example of the Human Rights abuse and Ethnic Cleansing of our people. It goes a long way to proving the unchanging evil face of Republicanism and the role played by senior members of the Dublin Government in the murders in our area. The murders were co-ordinated by Frank Aiken, who went on to become External Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in the Republic during the fifties under De Valera. He continued in the Irish cabinet until 1969. A South Armagh man from a strongly republican village, Aiken showed "no compunction about shooting unarmed Protestants". The IRA unit of several hundred men, which Aiken commanded, were recruited in South Armagh-North Louth and parts of Co Tyrone and South Down. He led terrorist attacks on Newtownhamilton and Camlough police stations, and before the Altnaveigh massacre, he was involved in the murders of policemen, soldiers and civilians.

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On April 23, 1923, Frank Aiken was elected chief-of-Staff of the IRA. He was politically and militarily active from a young age, joining the Irish Volunteers at sixteen, and within a few years becoming Chairman of the Armagh Comhairle Ceanntair of Sinn Féin and elected onto Armagh County Council. During the War of Independence, he commanded the Fourth Northern Division of the IRA. The split over the Anglo-Irish Treaty left Aiken ultimately aligned with the Anti-Treaty side in spite of personal efforts to prevent division and civil war. He succeeded Liam Lynch as Chief of Staff of the IRA in March 1923 and issued the cease fire and dump arms orders on 24th May 1923 that effectively ended the Civil War. He was first elected to the Dáil as a Sinn Féin candidate in the Louth constituency in 1923, continuing to be re-elected for Fianna Fáil at every election until his retirement from politics fifty years later.

In June 1922 Aiken still in his early 20s, issued a directive to IRA men under his command, calling for the destruction of enemy property, the property of Orangemen and the shooting of spies and informers.

In contravention of all known War Conventions Aiken in fact declared war on the protestant population of the area. So fuelled was he by sectarian hatred that he ordered his men to burn them out. Anyone who was a member of the police or even helped them was liable to be shot; this was to all intents and purposes a death warrant to all Protestants. The fact they wore a uniform was only a bonus to this war criminal, who saw their religion as cause enough to kill them. The aim was to wipe out or drive out the entire protestant population of the border areas.

During the early hours of the morning of June 17 Aiken's men claimed the lives of six Protestants at Altnaveigh and a policeman. This was the greatest loss of life in South Armagh on a single day until the Kingsmills massacre of January 1976, when the IRA shot 10 dead Protestant Workmen from Bessbrook. This particular atrocity was launched from across the border, with cars stolen in the South used to ferry the gunmen. The numbers involved leads to believe that they received assistance from sympathisers in the republic to move across the border. This is but one example of many which demonstrate how easy it was for terrorists to plan and launch their attacks from the safe haven of the Republic and then retreat across the border to avoid capture. It would seem that things have changed little for Protestants in this area. It is clear that the republican agenda remains unchanged, it is still bent on the destruction of the minority protestant population of the border areas.

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The Events of That Terrible Night

The carnage began with the ambush of a 14-strong B-Special patrol mounted from McGuill's public house at Drumintee, later site of the Three Steps Inn pub from which SAS man Captain Robert Nairac was abducted and later murdered in May 1977. About 50 IRA men opened fire from in and around the pub, which, according to police documents, "was being used as a meeting place for Drumintee Company IRA", Special Constable Thomas Russell was shot in the head and killed and Special Constable George Hughes wounded. The ambush had been planned to divert Crown forces away from Altnaveigh where the sectarian killings were to take place. The Altnaveigh killings all took place after 2.30 am and lasted about an hour.

John Gray and his family at Lisdrumliska were the first to be woken and he and his wife, four daughters, five sons and two cousins were ordered downstairs. The house was set alight, while the family huddled together outside. Ordering the Grays to remain where they were, the raiders moved on to the Heslip household next door.

Finding John Heslip (54) his wife and two sons Robert (19) and William (16) hiding in a stable - they pulled them out and made then stand with their hands up as the house was burned, John and Robert Heslip were taken outside and shot dead. The IRA gang then returned to the Gray House, picking out Joseph Gray (20) and shooting him dead.

