Real stories and emotions from those who faced the challenge of Northern Ireland's Troubles
Shared Troubles Northern Ireland
Glossary of Terms
Alphabetically listed
| Agent | Generally an undercover person working for an opposing side |
| Ard fhesis | Republican policy making conference |
| Armalite | Rifle |
| ASU | Active Service Unit |
| Bergen | Military Pack |
| Black and Tans | Members of an English volunteer police force who were recruited to put down the Irish uprising of the 1920’s |
| Brit | British Army |
| B-Specials | The former Ulster volunteer Ulster Police force which was disbanded in the 1970’s and replaced with the volunteer Ulster Defence Regiment under the control of the British Army. |
| Castlereagh | RUC holding centre where paramilitary suspects were interrogated |
| Catholic | Member of the Catholic Christian faith |
| Collusion | Where state forces aided paramilitary attacks |
| CIRA | Continuity Irish Republican Army, disaffected republicans who don’t embrace the Peace Process and wish to continue the armed struggle |
| CRF | Catholic Reaction Force synonyms with Irish National Liberation Army |
| Chopper | Helicopter |
| Decommissioning | Removing the weapons from armed struggle and the adoption of solely political means |
| Derry | Londonderry City |
| DUP | Democratic Unionist Party |
| E4A | Plain clothes wing of the Royal Ulster Constabulary involved in covert intelligence activities and allegations of ‘Shoot to Kill’ |
| Fenian | Derogatory term to describe a Catholic or Republican |
| FRU | Force Research Unit, British Covert Intelligence unit |
| Gimpy | General purpose machine gun |
| GPMG | General purpose machine gun |
| Handler | Government official who controlled undercover agents or informants |
| HMSU | Headquarters Mobile Support Unit |
| Hunger Striker | A prisoner who refuses food as a method of protest . Famously employed as a tactic by the Republican ‘Hunger Strikes’ to retain status as political prisoners |
| Incendiary device | A bomb designed to start a fire |
| Informant | A person who shares secrets of an organisation either for financial gain or political belief |
| INLA | Irish National Liberation Army |
| IRA | Irish Republican Army |
| Londonderry | Derry City |
| Loyalist | Loyal to maintaining the historic Union with Britain |
| LUP | Lying up point |
| MI5 | Secret Service dealing with domestic security issues |
| Mole | Undercover spy |
| Mortar | Weapon using compressed gas to fire projectile |
| MRU | Mobile response unit of the Royal Ulster Constabulary |
| NICRA | Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association |
| Northern Ireland | Formed after the Government of Ireland act of 1920 where Northern Ireland maintained its United Kingdom status |
| OP | Observation Point |
| Orangeman | Member of the Orange Lodge |
| Orange Order | Traditional Unionist organisation |
| Petrol bomb | Glass bottle filled with petrol and cloth ignition wick. Used during riots as improvised weapon. |
| Pigs | Armoured personnel carriers used by the British Army to patrol |
| Plastic bullet | Baton round intended as non-lethal weapon for use in riot control |
| Provos | The provisional wing of the Irish Republican Army |
| Prod | Member of the Protestant Christian faith |
| Protestant | Member of the Protestant Christian faith |
| PUP | Progressive Unionist Party |
| Q Vehicle | An undercover army vehicle |
| Riot | Violent civil disobedience |
| Riot Squad | Police officers clothed in protective uniforms, helmets and shields used to control civil rioting |
| RPG | Rocket propelled grenade, portable military weapon |
| RUC | Royal Ulster Constabulary |
| Sectarian | Religious conflict or mistrust |
| SAS | Special Air Service |
| SDLP | Socialist Democratic Liberal Party |
| Sinn Fein | Republican Political Party |
| Special Branch | Members of a covert unit of the Royal Ulster Constabulary |
| Taig | Derogatory term to describe a Catholic or Republican |
| The North | Republican term to describe the six counties of Northern Ireland |
| The Troubles | Euphemism generally used to describe the most recent civil conflict in Northern Ireland from circa 1968 |
| Tout | Some one who shares secrets with the enemy |
| UDA | Ulster Defence Association |
| UDR | Ulster Defence Regiment |
| Ulster Scots | Descendants of Scottish settlers with their own Ulster Scots dialect |
| UVF | Ulster Volunteer Force |
| Unionist | Loyal to maintaining the historic Union with Britain |
| VCP | Vehicle checkpoint |
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