24/07/2026
𝐒𝐢𝐫 𝐊𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭 – 𝐑𝐁𝐏 𝟓𝟒 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫
Today we remember the late Sir Knight David Sterritt, murdered on 24th July 1990 while on patrol with fellow RUC Officers William Hanson and Cyril Willis. The RUC patrol car containing the three men was undertaking routine duties along the Killylea Road outside Armagh City, when a landmine was detonated in its path by IRA terrorists. The three RUC Officers were killed instantly. Sister Catherine Dunne, a nun from a nearby Convent in Middletown, who was travelling in another vehicle was also fatally injured as a result of the attack.
Sir Knight David Sterritt was steeped in the Orange tradition and was a faithful and respected member of Ballylane True Blues LOL 479, Grip Fast the Light RBP 54 and Markethill Apprentice Boys of Derry. In his youth he had also been a member of Kilcluney Protestant Boys Flute Band.
The 1993 book ‘Blood and Belonging’ features an interview with the late Sir Knight Richard Sterritt, David’s cousin. Speaking to the author, Sir Knight Richard said, “When I got the news, I went up to see my aunt, David’s mother. The very first words she said to me was that David and you will not be walking up Markethill Street together on the Twelfth of July ever again. And I said to her, “Auntie Ivy, I’ll always carry David on the Twelfth of July, because I’ll put him on a drum.”
Minutes from the August meeting of RBP 54 held on 1st August 1990 record, “the Worshipful Master [W. Sir Knt. D.J. Spence] spoke of the tragic death of Sir Knight David Sterritt, murdered by the IRA while carrying out his duties as a member of the RUC. Sir Knight Spence expressed the sympathy of the Preceptory to his father, mother and all the family circle.”
Two perpetrators of the attack would later be convicted and imprisoned before subsequently being released under the Good Friday Agreement in 2000. They served less than eight years in prison for their crimes.
