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Rt. Hon. Sir Norman Stronge, 8th Baronet
Arms of the Stronge Baronets, of Tynan
Speaker of the Northern Ireland Parliament
In office 1938-1969
Constituency	Mid Armagh
Personal details
Born	Arms of the Stronge Baronets, of Tynan 23 July 1894 Bryansford, County Down
Died	21 January 1981 Tynan Abbey, County Armagh
Resting place	Arms of the Stronge Baronets, of Tynan
Political party	Ulster Unionist Party
Height	160px
Spouse	Gladys Olive Hall
Children	Sir James Stronge, 9th Baronet and others
Parent	Arms of the Stronge Baronets, of Tynan

Captain Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet, PC (NI), MC, JP (23 July 1894 – 21 January 1981) was a senior Unionist politician in Northern Ireland.

He was decorated with the Military Cross in World War I and survived the Battle of the Somme. His positions after the war included Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for 23 years and member of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland to which he was appointed in 1946.

He was killed along with his son by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1981 at Tynan Abbey, their home, which was burnt to the ground. His "loyal and distinguished service" was commended by Queen Elizabeth II.

Life and career

Sir Norman was born in Bryansford, County Down, the son of Sir Charles Stronge, 7th Baronet, and educated at Eton. In the First World War he served with the 10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, as Lieutenant and later as Captain. He was decorated with the Military Cross and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. He survived the first day of the Battle of the Somme and was the first soldier after the start of the battle to be mentioned in despatches by Lord Haig. In April 1918, he was appointed adjutant of the 15th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles. He was wounded near Courtrai on October 20, 1918.

Sir Norman was an Ulster Unionist Northern Ireland parliament MP for Mid-Armagh from the byelection of 29th September 1938 until the general election of 1969 when he retired. In his career at Stormont, he became Assistant Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (Assistant Whip) from 16th January 1941 to 6th February 1942 and Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Finance (Chief Whip) from 6th February 1942 to 3rd November 1944. He was Speaker of the Northern Ireland House of Commons for 23 years. Sir Norman was appointed as a member of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland in 1946. . He was Chairman of Armagh County Council from 1944 to 1955.

Other positions he held were Lord Lieutenant of Armagh (1939 – 1981), President of the Northern Ireland Council of the Royal British Legion and Justice of the Peace for both Counties Armagh and Londonderry. He was the Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution and a member of the Orange Order.

In latter years he farmed the family's several thousand acre estate at Tynan Abbey.

He was married to Gladys Olive Hall and had four children, James Stronge (killed with his father), Daphne Marian Stronge (married Thomas Kinghan), Evelyn Elizabeth Stronge and Rosemary Diana Stronge (died as a child).

Death

After his retirement from politics in 1969, Stronge was killed aged 86, alongside his son James, in the library of their home, Tynan Abbey, on the evening of 21st January 1981, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, armed with machine guns and grenades.

The Stronge family's home was then burnt to the ground. The bodies of the father and son were later recovered from their blazing home. On seeing the explosions at the house (and a flare Stronge lit in an attempt to alert the authorities), policemen and British troops arrived at the scene and established a road-block at the gate lodge. They encountered at least eight fleeing gunmen. There followed a gunfight lasting 20 minutes in which at least 200 shots were fired. There were no casualties among the security forces.

Sir Norman was succeeded to the Baronetcy, albeit only briefly, by his son James, who was killed alongside him.. As it is not known in which order the deaths occurred, James is presumed to be the 9th Baronet under the legal fiction known as the doctrine of survival.

Sir Norman was buried in Tynan Parish church in a joint service with his son. The sword and cap of the Lord Lieutenant of Tyrone were placed on his coffin in lieu of his own, which had been destroyed with his other possessions in the fire. The coffin was carried by the 5th Battalion the Royal Irish Rangers, the successors to his old regiment. During the service a telegram, sent from Queen Elizabeth II to one of Sir Norman's daughters, was read. It stated:

I was deeply shocked to learn of the tragic death of your father and brother; Prince Philip joins me in sending you and your sister all our deepest sympathy on your dreadful loss. Sir Norman's loyal and distinguished service will be remembered.