At 3 am, the same IRA group arrived at the house of Thomas Crozier, and elderly farmer, and his wife Elizabeth. Mr Crozier was shot and mortally wounded, falling into the arms of his son. When Mrs Crozier came out of the house she was shot twice and died 45 minutes later. The raiders exploded a bomb in the parlour before making off.

Meanwhile a second IRA group raided the Little and Lockhart households some distance away in the Altnaveigh townland. William Lockhart, his wife and their only son James (25) were ordered out before the house was burned. They were lined up with neighbours, the Littles. William Lockhart, his son James and John Little were then ordered to walk down the road. Mrs Lockhart protested and when her son turned to speak to her he was grabbed by one of the raiders who told him he has disobeyed orders and shot him dead at this mother's feet. His father and Mr Little were spared.

In the same period, a seventh Altnaveigh Protestant, Draper C Holmes, was also singled out and murdered.

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Five other Protestant homes in the Altnaveigh area were also attacked and burned by the IRA that night.

Newspapers of that time reported the massacre with the following headlines:-

"RED DAWN NEAR NEWRY" "BOMB DROPS IN CRADLE' "HOUSES BURNED TO THE

GROUND' 'HARROWING STORIES TOLD BY SURVIVORS"

Rev. P. McKee who conducted the funeral services of the victims, had this to say:- 'From this congregation, a young lad, a man in the prime of life, and his wife have been done to death in ways that leave unmanifested no form of bestial cruelty and fiendish malice. . . the marauders have left us a bloody mile of roofless houses, and blood and fire on what was once a beautiful country road. I shall never forget the sights I saw, or the narratives told to me by the survivors. God give me strength to remember that lesson and to interpret it .... even in warfare there is a certain limit to atrocity, a certain code of honour is practiced by all but the vilest savage. In this, those who wrought Saturday's deed of shame have no share. .

When the victims asked their assassins, 'What have we done?' they got the answer - "YOU ARE PROTESTANTS". Local Newspapers of the day carried a full account of the atrocity in the townlands of Altnaveigh and Lisdrumilska,

At 2.15 a.m. on Saturday 17th June 1922, landmine's were exploded on the Dublin Road near Newry, thereby isolating Altnaveigh and Lisdrumliska from all police help. The Roman Catholic terrorists were dressed in semi-military uniform with bandoliers and rifles, some being masked, thereby indicating that they were known to, and possibly the neighbours of, their Protestant victims.

Those slain by the terrorists were

Thomas Crozier - farmer - aged 67 Elizabeth Crozier - his wife

John Heslip - farmer - aged 59 Robert Heslip - his son - aged 19

James Lockhart - aged 23 Joseph Gray - aged 20

The victims were all members of the local Presbyterian and Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Churches, and four of the murdered men were members of the Orange Order. None of the victims were members of the Security Forces.

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The Crozier family consisted of Thomas and Elizabeth, a son-in-law and several daughters. Shortly after 2.00 a.m. there was a loud knocking at the front door of their farmhouse. Thomas Crozier, upon opening the door, was confronted by several armed men who pointed revolvers at him and shot him dead. When Mrs Crozier ran to her husband lying on the doorstep, she recognised one of the killers. Elizabeth Crozier, said to the man who had just murdered her elderly husband, "I didn't expect that of you, Willie," she was shot in front of her young family. Her last words were to them were, "Keep together and look after the little child." Two shots were fired at her and she died a half-hour later from her injuries. The Papists then threw an incendiary bomb into the house, and fired more bullets through the windows.

Rev. P.McKee states....'Crozier and his wife appealed for mercy from the killers, and with oaths and obscenity it was refused'. Adjacent to the Crozier homestead was that of James Little, whose family escaped in their nightclothes across the fields, pursued by the terrorists who kept firing, and who wounded Mr Little in the foot. Their house was burned to the ground.

A second unit of terrorists meantime attacked the home of John Heslip, who resided there with his wife and two sons - Robert aged 19, and William aged 16. Without warning, incendiary bombs were thrown into their home, accompanied by a fusillade of bullets through doors and windows. The family escaped via a back door and took refuge in a barn where they were discovered by the assassins, who took Mr Heslip and Robert down a lane and shot them, despite Mrs Heslip's pleas for mercy. As she knelt, weeping, over the bodies of her husband and son, the Papists fired another volley of shots into the bodies, and then proceeded to burn the Heslip home to the ground.

