List of weapons used by the Irish National Liberation Army explained
List of weapons used by the Irish National Liberation Army during The Troubles (1969–1997).
Sources
See main article: Timeline of Irish National Liberation Army actions.
Obtaining arms was one of the greatest difficulties faced by the INLA in its early years. Their Marxism made them beyond help from Catholic Irish-America, who had traditionally been a lifeline for funds and weapons for Irish republicans engaged in armed struggle. At a time when the Provisional IRA seemed replete with Armalites, the INLA was mainly armed with shotguns, which the rank and file wryly took to calling "Costello-ites" after their leader. The INLA's main source of arms early on was from sympathizers in the Middle East, from where they imported a contingent of AK-pattern rifles in 1978 and later much larger shipments of arms via a French contact.[1]
Small arms
Model | Image | Caliber | Type | Origin | Details |
---|
Pistols |
---|
| | | Pistol | | [2] |
| | 9×19mm Parabellum | Pistol | | [3] |
| | | Pistol | | [4] |
| | | Pistol | | [5] |
| | | | | [6] |
| | | Pistol | | Stolen from an off-duty Royal Irish Regiment soldier's car in Dublin in 1994.[7] |
Rifles |
---|
| | | | | Used in a sniper attack as late as 1989.[8] |
| | | | | [9] |
| | | | | [10] |
| | | | | [11] |
| | | | | [12] |
AR-15 | | 5.56×45mm NATO | | | [13] |
FN FAL | | 7.62×51mm NATO | Battle rifle | | Intercepted as part of an arms shipment in 1995.[14] |
Springfield Armory M1A | | 7.62×51mm NATO | | | [15] |
Gewehr 43 | | | | | [16] |
Assault rifles |
---|
| | | Assault rifle | | [17] |
| | 7.62×39mm | Assault rifle | | [18] |
| | 7.62×39mm | Assault rifle | | Intercepted as part of an arms shipment in 1995. |
M16 | | | Assault rifle | | |
| | 5.56×45mm NATO | Assault rifle | | Imported around 1985.[19] |
Sig 540 | | 5.56×45mm NATO | Assault Rifle | | Reportedly taken from an INLA arms cache by the IRA in 1984.[20] Also reported in the possession of the INLA in Newry in 1986.[21] "Swiss-made automatic weapon" reportedly used in attack on UDR soldier in Armagh in 1987.[22] |
RK 62 | | | Assault rifle | | Several used in INLA attacks in mid-1980s, including abortive assassination attempt targeting Ian Paisley.[23] [24] A single example seen at INLA funeral in 2019. Possible civilian version with long barrel and different muzzle brake, chambered in .223/5.56.[25] |
Submachine guns |
---|
| | | Submachine Gun | | [26] |
Sterling submachine gun | | | Submachine Gun | | [27] |
| | | Submachine Gun | | |
| | | Submachine Gun | | [28] |
| | | Submachine Gun | | [29] |
| | | Submachine Gun | | Stolen from a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) vehicle in May 2000.[30] | |
Explosives
Model | Image | Type | Origin | Details |
---|
| | | | Often using Gelignite or a Soviet-made plastic explosive, possibly Semtex. |
| | | | |
Various models of Chinese and Soviet-made hand grenades | | | | [31] | |
Notes and References
- Fortnight Magazine, Issue 195, p. 7-8. Fortnight Publications, 1983.
- http://irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/99-03.04/howinla.html The Starry Plough – March/April 1999
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Web site: INLA firing party using Webley at 1984 funeral.. 12 May 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20230614035240/https://headtopics.com/ie/fugitive-who-worked-as-barber-in-dublin-sentenced-to-life-for-ni-murder. June 14, 2023.
- Sunday Life 13 July 1997.
- Sunday Life 12 November 1989.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: Oppenheimer, A. R.. IRA: The Bombs and The Bullets. A History of Deadly Ingenuity. registration. 2018-06-30. Irish Academic Press. 978-0-7165-2895-1. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Web site: The Starry Plough, June 1982 . 2 January 2021 . 2 August 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190802145925/http://www.angelfire.com/dc/ira/test.htm . bot: unknown .
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- "'Terrorist arsenal' find", Derry Journal, 25 September 1984.
- Belfast Telegraph 8 September 1986.
- Book: Wharton, Ken . Another Bloody Chapter in an Endless Civil War: Northern Ireland and the Troubles, 1984–87, Volume 1 . 2016 . Helion and Company. 9781912174270. en.
- Irish Independent, 14 January 1985.
- Belfast Telegraph, 21 May 1990.
- Web site: Gun used at INLA funeral featured in BBC Stacey Dooley documentary. ALLISON MORRIS. 23 May 2019. 31 December 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20230211172046/https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/05/23/news/gun-used-at-inla-funeral-featured-in-bbc-documentary-1626497/. February 11, 2023.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Web site: Fitzmaurice . Maurice . Machine gun and cash seized during operation against INLA . BelfastLive . 10 July 2021 . en . 11 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20211203054152/https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/police-targeting-inla-seize-guns-16415846. December 3, 2021.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.
- Web site: Archived copy . 28 January 2021 . 25 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130225165743/https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/victims/docs/newspapers/derry_journal/na_dj_271106.pdf . bot: unknown .
- Book: McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack. I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. 2018-06-30. Syracuse University Press. 9781842234389. en.