The Shankill Butchers, Satanic rituals and blood magic

Around a year ago, I stumbled across a murder case which seemed super odd.

I won’t go into it in any detail at the minute, but it started me down a small rabbit hole that distracted me for part of the first lockdown, when the pandemic hit.

Then, I drifted away from it, but it wouldn’t drift away from me.

About a month ago, I started looking at it again and from there, things just spiralled out of control. Those who don’t really pay attention to Northern Ireland would have no clue how things worked here through the Troubles (and today, if we’re honest), but what I was reading would shock some of those who know all too well.

Could it be true? Is it actually worse than the rumours suggest?

Today was a day when it would have been really easy to fall down the conspiracy rabbit-hole and it’s clear to see how so many do. A lot of the people who are writing about this stuff believe some batshit nonsense, but they are also capable of compiling a lot of data that’s actually useful.

Sifting through it for information I could use (after I verify) while ignoring the other stuff (or trying to disprove, it if I can) takes a bit of effort. Just as I found myself slipping down the satanic wormhole to oblivion, the author of one of the texts shocked me back to reality with talk of fake moon landings.

I appreciated it.

I won’t lie, though, the right-wing crazies have a few credible ideas when you see what really did go on here in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

They extrapolate too far, however.

Today, for example, I was reading about how the Shankill Butchers killed their victims based on the Satanic Calendar, while the RUC protected and covered for them in service of their pedo-overlords, or something.

Elements of that are correct. The Shankill Butchers did kill people and, in those killings, there was a lot of blood. There tends to be when you torture people and then slice their throats.

They were also likely protected by the RUC, but because the members of the RUC shared their hatred of ‘the other side’, not to protect a global Satanic cabal.

This seemed like an easy one to disprove – lineup the dates of the Satanic calendar and put them beside the dates of the known killings by the Butchers. So, I added that to my list of things to check but my brain demanded an immediate answer.

The Shankill Butchers killed a confirmed 22 people. Nine of those were shot, and, while I’m no expert, I’m fairly sure that isn’t part of any Satanic Ritual involving blood magic. Similarly, one victim was killed by a bomb.

Two were beaten to death because of a personal dispute, one was poisoned before being shot (another personal dispute) and their final victim, 48-year-old Joseph Donegan, whose only ‘crime’ was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, was beaten to death like 33-year-old Norman Maxwell, who had suffered from a learning disability.

Another was killed with a hatchet.

That leaves six who had their throats slashed, the supposed key element that marks the Shankill Butchers out as Satanists. Their names were Francis Crossen, Thomas Quinn, Frances Rice, Stephen McCann, Joseph Morrissey, and Francis Cassidy. Gerard McLaverty had his wrists slashed, but survived the attack to help bring the gang down.

All of them were innocent civilians.

So, if Mr. Conspiracy is correct, the seven dates on which those men were brutally attacked should line up with the Satanic calendar (I’m witting this as I check so, like you, I don’t know if they do yet). I don’t expect them to, but who knows?

These are the dates:

• 25-Nov-75
• 06-Feb-76
• 22-Feb-76
• 30-Oct-76
• 03-Feb-77
• 30-Mar-77
• 10-May-77

I’ve never seen a Satanic calendar before, so I’ve no clue what to expect as I hit Google.

The first thing I notice is that, unlike when you type in ‘calendar’ to Google and you are presented with a range of calendars, when you type in ‘Satanic calendar’ you are not.

The 4^th link down is a link to a group on, shock, horror, Facebook, and it lists all the apparent dates.

The first Butcher murder on the list is 25 November and that’s a few weeks too late to get in on the High unholy Days that take place at the start of that month.

Next, 6 February and, nope, that’s nothing in the calendar either, coming four days after ‘Candlemass’ to initiate new members along with animal or human sacrifice.

As that’s the only thing Satan worshipers have going on that month, that also rules out 22 February, the third date on the list.

I’m starting to think this theory, like so many in this vast conspiracy of nonsense that detracts from the real institutionalised child abuse that has happened (and continues to happen) for as long as anyone can remember, has come from somebody who thought they saw a ghost, didn’t bother to check and then went around telling everybody ghosts are real.

The killing that took place on 30 October, 1976, did indeed fall on a date in the Satanic calendar – Satanist high unholy days which are related to Halloween and are meant to involve human sacrifice. It seems likely that somebody noticed this coincidence and didn’t bother to check any of the other dates before formulating their theory.

The killing that took place on 3 February is close enough to convince someone willing the facts to fit their theory, given that Candlessmass is on 2 February. I have to assume, however that the calendar, like all other calendars, is more than just ‘suggested dates’.

Neither of the remaining two dates, 30 March and 10 May, fall on a special day, leaving us with one out of nine that does.

I’m fairly sure that’s more ‘coincidence’ than ‘pattern’.

Just to be sure, I also cross-referenced the dates of their other killings and only two could, at a stretch, be said to fit.

The hatchet attack on 2 August would place the killing between Lammas day on 1 August and Satanic revels on 3, but, as I mentioned, I don’t think that counts.

The other was the Butcher’s last known murder, that of Joseph Donegan who was abducted, tortured and beaten to death. That happened on 24 October, right in the middle of the ‘Sacrifice preparation’ which runs from 22-24 of the month. But note that is just ‘preparation’. The ‘sacrifice’ is not meant to take place until 28-30.

Out of 22 victims, only one died on a day that is marked in the Satanic Calendar making this rumour total and utter nonsense.

I’m not entirely sure why the systematic abuse of children, some of whom were murdered, by those charged with protecting them isn’t enough for some people?

Why can’t we be horrified by that alone?

Can you help?

I’m going to keep on investigating what does look like it is a massive story but there is a lot to trawl through, and not all of it comes from what you can call ‘sane’ sources.

I will publish updates regularly, along with points of interest that I come across with the end goal of putting it all in a book.

If you’d like to help support me as I do that, you can donate here (or help by buying some merch).

Similarly, if you have any information that you think might be helpful, please get in touch.

As I go on, more will become clear.