Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations

Abstentionism	Traditional republican refusal to take seats in or recognize the legitimacy of the Dublin, London, and Belfast parliaments.
AG	Adjutant-general; deputy chief of staff of the IRA; in charge of internal discipline.
AK-47	Romanian-made version of the Kalashnikov automatic rifle smuggled in large numbers to the IRA from Libya in mid and late 1980s.
Alliance Party	Cross-community political party, middle-of-the-road and mostly middle-class.
Apprentice Boys of Derry	Protestant society dedicated to celebrating the Williamite victory over James II at the siege of Derry in 1688.
AP-RN	An Phoblacht–Republican News. Weekly newspaper of the Provisional republican movement. Result of a merger of Southern and Northern papers which signaled Adams takeover. Editorial policy effectively decided by IRA leadership.
Ard Comhairle (ard corlya)	Ruling Executive of Sinn Fein, the IRA’s political wing.
Ard Fheis (ard esh)	Annual conference of Sinn Fein. Plural is Ard-Fheiseanna.
Armalite	U.S. automatic and semiautomatic rifle first used by the IRA in early 1970s.
Army Council	Seven-person committee which decides IRA policy.
articles 2 and 3	Constitutional embodiment of the Republic of Ireland’s claim to Northern Ireland. Significantly soft-end under terms of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
ASU	IRA Active Service Unit.
Ballymurphy	Sprawling Catholic housing estate in West Belfast where Gerry Adams grew up.
Barrett Light 50	U.S.-made sniping rifle, highly accurate and deadly. Fired a.50 inch slug. Favored by the IRA in South Armagh.
BB	Belfast Brigade of the IRA.
BBC	British Broadcasting Corporation.
black stuff	IRA nickname for home-made explosives.
Bloody Friday	Name given to July 21, 1972, when twenty IRA car bombs exploded in Belfast, killing seven people.
Bloody Sunday	Name given to January 30, 1972 when British paratroopers shot dead fourteen civil rights marchers in Derry.
Bodenstown	The cemetery in County Kildare, west of Dublin, where Wolfe Tone, the eighteenth century founder of Irish republicanism is buried. The annual commemoration in June is the occasion for the IRA leadership to promulgate policy.
Bogside	Catholic ghetto of Derry where the Provisional IRA leader Martin McGuinness was born.
Brit	IRA term for member of the British Army or Government.
Brownie	Pen-name used by Gerry Adams for articles he wrote in Cage 11 AP-RN.
Cage 11	The prison hut in the internment camp outside Belfast where Adams and his allies were held in the mid-1970s. Became shorthand for Adams supporters and their plan to revitalize and take over the IRA.
chairman of the Army Council	Member of the Army Council chosen to represent the IRA in negotiations.
chief of staff	The IRA’s military commander.
CIA	Central Intelligence Agency.
Clonard	Nationalist section of mid-Falls Road area in west Belfast, home of the Redemptorist Monastery. Loyalist efforts to burn the area in 1969 led to the birth of the Provisional IRA.
“concrete proposal”	Adams–Reid strategy of pan-nationalism proposed to Irish government in 1986–87.
Connolly Association	British-based Marxist and Irish republican discussion group in 1960s.
cumann/cumainn	Irish word for “group” or “branch”, usually in politics.
Cumann na mBan (cuman naman)	The IRA’s women’s wing, now scrapped and integrated into the main organization.
DAAD	Direct Action Against Drugs. Front for IRA, especially during 1994–96 cease-fire.
Dail Eireann (doyle eran)	The Irish parliament in Dublin, known to hard-line republicans as Leinster House.
D Coy	Legendary IRA company of the Second Belfast Battalion, formed in the lower Falls Road area. Known in IRA slang as “the Dogs.”
Defenders	Catholic defence organization established in late eighteenth century in response to violence of Protestant groups like the Peep O’Day Boys.
DSD	Downing Street Declaration, of December 1993.
DUP	Democratic Unionist Party, founded and led by the Reverend Ian Paisley. Opposes the Good Friday Agreement but takes ministerial posts nevertheless.
Dushkie	Soviet-made DHSK heavy machine gun supplied to the IRA by Libya. It proved far too heavy for the IRA to use, and its gunbelt was too small.
Easter Proclamation	Declaration of Irish independence signed by the leader of the Easter Rising.
Easter Rising	Mostly Dublin-based rebellion of the Irish Volunteers in 1916. Secretly planned and fomented by the IRB leadership.
EGAC	Extraordinary IRA Convention, which only delegates from previous Convention can attend.
Eire Nua (erah nua)	New Ireland programme for a federal Ireland proposed by early Provisional IRA leaders.
electoralism	Policy of standing regularly in elections.
EO	Explosives officer.
Executive	Thirteen-person body, elected at Convention which chooses the Army Council.
FBI	Federal Bureau of Investigation, charged with monitoring IRA activities in the United States.
na Fianna Eireann (na feena eran)	The IRA’s boy scouts, disbanded in late 1970s.
Fianna Fail (feena foyle)	The party set up by Eamon de Valera after he broke with the IRA in 1926.
Fine Gael (finner gail)	Political descendants of Michael Collins and the Sinn Fein members who supported the 1921 Treaty.
First Dail	Name given to Irish MPs elected in 1919 who refused to sit at Westminster and set up a rival and rebel parliament in Dublin.
flying column	Name given to large, fast-moving IRA force operating mostly in the countryside.
FoSF	Friends of Sinn Fein. Set up during the peace process to raise money for Sinn Fein in the United States.
Free State	Contemptuous term given by republicans to the Southern, twenty-six county state. Taken from its official name in 1922, the Irish Free State.
FRU	Force Research Unit. Agent running section of British military intelligence.
Garda Siochana (garda sheehonah)	Police force in the Republic of Ireland.
Gear	IRA slang for weaponry.
General Army Convention (GAC)	Delegate meeting of the IRA membership which is the body’s supreme authority. Only the Convention can change the IRA’s constitution.
General Army Orders (GAO)	IRA rules and regulations covering, e.g., arrangements for courts-martial and punishments.
GHQ	General headquarters staff. The departmental heads who organize the IRA’s structures and military campaign.
Good Friday Agreement	Political deal agreed in Belfast in April 1998 by the pro-peace process parties including Sinn Fein.
Government of Ireland Act	British legislation in 1920 that partitioned Ireland and established authority over Northern Ireland.
Green Book	IRA tutorial cum regulation book, required reading for all IRA members. It also contains the IRA constitution.
GRIT	Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension Reduction. Concept behind the secret diplomacy between the British and the IRA in Derry from 1990 on.
H Blocks	Cell blocks in the Maze prison used to house paramilitary prisoners. They replaced the internment compounds and became the focus of a campaign for political status that led to the 1981 hunger strikes.
Hillsborough agreement	Agreement of 1985 between Margaret Thatcher and Garret FitzGerald that gave the Republic a consultative say in Northern Ireland’s affairs.
Home Rule	Demand for self-government made by Irish nationalists prior to the 1916 Rising.
human bomb	IRA tactic of early 1990s.
IICD	Independent International Commission on Decommissioning. Body that oversees paramilitary disarmament.
IMC	Independent Monitoring Commission. Monitors and reports of state of IRA and loyalist cease-fires.
IO	Intelligence officer.
INLA	Irish National Liberation Army. Small left-wing republican splinter group known for its extreme violence and vicious feuds. Its political wing is the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP).
IRA	Irish Republican Army. At the last count there were four bodies calling themselves the IRA, each one claiming sole right to the title. The largest of these and the one most identified in the public mind as the IRA is the Provisional IRA, which fought a quarter-century-long campaign against the British presence in Northern Ireland. Also known as the ’RA or as the Army.
IRB	Irish Republican Brotherhood. Secret wing and precursor of the IRA led by Patrick Pearse but later controlled by Michael Collins. Had its roots in the American Fenian movement. Faded away after the Treaty was signed.
LIS	Libyan Intelligence Service.
Long Kesh	Name given to the compounds and cages used to house IRA internees in the early 1970s.
Long War	Concept of a lengthy political and military struggle developed by Adams in Cage 11.
loyalist	An extreme unionist. The term also denotes a readiness to use violence and a hatred for Catholics.
Maidstone	British prison ship used briefly to house IRA interness, including Gerry Adams.
Maze prison	Name given to Long Kesh by the British after the IRA was criminalized in the mid-1970s.
MI5	The British internal security service. Has been in charge of intelligence operations against the IRA since the mid-1980s.
MI6	The British Secret Intelligence Service. Unionists suspect MI6 of pro-Irish nationalist sympathies.
Motorman	Name of British army operation to occupy IRA areas of Belfast and Derry.
Mountain Climber	Name given to MI6 officer Michael Oatley, who secretly negotiated with the IRA.
the movement	Name given by republicans to combined force of the IRA and Sinn Fein and associated bodies.
MP	Member of the British House of Commons at Westminster.
MRF	British undercover unit of the early 1970s. Believed to stand for Military Reconnaissance Force.
NICRA	Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association.
NIO	Northern Ireland Office. British department which governs Northern Ireland.
NLF	National Liberation Front. Broad front of left-wing groups proposed by Cathal Goulding in 1960s.
NSD	National self-determination.
nationalist	Someone sympathetic to the peaceful reunification of Ireland. Also shorthand for Catholic…
Noraid	New York-based IRA support group known officially as Irish Northern Aid.
Northern Command	Separate IRA structure for the “war zone” set up in mid-1970s as part of the Adams reforms. A crucial vehicle for his takeover.
OC	Officer commanding an IRA unit.
Official IRA	The section of the IRA that stayed loyal to Cathal Goulding after the 1969 split.
