Word: crossmaglen
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...cheers was some harsh heckling from a woman partisan of I.R.A. prisoners who are currently engaged in a "dirt strike," a euphemism for a protest in which they wear no clothes and refuse sanitary facilities. Later Thatcher helicoptered to the British army's most beleaguered Irish outpost, Crossmaglen, a heavily fortified and often attacked base in an area notorious for I.R.A. activity. Her speedy show of the flag in Ulster met with a sturdy rebuff from the I.R.A. Said a statement from the Provos: "The Iron Maiden's declaration of war is nothing but the bankrupt rattling...
Little Hope. Such attitudes have led the I.R.A. to call South Armagh an "independent republic." Its capital is the dingy farm hamlet of Crossmaglen...
...located near the center of the salient. Crossmaglen's most distinguishing feature is a fire-gutted remnant of the town hall, destroyed by the British after an I.R.A. ambush. Half a block off the main square, whose principal commercial life revolves around ten seedy-looking pubs, is a British army post housing some 110 Royal Fusiliers. The compound is known locally as the Alamo, and for good reason: it is ringed by two-story-high corrugated steel walls, topped by concertina wire and strung over with camouflage netting...
...without creating a storm in the House of Commons." Just as the U.S. Army learned in Viet Nam, the military's very presence in the area has helped to alienate local residents and broaden support for "the enemy." Says Paddy Short, a ruddy-faced bartender in one of Crossmaglen's pubs: "They're an army of occupation and we're an occupied country. We're not pro I.R.A., we're just anti-British. We hate them, and nothing is going to change until they leave...
Last week, two British Ferret scout cars, each manned by a corporal, set off down an "unapproved" road south of the border village of Crossmaglen. Suddenly, when they saw a Gaelic sign on a schoolhouse, they realized they had gone too far. Turning swiftly back through the hamlet of Courtbane, they found the narrow lane blocked by a minibus and a crowd of jeering youths who poured gasoline over one of the scout cars. Moments later, as the vehicle blazed, a corporal scrambled out and jumped quickly into the other car. Finally, after 30 minutes of agonized waiting, the soldiers...