About half a mile away were two houses occupied by Protestant families - William Lockart, his wife, son James and three daughters, and Edward Little, his wife and nine children. Without warning, a bomb was thrown into the Little house, landing in the cradle of a baby which, fortunately, was not in it at that time. The two Protestant homesteads were set ablaze whilst the families were made to stand at the roadside in night attire and watch them burn. When Edward Little tried to re-enter his burning home, believing one of his children to be missing, the Papists forced him back, saying - 'You have enough children already'. The gunmen then selected Jim Lockart for murder, and as the youth turned to his mother for the last time one of the Papist scoundrels accused him of disobeying orders, and shot him dead at her feet.

The terrorists then moved on to attack the home occupied by John Gray,his wife, five daughters and four sons. Following the usual pattern, the house was set on fire and the family lined along the road as it burned. A terrorist walked along the line of defenceless Protestants, selected Joseph Gray and shot him. As he lay dying, other assassins pumped bullets into his body, although he survived some eight hours before dying in hospital. His father was wounded in the leg.

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Of this outrage, Rev. McKee stated:-

'At this house the little children of nine and ten prayed to Jesus to make them ready for death, as they stood in their nightclothes, holding up their hands'.

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Frontier Lodge of Ulster ALTNAVEIGH

By Joseph C. Hanna

ALTNAVEIGH has a poetic nuance to it. Meaning 'height or the cliff of the ravens', it is a small townland to the south west of Newry, lying directly along the Co. Down/ Armagh boundary a mere one hour's walking distance from the border with the Irish Republic. In 1992 the Orange Hall at the 'cliff of the ravens' celebrated its centenary a milestone of one hundred years achieved by great fortitude and courage in the face of great adversity by the members of LOL 37 whose stalwarts both past and present have guided the 'spirit' of Altnaveigh from its humble beginnings a stable owned by Bro. Davey McCullagh in the North Street area of Newry to the proud and honourable lodge that it is today.

Formed in 1798, the same year as the Irish Rebellion, one hears little as to the activities of LOL 37 until1829, the year in which the newly-formed Newry District No.9 issued Altnaveigh with its warrant.study of Altnaveigh's history will reveal that times have little' changed. In truth, the lodge and hall's continued existence has been brought about through keeping a cool head in turbulent times. The ink had hardly dried on No. 37's warrant when the border lodge began to hit the headlines. On 13 July 1829 (the actual 'Twelfth' had fallen on a Sunday), lodges 37; 45; 117; 129; 175; 210; 225; 232; 233; 234; 252; 302; 1542; 1617 assembled in Rathfriland for the annual Battle of the Boyne demonstration. Returning home a disturbance arose .in Newry, aimed against the Altnaveigh brethren. In the course of the fracas, the Newry constabulary and the 56th Foot Regiment hastened to the scene. Altnaveigh's committee poles were stripped of their ribbons, Lambeg drums were taken from side-

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cars and their heads kicked in. Still, the Altnaveigh brethren did not retaliate. Letters passed between Grand Lodge and Worshipful District Master Bro. Ellis of Crieve House, Newry, commending the Altnaveigh brethren on their good behaviour and tolerance:

118 Grafton Street 2nd September 1829 My Dear Sir

I am directed by the Committee of the Grand Lodge of Ireland to express their approval of the firmness, prudence and determination evinced by the Orangemen of

Newry on the 13th July under very trying and peculiar circumstances. The Committee were unwilling to come to any resolution until a Jury had first decided on

the merits of your case, lest they might, in the remote degree, be supposed to interfere with the course of justice. The ignoring of the Bills proves your innocence of the changes alleged against you and the Committee therefore feel that they would be guilty of a dereliction of duty did theynot declare their perfect satisfaction at the

manner in which you have invariably discharged the arduous duties attached to your office. Believe me,

very faithfully, your Friend and Brother,

John Patterson DGS John Ellis Esq.,

District Master of Newry.

