Tartan Gangs and Paramilitaries: The Loyalist Backlash [Paperback]

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.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.Acknowledgements

Prologue

Introduction

1. Drills, Fights and Defence

2. 'Civil rights, unrest, death' (1960s)

3. Football, Flags and Fighting (1970 - 1971)

4. Protestants at War? (1971 - 1972)

5. Convergence (1972)

6. From Boys Brigade Belts and Bibles to Bombs and Bullets (1972 - 1975)

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index 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. - Dr Graham Spencer, University of Portsmouth

Mulvenna has made an important contribution to existing work on the loyalist paramilitaries, including that by Scottish academics Steve Bruce alS*