Catholic Reaction Force

Darkley killings
Part of the Troubles
The church were the killings took place
Location	Darkley, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54°13′05″N 6°40′20″W / 54.2181°N 6.6723°W / 54.2181; -6.6723Coordinates: 54°13′05″N 6°40′20″W / 54.2181°N 6.6723°W / 54.2181; -6.6723
Date	20 November 1983 19:00 (GMT)
Attack type	Mass shooting
Deaths	3
Non-fatal injuries	7
Perpetrators	Members of the INLA using the covername "Catholic Reaction Force"

The Darkley killings or Darkley massacre was a gun attack carried out on 20 November 1983 near the village of Darkley in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Three gunmen attacked worshippers attending a church service at Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church, killing three Protestant civilians and wounding seven. The attackers were rogue members of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). They claimed responsibility using the cover name "Catholic Reaction Force", saying it was retaliation for recent sectarian attacks on Catholics by the loyalist "Protestant Action Force".

In the months before the Darkley killings, several Catholic civilians were killed by loyalists. On 29 October 1983, a Catholic civilian member of the Workers' Party, David Nocher (26), was shot dead in Belfast. On 8 November, Catholic civilian Adrian Carroll (24) was shot dead in Armagh, for which four British soldiers were later convicted. Carroll was the brother of an INLA member who was killed a year earlier. These attacks were claimed by the "Protestant Action Force" (PAF), a cover name used mostly by members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). It is believed the Darkley killings were primarily a retaliation for the killing of Carroll.

On the evening of Sunday 20 November, about sixty people were attending a church service at Mountain Lodge Pentecostal Church. The small, isolated wooden church was outside the village of Darkley, near the border with the Republic of Ireland and several miles from Armagh. As the service began, three masked gunmen arrived, at least one of whom was armed with a Ruger semi-automatic rifle, and opened fire on those standing in the entrance. Three church elders were killed: Harold Brown (59), Victor Cunningham (39) and David Wilson (44). The fatally-wounded Wilson staggered into the service, where he collapsed and died. The gunmen then stood outside the building and sprayed it with bullets, wounding a further seven people, before fleeing in a car. The service was being tape-recorded when the attack took place. On the tape, the congregation can be heard singing the hymn, "Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb", followed by the sound of gunfire. All of the victims were Protestant civilians.