One review praised the descriptive writing, saying they could almost smell the cigarette smoke in the west Belfast houses where much of the plot developed. I found Ghosts Of A Family similar – the chaos and busyness of an industrial city, rich with characters and organisation, came alive in the well-paced but detailed text.
Edward Burke is an accomplished writer and historian. Like a previous masterful book of his, Army Of Tribes, Burke is revisiting a well-known, arguably totemic incident of violence and reappraising it. In Army of Tribes, significant context and background added to the existing knowledge, which may, perhaps, challenge the understanding in various quarters. What Burke has done with Ghosts Of A Family is different, and impressively ambitious.
Central to the book are the murders at the McMahon residence. The following is an entry from Wikipedia:
The Wikipedia article is basically received wisdom amongst those with an interest in the history of the six counties. For those of us with a greener lens, equally received wisdom is that a notorious police officer, Inspector Nixon, was responsible for the murders. Burke challenges this notion, and does so convincingly. Not that Nixon is exculpated – Burke dismisses the idea that Nixon was a law-abiding man. As he writes early in the book, Burke unexpectedly came across an intensely detailed, and hitherto unanalysed, set of records about the 1920s Troubles in Belfast. These were the battle logs and intelligence reports of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, known as the “the Norfolks”, or “the Holy Boys.”
What follows is a truly fascinating account of multiple armed organisations fighting it out amongst themselves, and terrorising civilians. The Norfolks are frequently attacked by the Ulster Special Constabulary. The IRA killed soldiers and policemen, as well as some identified loyalists, and Protestant civilians. The Norfolks' disdain and violent attitudes towards the USC is extremely interesting, and it’s clear that at least some of them take defending the Catholic population seriously. The Ulster Protestant Association and Imperial Guard (the “imps”) attack basically everyone, but especially Catholic civilians. But they are not squeamish about attacking the Kings’ armed forces. Unionist politicians do not come out of this looking good. In an era where accusations of collusion are frequently made, it is fascinating to read IRA intelligence reports which break down the membership of loyalist murder gangs, even being able to link certain murders with specific individuals. It is hard to overstate how much significant parts of the British Army despise the police, and vise versa.
Surnames, street names, and murders are almost identical to those that will be carried out 50 or so later in the post 1969 Troubles. A greengrocer named Madden is murdered on North Street. Could he be related to Hugh Madden, murdered in 1972 outside his greengrocer shop not far from North Street? And the owner of Ewart’s Mill is mentioned. The same mill that Hugh Madden’s brother, Tom, worked at until he was murdered in infamously barbaric circumstances.
Burke’s skill as a writer is that he documents this maelstrom of confusion, bigotry, and murder and sets it out in a way that is accessible to the reader in terms of understanding the peculiar and complex local history. Whilst doing this, he is also building a compelling case against the idea of Inspector Nixon’s culpability for the McMahon’s murders.
Anthony McIntyre wrote in a review of Eamonn Mallie’s memoirs that the Troubles subject matter can get somewhat tiring when reading another Troubles book. The opposite is true in Ghosts Of A Family – reading about the 1920s Troubles casts the post 1969 conflict in a new light.
Buck Alex is a well enough known Belfast “character” – but I don’t think Ian Paisley and even Gusty Spence would have been so quick to attend his funeral if they knew the full length and depth of what he did.
I highly recommend this book. I’d give it nine quills out of 10.
Edward Burke, 2024. Ghosts of a Family: Ireland's Most Infamous Unsolved Murder and the Origins of the Troubles. Publisher W. F. Howes Ltd. ASIN: B0DHLL2DNK
Edward Burke is an accomplished writer and historian. Like a previous masterful book of his, Army Of Tribes, Burke is revisiting a well-known, arguably totemic incident of violence and reappraising it. In Army of Tribes, significant context and background added to the existing knowledge, which may, perhaps, challenge the understanding in various quarters. What Burke has done with Ghosts Of A Family is different, and impressively ambitious.
Central to the book are the murders at the McMahon residence. The following is an entry from Wikipedia:
The McMahon killings or the McMahon murders occurred on 24 March 1922 when six Catholic civilians were shot dead at the home of the McMahon family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A group of police officers broke into their house at night and shot all eight males inside, in an apparent sectarian attack. The victims were businessman Owen McMahon, four of his sons, and one of his employees. Two others were shot but survived, and a female family member was assaulted. The survivors said most of the gunmen wore police uniform and it is suspected they were members of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). It is believed to have been a reprisal for the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) killing of two policemen on May Street, Belfast the day before.
The Wikipedia article is basically received wisdom amongst those with an interest in the history of the six counties. For those of us with a greener lens, equally received wisdom is that a notorious police officer, Inspector Nixon, was responsible for the murders. Burke challenges this notion, and does so convincingly. Not that Nixon is exculpated – Burke dismisses the idea that Nixon was a law-abiding man. As he writes early in the book, Burke unexpectedly came across an intensely detailed, and hitherto unanalysed, set of records about the 1920s Troubles in Belfast. These were the battle logs and intelligence reports of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, known as the “the Norfolks”, or “the Holy Boys.”
What follows is a truly fascinating account of multiple armed organisations fighting it out amongst themselves, and terrorising civilians. The Norfolks are frequently attacked by the Ulster Special Constabulary. The IRA killed soldiers and policemen, as well as some identified loyalists, and Protestant civilians. The Norfolks' disdain and violent attitudes towards the USC is extremely interesting, and it’s clear that at least some of them take defending the Catholic population seriously. The Ulster Protestant Association and Imperial Guard (the “imps”) attack basically everyone, but especially Catholic civilians. But they are not squeamish about attacking the Kings’ armed forces. Unionist politicians do not come out of this looking good. In an era where accusations of collusion are frequently made, it is fascinating to read IRA intelligence reports which break down the membership of loyalist murder gangs, even being able to link certain murders with specific individuals. It is hard to overstate how much significant parts of the British Army despise the police, and vise versa.
Surnames, street names, and murders are almost identical to those that will be carried out 50 or so later in the post 1969 Troubles. A greengrocer named Madden is murdered on North Street. Could he be related to Hugh Madden, murdered in 1972 outside his greengrocer shop not far from North Street? And the owner of Ewart’s Mill is mentioned. The same mill that Hugh Madden’s brother, Tom, worked at until he was murdered in infamously barbaric circumstances.
Burke’s skill as a writer is that he documents this maelstrom of confusion, bigotry, and murder and sets it out in a way that is accessible to the reader in terms of understanding the peculiar and complex local history. Whilst doing this, he is also building a compelling case against the idea of Inspector Nixon’s culpability for the McMahon’s murders.
Anthony McIntyre wrote in a review of Eamonn Mallie’s memoirs that the Troubles subject matter can get somewhat tiring when reading another Troubles book. The opposite is true in Ghosts Of A Family – reading about the 1920s Troubles casts the post 1969 conflict in a new light.
Buck Alex is a well enough known Belfast “character” – but I don’t think Ian Paisley and even Gusty Spence would have been so quick to attend his funeral if they knew the full length and depth of what he did.
I highly recommend this book. I’d give it nine quills out of 10.
Edward Burke, 2024. Ghosts of a Family: Ireland's Most Infamous Unsolved Murder and the Origins of the Troubles. Publisher W. F. Howes Ltd. ASIN: B0DHLL2DNK
⏩Brandon Sullivan is a middle-aged West Belfast émigré. He juggles fatherhood & marriage with working in a policy environment and writing for TPQ about the conflict, films, books, and politics.
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