Bayardo Bar attack
Encyclopedia
The Bayardo Bar attack took place on 13 August 1975 in Belfast
, Northern Ireland
. A unit of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade
, led by Brendan McFarlane
, launched a bombing and shooting attack on the pub on Aberdeen Street (off the loyalist
Shankill Road), which was frequented by Ulster Volunteer Force
(UVF) members. Four Protestant civilians and one UVF member were killed.
According to journalists Alan Murray and Peter Taylor, it was done in retaliation for the Miami Showband massacre
almost a fortnight earlier, when the popular Dublin-based band were ambushed by the UVF at a bogus military checkpoint. Three band members were shot dead by the UVF gunmen after their minibus was blown up in a premature explosion.
McFarlane and two other IRA volunteers, Peter "Skeet" Hamilton and Seamus Clarke, were sentenced to life imprisonment for perpetrating the Bayardo attack.
"—was more than six years old and had spiralled into a string of sectarian tit-for-tat shootings and bombings by republican and loyalist paramilitaries. Secret talks between the IRA and the British Government had led Protestants to believe that they were about to be abandoned by the British and forced into a united Ireland
. Loyalist paramilitaries—the UVF and the Ulster Defence Association
(UDA)—reacted with more attacks against the Irish nationalist
and Catholic community; these were met with equally violent retributions from the IRA. The bloody upsurge in violence resulted in 1975 being described as one of the "bloodiest years of the conflict".
In the early hours of 31 July 1975 The Miami Showband
(a popular dance band)
drove back to Dublin following a performance in Banbridge
. At Buskhill (outside Newry
) they were flagged down at a fake military checkpoint by gunmen from the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
, some of them also members of the UDR
, who were wearing British Army uniforms. The band's minibus, driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy, pulled into a layby on the main A1 road
, and the gunmen ordered the group to line-up facing a ditch. As one gunman took the names and addresses of the band members, two others hid a bomb in the rear of the minibus. However, the bomb detonated prematurely, and the two men were blown to pieces. The surviving gunmen then opened fire on the five Miami Showband members
, killing three and wounding two.
According to journalists Peter Taylor
and Alan Murray, retaliation for the massacre came less than a fortnight later when the IRA's Belfast Brigade launched its attack on the Bayardo Bar in the loyalist stronghold of the Shankill Road.
car, containing a three-man unit of the IRA's Belfast Brigade, pulled up outside. It was driven by the unit's leader Brendan "Bik" McFarlane
, a 24-year-old volunteer from Ardoyne
. Volunteers Seamus Clarke and Peter "Skeet" Hamilton got out and approached the pub's side entrance in Aberdeen Street. One of them immediately opened fire with an Armalite
, instantly killing doorman William Gracey and his brother-in-law Samuel Gunning, with whom he had been chatting outside. The other volunteer then entered the pub, where patrons were drinking and singing, and dropped a duffel bag containing a ten-pound bomb inside the entrance. Both men made their getaway back to the waiting car. As panicked customers ran to the toilets for safety, the bomb exploded and brought down a section of the old brick-and-plaster building upon them. The bodies of civilian Joanne McDowell and UVF member Hugh Harris were later found beneath the rubble of fallen masonry. Seventeen-year-old civilian Linda Boyle was pulled out alive, but died of her injuries in hospital on 21 August. Over 50 people were injured in the attack.
As the stolen car drove away down Agnes Street (an arterial road linking the Shankill to the Crumlin Road
), the IRA unit fired into a crowd of women and children queuing at a taxi rank; there were no fatalities. Within 20 minutes of the blast, the IRA unit were arrested after their car was stopped at a roadblock. The Armalite that had been used to kill William Gracey and Samuel Gunning was found inside the car along with spent bullet cases and fingerprints belonging to the three IRA men.
The IRA did not initially claim responsibility, However, it later explained that the Bayardo was attacked because it was a pub where UVF associates relaxed and "planned terrorist assaults" against the nationalist community. The pub was in the UVF-dominated middle Shankill Road area, and the Ulster Banner
was displayed from its upper windows. Martin Dillon said that the Bayardo was frequented by the UVF and that Lenny Murphy
, head of the Shankill Butchers
gang, was a regular customer. Steve Bruce also maintained that in the early 1970s, the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership) would often be found drinking inside the pub, which was just around the corner from their headquarters above "The Eagle" chip shop on the Shankill Road. A former IRA prisoner claimed that fellow inmate Lenny Murphy told him he had left the Bayardo ten minutes before the attack and that the Brigade Staff had just finished holding a meeting there. The IRA was officially on ceasefire at the time, having declared a suspension of hostilities in December 1974.
exploded without warning on the Falls Road
, injuring 35 people. On 22 August, the UVF launched a gun and bomb attack on McGleenan's Bar in Armagh
. The attack was strikingly similar to that at Bayardo. One gunman opened fire while another planted the bomb; the explosion causing the building to collapse. Three Catholic civilians were killed (one of whom died on 28 August) and several more were wounded. That same night, another bomb wrecked a Catholic-owned pub in nearby Blackwatertown
, although there were no injuries.
These loyalist attacks were responded to in kind by the PIRA (sometimes using the cover name South Armagh Republican Action Force
or similar), with the months that followed the Bayardo attack being characterised by a bloody game of tit-for-tat. The focus on sectarian killings was met with disillusionment by imprisoned republicans such as Gerry Adams
and Brendan Hughes
with the latter claiming that sectarianism was "destroying the whole struggle".
, which was the mass breakout of 38 republican prisoners, including Clarke and Hamilton. McFarlane and Clarke then went on the run, although Hamilton was immediately recaptured outside the prison's main perimeter gate. McFarlane has never spoken about the killings, and the IRA leadership has never encouraged him to do so, considering the attack was viewed as having been "purely sectarian". Sinn Fein
president Gerry Adams, however told journalist Alan Murray that McFarlane "hadn't a single, sectarian bone in his body".
Peter "Skeet" Hamilton died of cancer in Dundalk
on 25 February 2011 at the age of 57.
The Bayardo Somme Association has described the Bayardo attack as "a forgotten atrocity". The association erected a memorial to the victims on the site where the Bayardo Bar stood before its demolition. The large steel monument was incorporated into the remaining section of the original structure; it features the names and photographs of the five people who were killed plus photos of the pub taken before and after the bombing.
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. A unit of the Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade
Provisional IRA Belfast Brigade
The Belfast Brigade of the Provisional IRA was the largest of the organisation's command areas, based in the city of Belfast. Founded in 1969, along with the formation of the Provisional IRA, it was historically organised into three battalions; the First Battalion based in the...
, led by Brendan McFarlane
Brendan McFarlane
Brendan "Bik" McFarlane is an Irish republican activist. Born into a Roman Catholic family, he was brought up in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. At 16, he left Belfast to train as a priest in a north Wales seminary...
, launched a bombing and shooting attack on the pub on Aberdeen Street (off the loyalist
Ulster loyalism
Ulster 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...
Shankill Road), which was frequented by Ulster Volunteer Force
Ulster Volunteer Force
The Ulster Volunteer Force is a loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in late 1965 or early 1966 and named after the Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913. The group's volunteers undertook an armed campaign of almost thirty years during The Troubles...
(UVF) members. Four Protestant civilians and one UVF member were killed.
According to journalists Alan Murray and Peter Taylor, it was done in retaliation for the Miami Showband massacre
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
almost a fortnight earlier, when the popular Dublin-based band were ambushed by the UVF at a bogus military checkpoint. Three band members were shot dead by the UVF gunmen after their minibus was blown up in a premature explosion.
McFarlane and two other IRA volunteers, Peter "Skeet" Hamilton and Seamus Clarke, were sentenced to life imprisonment for perpetrating the Bayardo attack.
Background
By the year 1975, the ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland—known as "The TroublesThe Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
"—was more than six years old and had spiralled into a string of sectarian tit-for-tat shootings and bombings by republican and loyalist paramilitaries. Secret talks between the IRA and the British Government had led Protestants to believe that they were about to be abandoned by the British and forced into a united Ireland
United Ireland
A united Ireland is the term used to refer to the idea of a sovereign state which covers all of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. The island of Ireland includes the territory of two independent sovereign states: the Republic of Ireland, which covers 26 counties of the island, and the...
. Loyalist paramilitaries—the UVF and the Ulster Defence Association
Ulster Defence Association
The 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"...
(UDA)—reacted with more attacks against the Irish nationalist
Irish nationalism
Irish nationalism manifests itself in political and social movements and in sentiment inspired by a love for Irish culture, language and history, and as a sense of pride in Ireland and in the Irish people...
and Catholic community; these were met with equally violent retributions from the IRA. The bloody upsurge in violence resulted in 1975 being described as one of the "bloodiest years of the conflict".
In the early hours of 31 July 1975 The Miami Showband
The Miami Showband
The Miami Showband were one of the most successful and popular showbands in Ireland in the 1960s and 1970s. Led at first by singer Dickie Rock, and later by Fran O'Toole, they had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart...
(a popular dance band)
drove back to Dublin following a performance in Banbridge
Banbridge
Banbridge is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies on the River Bann and the A1 road. It was named after a bridge built over the Bann in 1712. The town grew as a coaching stop on the road from Belfast to Dublin and thrived from Irish linen manufacturing...
. At Buskhill (outside Newry
Newry
Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...
) they were flagged down at a fake military checkpoint by gunmen from the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade
UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade formed part of the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force in Northern Ireland. The brigade was established in Lurgan, County Armagh in 1972 by its first commander Billy Hanna. The unit operated mainly around the Lurgan and Portadown areas. Subsequent leaders of the...
, some of them also members of the UDR
Ulster Defence Regiment
The Ulster Defence Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army which became operational in 1970, formed on similar lines to other British reserve forces but with the operational role of defence of life or property in Northern Ireland against armed attack or sabotage...
, who were wearing British Army uniforms. The band's minibus, driven by trumpeter Brian McCoy, pulled into a layby on the main A1 road
A1 road (Northern Ireland)
The A1 is a major route in Northern Ireland. It runs from Belfast via Lisburn and Banbridge to the border with the Republic of Ireland south of Newry, from where the road continues to Dublin, becoming the N1 road and M1 motorway...
, and the gunmen ordered the group to line-up facing a ditch. As one gunman took the names and addresses of the band members, two others hid a bomb in the rear of the minibus. However, the bomb detonated prematurely, and the two men were blown to pieces. The surviving gunmen then opened fire on the five Miami Showband members
Miami Showband killings
The Miami Showband killings was a paramilitary attack at Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the early morning of 31 July 1975. It left five people dead at the hands of Ulster Volunteer Force gunmen, including three members of The Miami Showband...
, killing three and wounding two.
According to journalists Peter Taylor
Peter Taylor (Journalist)
Peter Taylor born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire is a British journalist and documentary-maker who had covered for many years the political and armed conflict in Northern Ireland, widely known as the Troubles...
and Alan Murray, retaliation for the massacre came less than a fortnight later when the IRA's Belfast Brigade launched its attack on the Bayardo Bar in the loyalist stronghold of the Shankill Road.
The attack
The Bayardo Bar was crowded with people of all ages on Wednesday 13 August 1975. Shortly before closing time a stolen green AudiAudi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
car, containing a three-man unit of the IRA's Belfast Brigade, pulled up outside. It was driven by the unit's leader Brendan "Bik" McFarlane
Brendan McFarlane
Brendan "Bik" McFarlane is an Irish republican activist. Born into a Roman Catholic family, he was brought up in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. At 16, he left Belfast to train as a priest in a north Wales seminary...
, a 24-year-old volunteer from Ardoyne
Ardoyne
Ardoyne is an Irish nationalist, working class and mainly Catholic district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. It gained notoriety due to the large number of incidents during "The Troubles". It is home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants...
. Volunteers Seamus Clarke and Peter "Skeet" Hamilton got out and approached the pub's side entrance in Aberdeen Street. One of them immediately opened fire with an Armalite
ArmaLite
ArmaLite is the name of a small arms engineering facility founded in the early 1950s, and once associated with the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation. ArmaLite was formally incorporated as a subdivision of Fairchild on October 1, 1954...