Newry 3rd September 1829 Dear Sir and Brother,

I have received your kind letter, communicating to me the opinion and approval of the Committee of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland as to the firmness and

prudence evinced by the Orangemen of this District on the 13th July under the most trying and peculiar circumstances, as also approving of my conduct. Indeed, the

manner in which the Orangemen were treated on that day was trying and aggravating; the very polls which they had stripped of the ribbons (understanding it

was the wish of some Magistrates that they should do so) were taken from them, the King's troops were called out; the drums which were put on the cars were taken and the heads kicked out of some of them; and with all this, the Orangemen would not

rebel. No! they would rather receive insult upon insult than be the means of unnecessarily shedding blood -looking forward to better days, in the hope of justice being yet done to them. To be sure, of late it has become fashionable with save to do everything to stifle the Protestant feeling of this country, and no matter by what means to gain popularity. But I am happy to say the Oangemen of this District are

steady and faithful to their cause: and no matter how they are persecuted, are determined to stand together and came forward at any moment when the King and country may demand their services, and when they will be looked upon, I hope, and protected diffferently than at present. The approvai of my conduct by the Committee

is to me a source of gratification, and shall be as a stimulus to me in the future. I beg, through you, to return them my grateful thanks as also the thanks of my brethren in

this District, for their kind approbation. I am, dear Sir and Brother, faithfully yours, John Ellis

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To John Patterson Esq., Deputy Grand Secretary of the

Grand Lodge of Ireland

Fifty-five years later in 1884, the 'Twelfth' came to Newry. Forty thousand Orangemen walked through the town and assembled on the lands of Henry Thompson, near Altnaveigh. So magnificent was the turn-out that the scene inspired many a song-writer:

It being on the Twelfth day of July eighteen and eighty-four. The Orangemen did assemble as in the days of yore.

On the Lands of Henry Thompson, at his house in Altnaveigh. The Brethren in their thousands assembled on that day.

Through Newry town they all did march it was a pleasant sight I'm sure it drove the fenian mob into a dreadful fright.

They think to rule the Frontier Town they'll never see the day And this was surely manifest in that Twelfth at Altnaveigh.

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Leaving the Barn

Three years later in 1887, the members of LOL 37 decided the time had come for them to find a home of their own. The lodge moved to a vacant two-roomed cotter house on land owned by Henry Thompson for a rent of one shilling per week. The dwelling had potential and in time Thompson's cotter house became Altnaveigh Orange Hall. Its members would never forget Thompson's generosity and in 1890 the brethren recorded their appreciation by allowing a portrait of their benefactor to adorn a newly-purchased banner - a rather unique phenomena, as this practice no longer exists. Thompson was never to be found wanting in his dealings with the Altnaveigh brethren and when the time came around again for the members to set about raising money to either extend their existing hall or build a new one, Thompson generously donated the site of the cotter house and the sum of £50 on the proviso that if the building ever ceased to be used for the purpose for which it was built, it should be returned to the owner. Altnaveigh's 'new' (but uncompleted) hall was duly opened on the last Saturday in July 1892. Its commemoration stone above the door was inscribed with the year 1884 to commemorate that memorable 'Twelfth' in the border hamlet. Once again, Altnaveigh was the scene of an impressive gathering - not marred by the fact that three of the principal officers of Newry District - the District Master, his deputy and secretary were conspicuous by their absence. The tiny roads were ablaze with the colours of Orange favours and the uniforms of the many local bands - the Conservative; Victoria Flute; Commons Flute; Tinkerhill Flute and Boys' Brigade. The impressive gathering was more than matched by the choice of Trustees for the new hall- Colonel 1. Waring MP., Rt. Hon. Lord A. Hill MP and Major N. B. Price.

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We Will Not Have Home Rule'

Like countless thousands of Orangemen in lodges all over Ulster the Altnaveigh brethren played their full role in events which would shape the province's his tory. The enduring title 'Home Rule', carried its own definition its aim being the procuring of a free federal self-government for all of Ireland, instead of being governed by a people foreign in blood, in religion and in sympathy. If one peruses the address included here, given by the Rev. L. Forde at the opening of Altnaveigh's hall in 1892 one cannot be in any doubt that the Altnaveigh brethren, like their co-religionists all over Ulster, felt they not only had a right, but a duty to defend and protect the liberties and freedom for which their forefathers had fought and died at Enniskillen, Derry, Aughrim and the Boyne. So, in August 1893, true to their word, the Altnaveigh LOL 37 assembled at their new hall to walk to Divernagh Hill to participate in an Orange demonstration to protest at the Home Rule Bill. Carson's first speech at Enniskillen had set the tone for the entire crusade. At Lisburn, Londonderry, Coleraine, Ballymena, Dromore, Portadown, Crumlin, Ballymoney, Newtownards and other places, the motto remained unchanged - 'We will not have Home Rule'. In 1912, Altnaveigh marched again to Ballyroney where a demonstration was held prior to the signing of the Covenant. On Ulster Day itself - 28 September 1912 that time when shipyards were silent, looms were rendered idle; rope works and foundries were deserted and where at 500 alternative venues over Ulster, from the shores of Donegal to the Ards Peninsula; from Cavan to the coast of North Antrim signatories registered their opposition to Home Rule. The tiny quaker village of Bessbrook, festooned with arches and flags, bulged with people. Five hundred men walked four-deep down the village to the Orange Hall where the Covenant was signed. The Altnaveigh contingent walked proudly among the procession.

The Altnaveigh Massacre

Ten years later, on the morning of the 17 June 1922, the IRA raided the small Unionist community beginning what is now known as the Altnaveigh Massacre. Houses were reduced to ashes and five members of the lodge (Presbyterian and Non-Subscriber) Bro. Thomas Crozier (and his wife Elizabeth), Bros. Joseph McGray; John Heslip, son Robert and Bro. James Lockhart were taken from their beds and shot dead. Other individuals sustained bullet wounds. The massacre was reported in the following manner: 'Red Dawn Near Newry', 'Bomb Drops in Cradle', 'Houses Burned To The Ground', 'Harrowing Stories Told By Survivors'. Commenting at the funeral services of some of the victims, the Rev. P. McKee observed: From this congregation a young lad in the prime of his life; a man and his wife have been done to death in ways that leave unmanifested no form of bestial cruelty and fiendish malice. The murderers have left us a bloody mile of roofless houses, blood and fire on what was a beautiful country road. I shall never forget the sight, and the narratives told to me by the survivors. God give me the strength to

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remember that lesson and interpret it. Even in warfare there is a certain limit to atrocity. A certain code of honour is practised by all but the vilest savage. When the victims asked of their assassins 'What have we done?', they got the answer, 'You are Protestants!' It was therefore appropriate that the 12 July demonstration in 1923 should be held at Altnaveigh, to mark the dreadful atrocity which had been perpetrated against that community one year previously. Brethren from counties Down and Armagh came to assemble in the fields behind the old wall facing the big hill at Altnaveigh. Yet again, the glorious occasion was recorded in verse by a game keeper on Slieve Guillion mountain Bro. Joseph Fowler of Bracknagh LOL 18, Portadown:

It was on the 12 day of July in 1923 The Orangemen of Co. Armagh together did agree

That they would visit Newry Town upon that glorious day In memory of the sacred dead That was shot at Altnaveigh.

The memory of the Altnaveigh Massacre still lingered. In 1924, Armagh City hosted the annual demonstration and Altnaveigh in recognition of the deep loss they had sustained two years earlier headed the procession. It was also the year in which the brethren of LOL 37 decided that they, as a lodge, should devise a permanent memorial to those brave souls who had been butchered.

Originally the memorial to the massacre took two forms: marble tablets were erected in the hall itself and the an annual Altnaveigh Service was begun still maintained to this day so that the deeds of evil men might never be forgotten. Another memorial

would be established later, when in June 1951 a new banner was purchased, showing the little houses that had been reduced to ashes as part of the war against

Protestants in border areas in the troubles of 1922.

