This is a timeline of actions by the Official Irish Republican Army (Official IRA or OIRA), an Irish republican & Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group. Most of these actions took place as part of a Guerrilla campaign against the British Army & Royal Ulster Constabulary and internal Irish Republican feuds with the Provisional IRA & Irish National Liberation Army from the early 1970s - to the mid-1970s during the most violent phase of "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland.
Timeline of attacks & actions 1969 28 December - The Irish Republican Army split into the Marxist-Leninist Official IRA on one side & the more militant traditional Republican Provisional IRA on the other side.
1970 3-5 July - Twelve Volunteers from the Provisional IRA & 90 Volunteers from the Official IRA's Belfast Brigade battled the British Army during the Falls Curfew. Four civilians were killed by the British Army, several IRA Volunteers injured & 18 British soldiers were also injured during the battle. June - August - An Official IRA active service unit based in London, England carried out a series of armed bank robberies during the summer of 1970 to raise funds for the OIRA. Kieran Conway who in 1974 left the OIRA over their ceasefire and became a PIRA Volunteer was a member of this unit.Interview with Kieran Conway, 'HARDtalk' BBC, 20 October 2016. Published on Youtube 27 October 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGu78sfInPA
1971 8 March - After a gun battle between the Officials & Provisionals, the OIRA Volunteers shot dead the Provisional IRA's Belfast D Company commander Charlie Hughes (a cousin of Brendan Hughes, one of the Republican leaders of the 1980 Hunger Strike) and injured Tom Cahill, a nephew of veteran Irish Republican, Joe Cahill. Tensions between the two factions would lead to more bloodshed a few years later. See: Official & Provisional IRA feud 22 May - The first British soldier to die at the hands of the Official IRA, Robert Bankier of the Royal Green Jackets was killed by a unit led by Joe McCann. McCann's unit opened fire on a passing British mobile patrol near Cromac Square, hitting the patrol from both sides. He was the fourth British soldier to die on active service and the seventh overall since the conflict began.Jack Holland & Henry McDonald, INLA – Deadly Divisions, 1994, p. 10 2 July - The OIRA bombed the British Ministry of Social Security in South Mall, Cork, claiming the premises was used to recruit former British soldiers for the British Army.Belfast Telegraph. 6 July 1971. 2 July - An OIRA unit bombed an electrical transformer station at the Mogul Mines in the Silvermines mountains in County Tipperary. This was in support of mine workers who were striking at the time. Volunteer Martin O'Leary sustained injuries whilst planting the explosives, and later died of his injuries on July 6. 10 July - The OIRA ambushed a British Army mobile patrol in Leeson Street in West Belfast. Two soldiers and two civilians were slightly hurt.Andernsonstown News. 15 July 1978. 9 - 10 August 1971 - During the introduction of Internment without trial OIRA Staff Captain Joe McCann led a small unit that held off a large number of British troops (reported 600 soldiers) for a number of hours to let people evade capture in the Markets area of Belfast. 14 August - An Official IRA sniper shot dead British soldier John Robinson (21) while he was on mobile patrol in Butler Street, Ardoyne, Belfast during riots in the aftermath of internment. 31 August - The OIRA opened fire on a group of British soldiers in a bar in Belfast city centre, injuring one.Irish Independent, 31 August 1971. 4 September - The OIRA killed a British soldier who was part of a mobile patrol in a land mine attack near Newry. 14 September - A OIRA sniper shot dead a British soldier in the Creggan area of Derry. 20 September - The OIRA shot and seriously wounded a British soldier at an observation post at the Foyle Road, Derry.Irish Independent, 21 September 1971. 23 September 1971 - Official IRA Volunteers Curry Rose (18) and Gerard O'Hare (17) were both killed in a premature bomb explosion while preparing a bomb in a house in Merrion Street, along the Lower Falls. 4 October - A British soldier was killed in an OIRA bomb attack on an Army base in Cuppar Street, Belfast. 29 October - The OIRA attempted to kidnap Speaker of the Stormont House of Commons, Major Ivan Neill, at his manor home in Rostrevor near Newry. The attempt was foiled by the British Army and RUC but the OIRA unit escaped.Irish Press, 30 October 1971. 3 December - The OIRA bombed the home of Lord-lieutenant Basil McFarland in Derry. The OIRA stated it was retaliation for the wrecking of homes in Nationalist areas by the British Army.The Belfast Telegraph, 4 December 1971. 9 December - The OIRA targeted a sustained burst of automatic fire at a Royal Marines APC and Land Rover in Newry, seriously injuring one soldier. Four civilians in a nearby bus were also injured.Newry Reporter, 16 December 1971. 12 December - A three-man active service unit of the OIRA assassinated Stormont Senator and UUP member John Barnhill when they shot him dead during an attack on his Brickfield home in near Strabane, Tyrone. Barnhill's home was destroyed by a bomb during the attack. 30 December - OIRA members raided the offices of the Housing Executive in Derry and destroyed files in a bonfire on the Creggan estate.Fortnight Magazine, No. 31, p. 12-13. Fortnight Publications, 1972. 30 December - The OIRA burnt down the Rostrevor, County Down, home of Ivan Neil, Speaker of the House of Commons of Northern Ireland.
