Irish Times: William Brown writes about his new book on Ian Paisley

“I came from a similar evangelical-fundamentalist background. My father was a street preacher of Plymouth Brethren stock and knew the up-and-coming young Paisley well. I therefore was aware of him from my boyhood when he was embarking on his public career.”

[…]

“I describe what I regard as some of his more impactful early speeches. One such was his sensational Maura Lyons oration at his ‘Monster Rally’ in the Ulster Hall in 1956, which purported to include the personal statement and ‘revelation’ of the under-age and still missing Catholic girl in whose illegal abduction Paisley became involved.

Another was his eye-opening sectarian rant to a Belfast shipyard lunchtime rally in 1959, in which he suggested that the only good Catholics were in Milltown (a Belfast cemetery). This was probably the first time a huge crowd of working-class loyalist men had encountered him, but it was that kind of inflammatory and terrifying oratory that would later inspire young militants like Gusty Spence, Billy Mitchell and David Ervine, to name but a few, to take up arms and fight ‘for God and Ulster,’ only to find themselves consequently serving long years in jail – all the while being denied and disowned by Paisley, whom they had once proudly regarded as their leader.”

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2022/06/06/ian-paisley-charismatic-chameleon-or-charlatan/