On
August 27, 1979, Lord Mountbatten was killed when McMahon and other IRA
terrorists detonated a 50-pound bomb hidden on his fishing vessel Shadow V.
Mountbatten, a World War II hero, elder statesman, and second cousin of Queen
Elizabeth II, was spending the day with his family in Donegal Bay off Ireland's
northwest coast when the bomb exploded. Three others were killed in the attack,
including Mountbatten's 14-year-old grandson, Nicholas. Later that day, an IRA
bombing attack on land killed 18 British paratroopers in County Down, Northern
Ireland. The assassination of Mountbatten was the first blow struck against the
British royal family by the IRA during its long terrorist campaign to drive the
British out of Northern Ireland and unite it with the Republic of Ireland to
the south. The attack hardened the hearts of many Britons against the IRA and
convinced Margaret Thatcher's government to take a hard-line stance against the
terrorist organization. The IRA immediately claimed responsibility for the
Mountbatten attack, saying it detonated the bomb by remote control from the
coast. It also took responsibility for the same-day bombing attack against
British troops in County Down, which claimed 18 lives. IRA member Thomas
McMahon was later arrested and convicted for his role in the Mountbatten
bombing. He was a leader of the IRA's notorious South Armagh Brigade, which
killed more than 100 British soldiers. He was one of the first IRA members to
be sent to Libya to study detonators and timing devices and was an expert in
explosives. Authorities believe the Mountbatten assassination was the work of
many people, but McMahon was the only individual convicted. Sentenced to life
in prison, he was released in 1998, along with other IRA and Unionist
terrorists, under a controversial provision of the Good Friday Agreement,
Northern Ireland's peace deal. McMahon claimed he had turned his back on the
IRA and was becoming a carpenter.
Michael Barry is the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked
Early California 1849-1949 and Great Britains Royal Tombs: A Guide to the Lives & Burial Places of British Monarchs these books can be purchased from Amazon or Barnes & Noble through the following links -
Murder & Mayhem -
http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mayhem-Shocked-California-1849-1949/dp/0764339680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353687557&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+barry
http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mayhem-Shocked-California-1849-1949/dp/0764339680/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353687557&sr=8-1&keywords=michael+thomas+barry
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