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The 'Black Ball'

Life at Altnaveigh was not without its comedy. The entry of the United States into the Second World War brought the GIs to Altnaveigh. As Newry Orange Hall had been requisitioned by the military, RBP 59 obtained the use of the hall at Altnaveigh for a 'Black Ball'. The American coloured troops stationed at Richardson's Demesne on the Camlough Road (banned from other places of entertainment in case of trouble with the white troops) mistakenly believed that this 'Black Ball' had been arranged especially for their convenience and so Altnaveigh became their 'patch' with no objections from the brethren. The spirit of Altnaveigh founded in 1798 remains strong through adversity. Their continued survival in an area where the odds have been and always will be stacked against them is, in the words of the accompanying address by the Rev. L. Forde 101 years ago in 1892, 'an existence which is striking proof of what the Altnaveigh Orangemen can accomplish' and perhaps no other lodge has as much claim on the title frontier lodge of Ulster

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Northern Ireland's First Disappeared Victim

One of the most horrific facts of the present Troubles is the Number of Victims whose bodies have never been found. Public opinion is disgusted with the IRA who are still stringing the families of the disappeared along, promising to return their bodies. The grief of losing a loved on to the terrorists is bad enough without actually having a body to bury. Because of the coverage of the families of the disappeared recently, we can all begin to understand what the family of William Frazer must have felt all those years ago. This particularly callous case Two weeks after the Altnaveigh massacre, William Frazer, a Protestant publican from Newtownhamilton, disappeared after being held up by three armed men as he drove to Newry. Lieutenant Colonel W B Spender, Northern Ireland Cabinet Secretary, wrote later that officials in Dublin had been "able to confirm that Frank Aiken is probably responsible for his (Frazer's) capture".

Still today most of the cases of torture remain unsolved, and those responsible remain at large. This is most suspicious because in many cases the events leading up to the individuals' deaths would create a large amount of forensic evidence. The victims' bodies often had teeth, fingernails, hair and skin removed, not to mention the blood loss.

Worshipful master of LOL 37 John Murdoch inspects the damage at Altnaveigh Orange Hall

outside Newry

Published Date: 26 May 2008

AN attack on Altnaveigh Orange Hall has been slammed by an Ulster Unionist MLA as

"deeply provocative and sickening".

Police are investigating a number of incidents at the hall that occurred on Friday night and

again on Saturday afternoon, even though the premises had been secured temporarily

following the earlier incident.

The perpetrators gained entry by smashing the security shutters and windows in the building

on Chancellor's Road, outside Newry, and destroyed a memorial plaque to prominent

members of the lodge who were murdered during the Troubles.

Danny Kennedy, the UUP deputy leader and MLA for Newry and Armagh, described the

destruction of the memorial plaque as "almost a desecration".

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He said he was appalled at the "latest in a long line of attacks" on Altnaveigh Orange Hall

and called for an immediate end to the "sheer naked bigotry" directed by republican elements

towards isolated halls in the rural community of south Armagh.

The hall was the target of major arson attacks in 1996 and 2005 and the Order had stepped up

security at the building.

David Hanna, chairperson of Altnaveigh House – an Ulster Scots centre where most of the

lodge's activities take place – is a past master of LOL 37. He said: "Altnaveigh has been at

the forefront of community initiatives over the past 12 years. These initiatives have been seen

as a model for reconciliation in Northern Ireland, which makes this attack all the more sad."

An annual memorial parade service which commemorates the massacre of Protestants in the

area in 1922 is due to take place at the hall on June 15.

Mr Hanna identified this as a potential reason for the attacks.

He said graffiti is dubbed on the hall regularly in May each year to "create a situation where

people are made to feel unwelcome".

A spokesman for the Grand Orange Lodge described the latest incident as a sectarian attack.

"One of the most hurtful aspects of the attack was that a memorial tablet to Orangemen

murdered in the Troubles was damaged.

"That really is a despicable action and we would call on all community representatives in the

area to condemn the attack without equivocation," he said.

SDLP Mayor of Newry and Mourne Michael Cole said: "People attacking these premises

don't represent any community. The sooner these people are caught and severely dealt with

the better."

Tom McCall, chief executive of Newry and Mourne Council, said he was saddened to hear

the news.

He added: "The council works quite closely with Altnaveigh House and we hold Altnaveigh

Orange Hall in the very highest esteem for the work it has done over the years."

The lodge has a large membership and a championship pipe band attached to it