Sir Norman is commemorated with a tablet in the assembly chamber in the Parliament Buildings at Stormont.

Reactions

The killing was called murder by the Rev. Ian Paisley in the House of Commons and by Lord Cooke of Islandreagh in the House of Lords as well as by media sources including The Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman, The New York Times and Time magazine.

Sir Norman was described at the time of his death by SDLP politician Austin Currie as having been "even at 86 years of age...still incomparably more of a man than the cowardly dregs of humanity who ended his life in this barbaric way."

Tim Pat Coogan stated in The Green Book: I, "Sir Norman Stronge and his son were shot and their home burned because sectarian assassinations were claiming the lives of Catholics" . The IRA were quoted in The Times: "This deliberate attack on the symbols of hated unionism was a direct reprisal for a whole series of loyalist assassinations and murder attacks on nationalist peoples and nationalist activities." (The statement did not claim any direct connection between the Stronges and the alleged loyalist killings.)

When discussing the killing of the Stronges and the Kingsmill massacre, a Tyrone republican and Gaelic Athletic Association veteran speaking to Ed Moloney said, "It's a lesson you learn quickly on the football field...If you're fouled, you hit back".

In 1984, Seamus Shannon was arrested by the Garda in the Republic of Ireland and handed over to the RUC on a warrant accusing him of involvement in the murder of the Sir Norman and his son. The Irish Supreme Court, considering his extradition to Northern Ireland, rejected the defence that these were political offences, saying that they were "so brutal, cowardly and callous that it would be a distortion of language if they were to be accorded the status of a political offence". Shannon was extradited and acquited.

See also

• The Troubles in Tynan

Notes and references

1. 5th Battalion, The Royal Irish FusiliersRegiments.org
2. ^ Stronge of Tynan Abbey, Co. Armagh Turtle Bunbury
3. Mid Armagh election results
4. Biographies of Members of the Northern Ireland House of Commons
5. Burkes Peerage
6. The Massacre of Sir Norman Stronge ex-M.P. and SonIRA atrocities website
7. 'Memorials to the Casualties of Conflict: Northern Ireland 1969 to 1997' by Jane Leonard (1997) Cain Webservice
8. *Time (in partnership with CNN), 2 February, 1981
   • The New York Times, 30 January, 1981 (13th article: "Murders bring fear to Protestants on Ulster border")
   • Commons Hansard, Rev. Ian Paisley, 1992-06-10
   • The Spectator, 13 December, 1997
   • Lords Hansard, Lord Cooke of Islandreagh, 22 March, 2000
   • The News Letter (Belfast, Northern Ireland), January 19, 2001
   • The Daily Telegraph, 22 November, 2001
   • The Scotsman, 10 April, 2006
9. In the Shadow of the GunmenTime Magazine
10. "The Green Book: I" from 'The IRA' by Tim Pat Coogan (1993)
11. Christopher Thomas, "Ex-Speaker killed by IRA as reprisal", The Times, 23 January, 1981.
12. A Secret History of the IRA, Ed Moloney, 2002. (PB) ISBN 0-393-32502-4 (HB) ISBN 0-71-399665-X p.320
13. Seanad Éireann - Volume 139 - 24 March, 1994. Extradition (Amendment) Bill, 1994: Second StageOireachtas historical debates
14. House of Commons Hansard Debates for 10 Jun 1992United Kingdom Parliament website

• Burke's Peerage & Baronetage. 1975.

External links

• Photograph

• Ulster Unionist Party politicians
• People killed by IRA
• British military personnel of World War I
• Croix de guerre recipients
• Recipients of the Military Cross
• Old Etonians
• Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
• 1894 births
• 1981 deaths
• British Army officers
• Members of the Parliament of Northern Ireland
• Councillors in Northern Ireland
• Members of the Privy Council of Northern Ireland