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On the 1 September 1975 Irish Republicans from the Provisional IRA using the covername South Armagh Republican Action Force carried out a gun attack on an Orange Order building (known as a Orange Hall) in Tullyvallen, Newtownhamilton, County Armagh close to the Irish border. Five people were killed in the attack and seven were injured.

The Republican Action Force

The South Armagh Republican Action Force (SARAF) or just simply the Republican Action Force (RAF). Was a loose alliance of Republican paramilitaries who were against the 1975 IRA truce with the British government. They were sort of a response to the Protestant Action Force (PAF) who were a covername for the UVF when carrying out sectarian attacks on Catholics. Most the members of this rouge grop were IRA volunteers especially the ones in border counties like South Armagh & the Tyrone & Fermanagh borders. There was also members of Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) who were involvedin the group.

Previous Attacks

The attack preceeded a string of tit-for-tat sectarian killings carried out by Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries as far back as February 1975 on the same day as truce between the IRA and the British Army was suppose to start. In August the month before the Tullyvallen attack Loyalists & Republicans carried out a string of sectarian attacks, leading to over 20 deaths and 100+ plus injuries.

• On the 1 August two Catholic civilians were shot dead in their minibus by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)
• On the 10 August a gun battle broke out between the British Army & the IRA. two children were killed in the crossfire.
• Three days later the IRA carried out a gun & bomb attack on a pub on the Shankill Road killing five people and injuring 40 others.
• On the 22 August three Catholics were killed in a bomb attack on a bar in Armagh. Another Catholic died of injuries caused by Loyalists a few days earlier.
• Two days later two Catholic civilians were abducted and murdered by the UVF in Armagh.
• On the 27 August the IRA exploded a bomb at the Caterham Arms pub in Surrey, England injuring over 30 people.
• One day later an IRA bomb exploded in Oxford Street, London.
• On the 29 August a British Army bomb-disposal officer was killed tryying to defuse an IRA bomb in Kensington Church Street, London. On the same day a volunteer of the IRA's youth wing was shot dead by Loyalists in Belfast
• On the 30 August the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) bombed a pub in Belfast killing two Catholic civlians. On the same day the IRA shot dead an off-duty member of the security forces.
• Also on the 30 August, Stephen Geddis (10) died two days after being shot in the head by a plastic bullet by the British Army. Dozens of other Catholic children from woking-class areas were targeted and killed by British security forces during the troubles lke the killings of Julie Living Stone.

Orange Hall Attack

On 1 September 1975, a few days after two Catholic civilians were had been abducted & then shot dead by the UVF a short distance way in , the South Armagh Republican Action Force claimed responsibility for a gun attack on Tullyvallen Orange Hall near Newtownhamilton, County Armagh. The attack happened at about 10pm, when a group of Orangemen were holding a meeting inside. A number of the Orangemen were members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British Army and were armed. Two gunmen entered the hall and sprayed it with bullets while another stood outside and shot through a window. One of the Orangemen was an off-duty Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer. He returned fire with a pistol and believed he hit one of the attackers. Five of the Orangemen, all civilians, were killed while seven others were wounded. The attackers planted a 2 pounds (0.91 kg) bomb outside the hall but it failed to detonate. A caller to the BBC claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was in retaliation for "the assassinations of fellow Catholics in Belfast". Shortly after, the Orange Order called for the creation of a legal militia (or "Home Guard") to deal with republican paramilitaries.

References

1. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
2. http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/tullyvallen-massacre-40-years-on-the-memories-never-really-go-away-1-6930557
3. UVF - The End Game by Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack
4. https://books.google.ie/books?id=P6mPDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
5. Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1975". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
6. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
7. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
8. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
9. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
10. ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
11. Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1975". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
12. Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1975". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
13. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
14. Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
15. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=30&month=08&year=1975
16. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=name&surname=Livingstone&forename=Julie
17. http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/cgi-bin/dyndeaths.pl?querytype=date&day=22&month=05&year=1981
18. ^ McKittrick, David. Lost Lives. Mainstream Publishing, 1999. p.572
19. McKay, Susan. Northern Protestants: An unsettled people. Blackstaff Press, 2005. p.190
20. Melaugh, Dr Martin. "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1975". cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
21. English, Richard. Armed Struggle: The history of the IRA. Pan McMillen, 2004. p. 171

• Military actions and engagements during the Troubles (Northern Ireland)
• 1975 in Northern Ireland
• The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
• The Troubles in County Armagh
• Irish republican organisations
• Anti-Protestantism
• Attacks on churches
• Massacres in places of worship
• Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland