Qualla: 1993 Castlerock killings

1993 Castlerock killings: Introduction

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Five builders arrived at work on the morning of 25 March 1993. They had been renovating houses in the Gortree Park estate on the edge of Castlerock for several months - regular work, regular hours, men with families. They parked their van on Freehall Road. Another van pulled up alongside. Two men in black balaclavas and combat jackets got out with handguns and started firing. Four of the five were killed: three Catholic civilians and a Provisional IRA member. The only survivor, 36-year-old Gerard McEldowney, climbed into the back of the van as the shooting started and wedged himself between two metal toolboxes. He was shot in the thigh. The toolboxes saved his life. The Ulster Defence Association claimed responsibility under its Ulster Freedom Fighters cover-name. It was one of the bleakest single attacks of the Troubles' final years.

Read more: 1993 Castlerock killings on Qualla

1993 Castlerock killings: The Men in the Van

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Three Catholic civilians; one member of the Provisional IRA, working a construction job like the others. They were neighbours and relatives, doing the kind of work that builds villages - putting kitchens into rented houses, fixing roofs, hanging doors. They had families waiting a...

Read more: 1993 Castlerock killings on Qualla

1993 Castlerock killings: The Attack

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The two gunmen stepped out of their hijacked van wearing balaclavas, combat jackets, and the impersonal anonymity that paramilitaries of all stripes used to attempt invisibility. One stood directly in front of the workers' van and fired through the windscreen. Glass exploded. One...

Read more: 1993 Castlerock killings on Qualla

1993 Castlerock killings: The Convictions

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Investigators eventually identified Torrens Knight, a Coleraine man, as one of the killers. Knight would go on to participate in the Greysteel massacre seven months later - the UDA attack on the Rising Sun bar that killed eight Catholic civilians on Halloween night, 1993. For Gre...

Read more: 1993 Castlerock killings on Qualla

1993 Castlerock killings: Castlerock Today

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Castlerock is a seaside village - basalt cliffs to the east, a long strand of golden sand, the Mussenden Temple perched dramatically on the bluff above. Tourists come for the golf links, the Antrim coast scenery, the easy escape from Belfast or Derry on summer weekends. The villa...

Read more: 1993 Castlerock killings on Qualla

1993 Castlerock killings: What the Place Holds

Sun, 24 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The four men are remembered each year on the anniversary by family and community. The site of the attack is now indistinguishable from the surrounding street. Children who were born after 1993 walk to school here. This is how Northern Ireland holds its terrible memories - not onl...

Read more: 1993 Castlerock killings on Qualla