Tommy Herron

Tommy Herron
Tommy Herron
Born	Thomas Herron 1938 Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland
Died	15 September 1973 (aged 34–35) Drumbo, County Antrim
Cause of death	One gunshot wound to the head
Resting place	Roselawn Cemetery, Belfast
Nationality	British
Organization	Ulster Defence Association
Title	East Belfast Brigadier
Term	1971–1973
Predecessor	new creation
Successor	Sammy McCormick
Political party	Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party
Spouse(s)	Hilary Wilson
Children	five

Tommy Herron (1938 – 15 September 1973) was a loyalist from Northern Ireland, and a leading member of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) up until his fatal shooting. Herron controlled the UDA in East Belfast, one of its two earliest strongholds. From 1972, he was the organisation's vice-chairman and most prominent spokesperson, and was the first person to receive a salary from the UDA.

Herron was born in 1938 in Newcastle, County Down to a Protestant father and a Roman Catholic mother. According to Martin Dillon, Herron was baptised in St Anthony's Catholic Church on Belfast's Newtownards Road as a baby.Gusty Spence has suggested that Herron, like Shankill Butcher Lenny Murphy, took on the mantle of a "Super Prod", or individual who acts in an affectedly extreme Ulster Protestant loyalist way, to deflect any potential criticism of his Catholic roots. Herron was a member of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster and regularly attended services at the Martyrs' Memorial Church, the group's headquarters on the Ravenhill Road in south-east Belfast. He worked as a car salesman in East Belfast and was married to Hilary Wilson, by whom he had five children.

Herron was a leading member of the UDA, which was the largest loyalist paramilitary organisation in Northern Ireland, from its formation and emerged at the group's top man in East Belfast. A thirteen-member Security Council was established in January 1972 with Herron a charter member of this group, although control lay in the west of city with Charles Harding Smith emerging as chairman of the new body. Along with the likes of Billy Hull Herron was one of a handful of UDA leaders to be invited to meetings with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland William Whitelaw after the suspension of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in March 1972.

...
Wikipedia