The Shankill Butchers

Jan 11, 2025 8:06 AM

Author:Martin Dillon

The bestselling investigation of one of Northern Ireland's most brutal and infamous murder cases

'Makes for gripping but altogether terrifying reading' Washington Times

'Dillon is recommended reading for anyone wishing to understand the complexities of British-Irish politics. He stands alone as one of the most creative writers of our time' Irish Times

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'This was the ultimate way to kill a man.'

In the 1970s, in some of the most violent days of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a group of Protestant paramilitaries embarked on a spree of indiscriminate murder in the Shankill area of Belfast, leaving thirty Catholics dead. Their leader was Lenny Murphy: a fanatical Unionist whose childhood was marked by sectarian violence, Murphy swore revenge on all Catholics, and with his gang wreaked havoc onto an already fractured city.

Not for the squeamish, The Shankill Butchers is a horrifying and detailed account of one of the most brutal series of murders in the history of Northern Ireland - a phenomenon whose real nature has been obscured by the troubled and violent context from which it sprang.

Reviews

Gruesome yet compelling and superbly researched

—— Tribune

Gruesome territory...the great value of Martin Dillon's carefully researched and readable work is that it enters a world that few journalists have been inclined or able to penetrate

—— Listener

Mr. Dillon recounts in chilling detail the evolution of Murphy's gang and the efforts to catch them. It makes for gripping but altogether terrifying reading

—— Washington Times

A chilling book, chilling but fascinating ... People on both sides - or some of them - are likely to read Martin Dillon, and to learn from him

—— Conor Cruise O'Brien

Dillon's books are a working lifetime's brave and persistent effort to get information of a kind which, as he frankly says, can be perilous to possess, let alone to reveal

—— Times Literary Supplement

Dillon is recommended reading for anyone wishing to understand the complexities of British - Irish politics. He stands alone as one of the most creative writers of our time

—— Irish Times

This will make you squirm

—— London Evening Standard

He is an engaging witness to the events that brought peace to the benighted north - largely because he wants no future role in politics and can afford to be outspoken

—— Scotland on Sunday

All parties should consult Powell’s meticulous account of negotiations that underpinned the peace process

—— Michael Conaghan , Belfast Telegraph

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