1987 in Northern Ireland
Encyclopedia
Events
- 8 May - The SASSpecial Air ServiceSpecial Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
kills 8 IRAIrish Republican ArmyThe Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
members and a civilian in an ambush at LoughgallLoughgallLoughgall is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 285 people.Loughgall was named after a small nearby loch. The village is at the heart of the apple-growing industry and is surrounded by orchards. Along the village's main street...
. - 8 November - 11 civilians are killed in an IRA explosion during a Remembrance Day service in EnniskillenEnniskillenEnniskillen is a town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is located almost exactly in the centre of the county between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,599 in the 2001 Census...
. (See: Remembrance Day BombingRemembrance Day BombingThe Remembrance Day bombing took place on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland...
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Arts and literature
- Ciarán CarsonCiaran CarsonCiaran Gerard Carson is a Belfast, Northern Ireland-born poet and novelist.-Early years:Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast into an Irish-speaking family...
's The Irish for No poetry collection is published and wins the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award.
Football
- Irish League
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- Winners: LinfieldLinfield F.C.Linfield F.C. , is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team....
- Winners: Linfield
- Irish CupIrish CupFor the equivalent tournament in the Republic of Ireland, see FAI Cup.The Irish Cup is the national cup knock-out competition in Northern Irish football. Inaugurated in 1881, it is the fourth oldest national cup competition in the world...
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- Winners: GlentoranGlentoran F.C.Glentoran F.C. is a semi-professional, football club in Northern Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 and plays its home games at the Oval in east Belfast. Club colours are green, red, and black.Glentoran's biggest rivals are Linfield...
1 - 0 LarneLarne F.C.Larne F.C. is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 1. The club, founded in 1889, hails from Larne and plays its home matches at Inver Park. Club colours are red and white...
- Winners: Glentoran
Motorcycling
- Robert DunlopRobert DunlopRobert Dunlop was a Northern Irish motorcycle racer, the younger brother of fellow road racer, the late Joey Dunlop, and like Joey he died after a crash while racing.-Biography:...
wins the 125cc, 350cc and 1000cc races at the Cookstown 100 to be named “Man of the Meeting”.
Births
- 2 January - Daryl FordyceDaryl FordyceDaryl Fordyce is a Northern Irish professional football player. He currently plays for Linfield.-Club football:...
, soccer player. - 2 March - Jonathan ReaJonathan ReaJonathan 'Johnny' Rea is a motorcycle racer, currently competing in the Superbike World Championship for Castrol Honda. He was runner-up in the Supersport World Championship for the Ten Kate Honda team in 2008, and runner-up in the British Superbike Championship in 2007 for the HM Plant Honda team...
, motorcycle racer. - 29 August - Tony KaneTony KaneAnthony Michael 'Tony' Kane is a Northern Irish footballer who plays for Ballymena United. As an international, Kane has played for both for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at under-21 level.-Club career:...
, soccer player. - 16 September - Kyle LaffertyKyle LaffertyKyle Lafferty is an Northern Irishassociation footballer who currently plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League side Rangers and the Northern Ireland national team...
, international soccer player. - 17 September - Greg ThompsonGreg Thompson (cricketer)Greg Thompson is an Irish cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a leg-break bowler. He has played for Ireland since 2004, playing for the full squad before reverting to play for the Under-17, Under-19 and Under-23 teams respectively from 2005 onwards.He played for Lancashire during 2005,...
, cricketer. - 6 October - Michael O'Connor, soccer player.
- 25 October - Darron GibsonDarron GibsonDarron Thomas Daniel Gibson is an Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester United and the Republic of Ireland national team...
, soccer player.
Deaths
- 27 April - Maurice GibsonMaurice GibsonSir Maurice Gibson PC was a Lord Justice of Appeal in Northern Ireland, he was killed, along with his wife Cecily, Lady Gibson, during an attack by the Provisional Irish Republican Army ....
, judge (b.19131913 in Ireland-Events:*30 January - At Westminster the House of Lords rejects the Home Rule Bill by 326 to 69.*7 July - The Home Rule Bill is once again carried in the House of Commons, despite attempts by Bonar Law to obstruct it....
). - 7 May - Colin BlakelyColin BlakelyColin George Blakely was a Northern Irish character actor. He was considered an actor of great range.-Early life:...
, actor (b.19301930 in Northern Ireland-Football:*International*Irish Cup-Births:*8 March – Douglas Hurd, seventh Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.*8 May – Heather Harper, operatic soprano.*23 September – Colin Blakely, actor .-Deaths:...
). - 8 May - Patrick Joseph KellyPatrick Joseph KellyPatrick Joseph Kelly born Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, was the head of the Tyrone Brigade and the Commander of the East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army during the mid 1980s until his death in a Special Air Service ambush at Loughgall, County Armagh in May...
, CommanderCommanderCommander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
of the Provisional IRA East Tyrone BrigadeProvisional IRA East Tyrone BrigadeThe East Tyrone Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army , also known as the Tyrone/Monaghan Brigade was one of the most active republican paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland during "the Troubles"...
, killed by Special Air ServiceSpecial Air ServiceSpecial Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
at LoughgallLoughgallLoughgall is a small village and townland in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 285 people.Loughgall was named after a small nearby loch. The village is at the heart of the apple-growing industry and is surrounded by orchards. Along the village's main street...
(b.19571957 in Northern Ireland-Events:*1 January - Seán South and Fergal O'Hanlon are killed in an IRA attack on an RUC barracks in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh. The two men become part of republican folklore....
). - 22 June - John Hewitt, poet (b.19071907 in Ireland-Events:*2 January - A new system of rail cars running from Amien Street in Dublin to Howth is introduced.*5 January - The first motor show, under the auspices of the Irish Automobile Club, opens in the RDS Dublin....
). - 3 December - George SeawrightGeorge SeawrightGeorge Seawright was a controversial unionist politician in Northern Ireland who was assassinated by the Irish People's Liberation Organisation during the Troubles.-Early life:...
, LoyalistUlster loyalismUlster loyalism is an ideology that is opposed to a united Ireland. It can mean either support for upholding Northern Ireland's status as a constituent part of the United Kingdom , support for Northern Ireland independence, or support for loyalist paramilitaries...
politician. - 22 December - John McMichaelJohn McMichaelJohn "Big John" McMichael was a leading Northern Irish loyalist who rose to become the most prominent figure within the Ulster Defence Association as the Deputy Commander and leader of its South Belfast Brigade. He was also commander of the organisation's cover name, the "Ulster Freedom Fighters"...
, leading Ulster Defence AssociationUlster Defence AssociationThe Ulster Defence Association is the largest although not the deadliest loyalist paramilitary and vigilante group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 and undertook a campaign of almost twenty-four years during "The Troubles"...
member, killed in car bomb attack.
Full date unknown
- Jimmy WarnockJimmy WarnockJames "Jimmy" Warnock was a southpaw boxer from the Shankill Road, Belfast, United Kingdom..Jimmy Warnock began his early boxing career at Belfast's Chapel Fields in prize fights organised by Clara Copley...
, boxer (b.19121912 in Ireland-Events:*9 April - 250,000 Orangemen converge on Balmoral Showground, declaring that under no circumstances will they accept Home Rule.*11 April - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Herbert Asquith introduces the Home Rule Bill in the British House of Commons....
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