In the Kingsmill massacre on January 5, 1976, ten Protestant men were killed in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force". January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... County Armagh (Contae Ard Mhacha in Irish) is a county in Ulster, Ireland. ... Dieu et mon droit (motto) (French for God and my right)2 Northern Irelands location within the UK Main language English Other recognised languages Irish, Ulster Scots Capital and largest city Belfast First Minister Office suspended Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Peter Hain MP Area  - Total Ranked 4th... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the RA) is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation dedicated to the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and to a United Ireland. ...

The victims were textile workers returning home to Bessbrook in a Ford Transit mini-bus along the Whitecross to Bessbrook road. Shortly after passing through Whitecross, at around 17:40, the vehicle was stopped by a group of about twelve armed men waiting on the road. The van occupants were ordered out and the single Catholic identified was ordered to walk away. The remaining men were shot, with over one hundred rounds expended in less than a minute. Ten men died at the scene, and one survived despite having eighteen wounds. Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, with approximately 3000 inhabitants. ... Whitecross circa 1988. ...

The Kingsmill deaths were a revenge attack, in response to the many Ulster Volunteer Force murders of Catholics in the area, with two attacks which killed three men in Whitecross and three in Ballydougan the previous day. Although a group called the Republican Action Force claimed the attack, they were actually given the go-ahead by local IRA commander Brian Keenan, who almost faced a court-martial for the sectarian nature of the attack. Keenan's defence was that killing the men would dissuade loyalists from attacking local Catholics. However, more than twenty Catholics were murdered in Northern Ireland by Loyalist paramilitaries in the two months after Kingsmill. Keenan went on to serve on the IRA Army Council. The Ulster Volunteer Force (more commonly referred to as the UVF) is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. ... // Introduction Ballydougan is a pleasant, picturesque townland in County Down, Northern Ireland. ... The Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA; more commonly referred to as the IRA, the Provos, or by some of its supporters as the army or the RA) is an Irish Republican paramilitary organisation dedicated to the end of British rule in Northern Ireland and to a United Ireland. ... Sectarianism is an adherence to a particular sect or party or denomination, it also usually involves a rejection of those not a member of ones sect. ... In general, a loyalist is an individual who is loyal to the powers that be or The Establishment. ... The IRA Army Council is the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, more commonly known as the IRA, a paramilitary group dedicated to the removal of the British presence in Ireland. ...

On January 7 the British government officially announced the transfer of a Special Air Service unit into South Armagh. The United Kingdom is a unitary state and a democratic constitutional monarchy. ... It has been suggested that SAS Troops be merged into this article or section. ...

No one has every been charged in relation to the deaths. In 1999, Reverend Ian Paisley used parliamentary privilege in the British House of Commons to name those he believed responsible - apparently quoting from a "police dossier". The Reverend and Right Honourable Ian Richard Kyle Paisley, MP, MLA (born 6 April 1926), also known as Dr. Ian Paisley, is a senior politician and church leader from Northern Ireland. ... Parliamentary privilege, also known as absolute privilege, is a legal mechanism employed within the legislative bodies of countries whose constitutions are based on the Westminster system. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

In 1923, in a similar sectarian attack at nearby Altnaveigh, the IRA under Frank Aiken killed six Protestants (one a woman), as well as a B-Special. Aiken ordered the attack for the same reasons as Keenan did half a century later. Frank Aiken (February 13, 1898 - May 18, 1983) was a senior Irish politician. ... The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC) was a reserve force of the Royal Ulster Constabulary. ...

The Dead

• John Bryans
• Robert Chambers
• Reginald Chapman
• Walter Chapman
• Robert Freeburn
• Joseph Lemon
• John McConville
• Robert Walker
• Kenneth Wharton
• James McWhirter