ONH	Oglaigh na hEireann (ogly na herran). The Irish for IRA, literally the army of Ireland.
OO	Operations officer, “Double O” in IRA usage.
Operation Harvest	Name given to start of IRA’s 1956–62 Border Campaign.
Orangeman	Member of the exclusively Protestant and unionist Orange Order.
partition	The division of Ireland into two states by the 1920 Government of Ireland Act.
PD	People’s Democracy. Student-based civil rights movement of late 1960s.
Planters	Protestants from Northern England and lowland Scotland settled by Tudor and Stuart monarchs in Ireland, mostly in northeast.
PRG	Derry-based Peace and Reconciliation Group.
Provo/Provie	Slang for Provisional IRA member or supporter.
QMG	Quarter-master general. GHQ officer responsible for acquiring, hiding and supplying the IRA’s arms.
Republican Clubs	Name given to Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland in 1960s. Idea borrowed from Revolutionary Councils Colonel Gaddafi by Adams and his allies in mid-1970s. It functioned as a mini-Convention and was used to press changes on the Army Council.
RPG-7	Rocket Propelled Grenade, a favorite IRA weapon from the early 1970s on.
RSF	Republican Sinn Fein. Breakaway from Provisional Sinn Fein led by Ruairi O Bradaigh. Objected to dropping of abstentionism in the Dail and has a military wing called the Continuity IRA.
RTE	Radio Telefis Eireann. The state radio and television company in the Irish Republic.
RUC	Royal Ulster Constabulary. Northern Ireland’s mostly Protestant police force, renamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
SAM-7	Surface-to-air missiles supplied to the IRA by Libya. Their batteries could not be replaced and the weapon was never used in anger.
SAS	Special Air Services. Covert wing of the British army that carried out ambushes against the IRA like that at Loughgall.
SDLP	Social Democratic and Labour Party. Until the peace process it was the largest nationalist party in Northern Ireland.
Second Dail	Parliament elected in 1921 in the last all-Ireland poll. Revered by traditional republicans because of that.
Semtex	Powerful Czech-made plastic explosive supplied to the IRA in large quantities by Colonel Gaddafi.
Sinn Fein (shin fain)	Irish for “Ourselves Alone.” The political wing of the republican movement.
Sos (Suss)	Irish word that means a short pause. Was used by IRA members to describe the 1994 cease-fire.
SPA	Special Powers Act. Unionist anti-IRA law.
Special Branch	RUC’s intelligence wing.
Stick	Republican term for IRA members who stayed with the Goulding wing after the 1969 split.
Stormont	The Northern Ireland parliament or Assembly.
Tan War	Another name for the Anglo-Irish conflict of 1919–21, so-named after the British militia “the Black and Tans”.
tanaiste (tonashta)	Irish deputy prime minister.
taoiseach (teeshuk)	Irish prime minister.
Tartan gang	Teenage loyalist gangs in Belfast set up in 1971 after the IRA abducted and killed three young Scottish soldiers.
TD	Member of the Irish parliament.
Tet offensive	Based on the Vietnamese offensive of the same name, the Irish equivalent was supposed to start in 1987.
think tank	Small group of advisers gathered around Adams. It ran the negotiations leading to the 1994 and 1997 cease-fires.
Thirty-two-County Sovereignty Movement	Political wing of the Real IRA which broke with the Provisionals in 1997.
Tory	Alternative name for a member of the British Conservative Party.
Thompson submachine gun	IRA’s traditional weapon of choice until the Armalite arrived.
The Twelfth	Annual Orange celebration of King William’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne. Held on July 12 each year.
the unknowns	Secret intelligence cell set up by Gerry Adams in early 1970s
TPU	Timer power unit. Bomb-detonating mechanism devised by IRA engineers.
TUAS	Ambiguously titled strategy devised to justify the 1994 IRA cease-fire. Known in the IRA as the Tactical Use of Armed Struggle but to Sinn Fein’s mainstream political allies as the Totally UnArmed Strategy.
Ulster custom	Privilege of security of tenancy and compensation for land improvement granted to Protestant farmers.
unionist	Someone who favors retaining Northern Ireland’s constitutional link to Britain.
United Irishmen	Fusion of Catholic Defenders and Presbyterian radicals which rose unsuccessfully against English rule in 1798.
UDA	Ulster Defence Association. Once the largest Protestant paramilitary group. Conducted a campaign of terror against Catholics and IRA members. Oppose the Good Friday Agreement.
UDR	Ulster Defence Regiment. Mostly Protestant militia.
UVF	Ulster Volunteer Force. Led mainstream unionist rebellion against Home Rule Bill in 1912. Its modern version was known for vicious torture-murders of Catholics. Supported the Good Friday Agreement.
UUP	Largest unionist political party led during the key years of the peace process by David Trimble. Supported the Good Friday Agreement.
Volunteer	Official name for a rank-and-file IRA member.
WBHAC	West Belfast Housing Action Committee. Founded by Adams in 1960s.