On this day in military history…
In the early hours of 2 December 1984, a four-man IRA active service unit crossed from the Republic of Ireland into County Fermanagh with a major bomb attack planned. Two of the men were Antoine Mac Giolla Bhrighde and Kieran Fleming, both well-known within republican circles for their experience and willingness to take on high-risk operations.
They had stolen a Toyota van in Pettigo and packed it with nine beer kegs filled with around 100 pounds of explosives each. Their destination was the Drumrush Lodge area outside the village of Kesh, where they intended to lure security forces into a deadly trap. The plan revolved around planting a land-mine along a lane that led to the restaurant and using a hoax call to draw in an RUC response. An observation point had been set up so that the device could be triggered at the moment a patrol came into view.
But the operation began to unravel almost immediately. When a police vehicle approached and Mac Giolla Bhrighde gave the command to fire the device, nothing happened. The mine failed to detonate. With their plan compromised and the security forces now alerted to something suspicious, the situation spiralled rapidly.
At the same time, the SAS were already in position. They had been lying in wait, having anticipated an IRA attempt in the region. As the IRA unit began to move—Mac Giolla Bhrighde reportedly heading toward another parked car thinking civilians might be inside—SAS soldiers opened fire. In the ensuing exchange, Mac Giolla Bhrighde was killed. Moments later, in a tragic twist to an already chaotic morning, Kieran Fleming attempted to escape through fields but was swept away by the fast-moving River Bannagh and drowned.
Two other members of the IRA team were captured at the scene. But the confrontation had not come without a cost for the British side either. SAS Sergeant Alistair Slater, a respected and highly capable soldier, was fatally wounded during the engagement.
The entire episode became one of the more talked-about ambushes of the mid-80s Troubles. It highlighted the constant shadow-war being fought between the IRA and elite British units, where intelligence breakthroughs, hidden observation posts, and rapid-response tactics shaped the outcome long before any shots were fired. The fact that the bomb failed at the crucial moment sealed the fate of the IRA team, leaving them exposed and off-balance just as the SAS were ready to strike.
Fleming’s disappearance and the later recovery of his body added another layer of emotion and tension to an already fraught community atmosphere. For republicans, he became another figure lost in what they viewed as a shoot-to-kill policy. For security forces, the ambush cemented itself as an example of a pre-empted bomb plot that could have caused mass casualties.
In the end, the 2 December ambush near Kesh left two IRA men dead, one drowned and one shot, alongside the death of an SAS sergeant.
