List of weapons used by the Irish National Liberation Army during The Troubles (1969–1997).

Sources

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

ModelImageCaliberTypeOriginDetails
Pistols
PA639×18mm MakarovPistol Hungary[2]
Browning Hi-Power9×19mm ParabellumPistol Belgium[3]
CZ 759×19mm ParabellumPistol Czechoslovakia[4]
Walther P389×19mm ParabellumPistol Germany[5]
Webley Revolver.455 WebleyRevolver United Kingdom[6]
Walther PPK9×17mm Short (.380 ACP)Pistol GermanyStolen from an off-duty Royal Irish Regiment soldier's car in Dublin in 1994.[7]
Rifles
Lee–Enfield.303 BritishBolt action rifle United KingdomUsed in a sniper attack as late as 1989.[8]
M1 carbine.30 CarbineSemi-automatic Carbine United States[9]
M1 Garand.30-06 SpringfieldSemi-automatic rifle United States[10]
Ruger Mini-145.56×45mm NATOSemi-automatic rifle United States[11]
SKS7.62×39mmSemi-automatic rifle Soviet Union[12]
AR-155.56×45mm NATOSemi-automatic rifle United States[13]
FN FAL7.62×51mm NATOBattle rifle BelgiumIntercepted as part of an arms shipment in 1995.[14]
Springfield Armory M1A7.62×51mm NATOSemi-automatic rifle United States[15]
Gewehr 437.92×57mm MauserSemi-automatic rifleNazi GermanyNazi Germany[16]
Assault rifles
AK-477.62×39mmAssault rifle Soviet Union[17]
AKM7.62×39mmAssault rifle Soviet Union[18]
AK-637.62×39mmAssault rifle HungaryIntercepted as part of an arms shipment in 1995.[14]
M165.56×45mm NATOAssault rifle United States
CAR-15 Commando5.56×45mm NATOAssault rifle United StatesImported around 1985.[19]
Sig 540 5.56x45mm NATO Assault Rifle   Switzerland 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 62.223 Remington/5.56×45mm NATOAssault rifle FinlandSeveral 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
M3 submachine gun.45 ACPSubmachine Gun United States[26]
Sterling submachine gun9×19mm ParabellumSubmachine Gun United Kingdom[27]
Uzi9×19mm ParabellumSubmachine Gun Israel
Sanna 779×19mm ParabellumSubmachine Gun Rhodesia[28]
Škorpion vz. 619×19mm ParabellumSubmachine Gun Czechoslovakia[29]
MP59×19mm ParabellumSubmachine Gun GermanyStolen from a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) vehicle in May 2000.[30]

Explosives

ModelImageTypeOriginDetails
IEDImprovised explosive device IrelandOften using Gelignite or a Soviet-made plastic explosive, possibly Semtex.
Molotov cocktailIncendiary device Ireland
Various models of Chinese and Soviet-made hand grenadesHand Grenade Soviet Union
 People's Republic of China		[31]

References

  1. ↑ Fortnight Magazine, Issue 195, p. 7-8. Fortnight Publications, 1983.
  2. ↑ The Starry Plough – March/April 1999 Archived 1 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Page 10-11.
  3. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ "INLA firing party using Webley at 1984 funeral". 12 May 2020. Archived from the original on 14 June 2023.
  7. ↑ Sunday Life 13 July 1997.
  8. ↑ Sunday Life 12 November 1989.
  9. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. 1 2 Oppenheimer, A. R. (30 June 2018). IRA: The Bombs and The Bullets. A History of Deadly Ingenuity. Irish Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-7165-2895-1.
  15. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "The Starry Plough, June 1982". Archived from the original on 2 August 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  17. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ "'Terrorist arsenal' find", Derry Journal, 25 September 1984.
  21. ↑ Belfast Telegraph 8 September 1986.
  22. ↑ Wharton, Ken (2016). Another Bloody Chapter in an Endless Civil War: Northern Ireland and the Troubles, 1984–87, Volume 1. Helion and Company. ISBN 9781912174270.
  23. ↑ Irish Independent, 14 January 1985.
  24. ↑ Belfast Telegraph, 21 May 1990.
  25. ↑ ALLISON MORRIS (23 May 2019). "Gun used at INLA funeral featured in BBC Stacey Dooley documentary". Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  26. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ Fitzmaurice, Maurice (11 June 2019). "Machine gun and cash seized during operation against INLA". BelfastLive. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  28. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  30. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  31. ↑ McDonald, Holland, Henry, Jack (30 June 2018). I.N.L.A - Deadly Divisions. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9781842234389.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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