1972 13 January - A Royal Marines Sioux helicopter was fired at and hit in Derry while supporting a British Army patrol pursuing a gunman, which had then been engaged by members of both the Official and Provisional IRA. The aircraft flew back to its base and landed safely. 30 January - It is claimed by eyewitnesses during Bloody Sunday in The Bogside in Derry that an OIRA Volunteer returned a single shot at the Paratroopers who had already opened fire. 30 January - The OIRA stated that in retaliation for the killing of several civilians earlier that day, OIRA volunteers engaged British soldiers in Derry and a volunteer had been shot in the leg and neck.Irish Independent. 31 January 1972. 31 January - The OIRA shot and injured the former Unionist mayor of Lurgan, Alexander Greer, and burnt down his house.Belfast Telegraph. 1 February 1972. 6 February - A former member of the British Army's Parachute Regiment was found just inside the South Armagh border. The killing was blamed on the OIRA. 13 February - The OIRA abducted and shot dead a British soldier from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, his body was found near Newtownbutler. 22 February - An OIRA unit exploded a bomb at Aldershot Barrack in Hampshire, England, killing 7 civilians. 23 February - The OIRA bombed a British Army post in Dungiven, County Londonderry. A British soldier inside escaped with only minor injuries and shock.Belfast Telegraph. 23 February 1972. 25 February - In Russell Street, Armagh two OIRA Volunteers fired shots from a Thompson SMG seriously injuring Stormont Minister & security spokesman John Taylor of the UUP. 29 February - The OIRA shot dead an RUC officer outside a factory in Newry. He died on the 2 March. 3 March - The OIRA bombed the council office in Cookstown, County Tyrone.Belfast Telegraph. 4 March 1972.Mid-Ulster Mail. 24 May 1972. 4 March - The OIRA killed a former UDR soldier in Derry. 5 March - The OIRA reported jointly carrying out a landmine and gun attack with PIRA on a British Army patrol led by a Ferret armoured car in Barley Lane, Newry.Newry Reporter. 9 March 1972. 12 March - A OIRA sniper shot dead a Catholic civilian during a sniper attack on British Army base in the Falls Road, Belfast. 24 March - The OIRA engaged the British Army in a two-hour long gun battle in the Creggan area of Derry. Hundreds of rounds were fired and a British officer described it as the most intense shootout in city up to that point. Staff of nearby St. Peter's school condemned the British Army for firing several shots into their school, despite there being no gunmen present.Derry Journal. 24 March 1972. 10 April - Two British soldiers were killed in an OIRA bomb attack in Rosemount, Derry. 15 April - OIRA Belfast Commander Joe McCann was shot dead in the Markets area of Belfast. His funeral was attended by over 5,000 people. 15 April - A British soldier was shot dead in an OIRA sniper attack in Divis Street, Lower Falls, Belfast. Two other British soldiers were seriously injured.Holland, Jack; McDonald, Henry (1994). INLA Deadly Divisions. 16 April - A British soldier was shot dead in an OIRA sniper attack in Bishops Street, Derry. 16 April - A British soldier was ambushed outside his base and shot dead by the OIRA in the Brandywell area of Derry. 16 April - Two British soldiers were wounded in an ambush in Newry, County Armagh. 24 April - A supermarkets in Lisglynn, County Armagh was bombed and the owner was shot but not seriously injured. The Official IRA was blamed. 21 May - The OIRA shot dead a soldier, Ranger William Best (19) who was home on leave, his body was found in William Street, Derry. There was anger from the Nationalist community against the OIRA over this killing. 13 - 14 May - OIRA Volunteers joined forces with the Provisional IRA during the Battle at Springmartin. 29 May - The OIRA called an offensive ceasefire. 9 - 14 July - Various units from the Official IRA Belfast Brigade took part in the Battle of Lenadoon. 9 July - British snipers shot dead a member of the OIRA's Youth Wing David McCafferty (15) along with four other people in Ballymurphy, west Belfast. See: Springhill Massacre. 10 July - OIRA units were involved in a ten-hour long gun battle with the UDA in the Lower Falls area of Belfast.Brian Hanley and Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Penguin UK, 2009. 11 July - A Volunteer from the OIRA Youth Wing Gerard Doherty (16) was shot dead in his house by the British Army in Belfast. 14 July - OIRA Volunteer Edward Brady was shot dead by the British Army during a gun battle in Ardoyne, Belfast. 16 July - A Volunteer from the OIRA Youth Wing Tobias Molloy died after being shot by the British Army with a rubber bullet in Strabane, County Tyrone. British soldiers fired rubber bullets at the funeral cortege; that same night the OIRA shot a British soldier in retaliation. 25 July - The OIRA shot dead UDA member James Kenna at the junction of Roden Street & Clifford Street in Belfast. He was reportedly part of a Loyalist mob attempting to invade a Catholic area. 30 September - A female OIRA Volunteer Patricia McKay was shot dead by the British Army during an attack on an Army barracks. 16 October - Two OIRA Volunteers were shot dead by the British Army a VCP in Coagh, County Tyrone. 5 December - The OIRA carried out several mortar attacks using newly developed launchers on British Army bases in Northern Ireland. Several of the devices either missed their target or failed to explode. A British soldier was killed when a shell detonated while he was examining one of the mortars in Kitchen Hill in Lurgan. The OIRA did not claim responsibility for the attacks.Brian Hanley and Scott Millar, The Lost Revolution: The Story of the Official IRA and the Workers' Party. Penguin UK, 2009. Chapter 4: Defence and Retaliation. 15 December - A RUC officer was shot dead by OIRA volunteers near Kilwilkie gardens, Lurgan, Armagh. 15 December - A off-duty UDR soldier was shot dead as he left his workplace near Moy Road, Armagh.
1973 February–March - The OIRA carried out over a dozen retaliatory attacks against British security forces after the British Army shot dead 12-year-old Kevin Heatley near his home in Derrybeg, Newry, County Down on 28 February.