, instantly killing doorman William Gracey and his brother-in-law Samuel Gunning, with whom he had been chatting outside. The other volunteer then entered the pub, where patrons were drinking and singing, and dropped a duffel bag containing a ten-pound bomb inside the entrance. Both men made their getaway back to the waiting car. As panicked customers ran to the toilets for safety, the bomb exploded and brought down a section of the old brick-and-plaster building upon them. The bodies of civilian Joanne McDowell and UVF member Hugh Harris were later found beneath the rubble of fallen masonry. Seventeen-year-old civilian Linda Boyle was pulled out alive, but died of her injuries in hospital on 21 August. Over 50 people were injured in the attack.
As the stolen car drove away down Agnes Street (an arterial road linking the Shankill to the Crumlin Road
Crumlin Road
The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road.-Lower Crumlin Road:...
), the IRA unit fired into a crowd of women and children queuing at a taxi rank; there were no fatalities. Within 20 minutes of the blast, the IRA unit were arrested after their car was stopped at a roadblock. The Armalite that had been used to kill William Gracey and Samuel Gunning was found inside the car along with spent bullet cases and fingerprints belonging to the three IRA men.
The IRA did not initially claim responsibility, However, it later explained that the Bayardo was attacked because it was a pub where UVF associates relaxed and "planned terrorist assaults" against the nationalist community. The pub was in the UVF-dominated middle Shankill Road area, and the Ulster Banner
Ulster Banner
The Ulster Banner, more commonly known as the Ulster flag, Northern Ireland flag or the Red Hand of Ulster flag, was the flag of the Government of Northern Ireland between 1953 and 1972. Since that government was abolished in 1972, the flag has become a symbol of Ulster loyalism and is not...
was displayed from its upper windows. Martin Dillon said that the Bayardo was frequented by the UVF and that Lenny Murphy
Lenny Murphy
Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy, who commonly went by the name Lenny , was an Ulster loyalist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Murphy was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force and leader of the infamous Shankill Butchers a gang which became notorious for its torture and murder of Catholic men...
, head of the Shankill Butchers
Shankill Butchers
The Shankill Butchers is the name given to an Ulster loyalist gang, many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force . The gang conducted paramilitary activities during the 1970s in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was most notorious for its late-night kidnapping, torture and murder of random...
gang, was a regular customer. Steve Bruce also maintained that in the early 1970s, the UVF's Brigade Staff (Belfast leadership) would often be found drinking inside the pub, which was just around the corner from their headquarters above "The Eagle" chip shop on the Shankill Road. A former IRA prisoner claimed that fellow inmate Lenny Murphy told him he had left the Bayardo ten minutes before the attack and that the Brigade Staff had just finished holding a meeting there. The IRA was officially on ceasefire at the time, having declared a suspension of hostilities in December 1974.
Retaliation and counter-retaliation
The UVF and, to a lesser extent, the UDA responded to the Bayardo Bar attack with another wave of sectarian attacks against Catholics. Two days after, a loyalist car bombCar bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
exploded without warning on the Falls Road
Falls Road
The Falls Road is the main road through west Belfast in Northern Ireland; from Divis Street in Belfast city centre to Andersonstown in the suburbs. Its name is synonymous with the republican communities in the city. It is known as one of the more famous streets in Northern Ireland, drawing many...
, injuring 35 people. On 22 August, the UVF launched a gun and bomb attack on McGleenan's Bar in Armagh
Armagh
Armagh is a large settlement in Northern Ireland, and the county town of County Armagh. It is a site of historical importance for both Celtic paganism and Christianity and is the seat, for both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland, of the Archbishop of Armagh...
. The attack was strikingly similar to that at Bayardo. One gunman opened fire while another planted the bomb; the explosion causing the building to collapse. Three Catholic civilians were killed (one of whom died on 28 August) and several more were wounded. That same night, another bomb wrecked a Catholic-owned pub in nearby Blackwatertown
Blackwatertown
Blackwatertown, also known as Blackwaterstown, is a small village in the townland of Lisbofin, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It sits on the River Blackwater, close to the border with County Tyrone. It had a population of 399 people in the 2001 Census...
, although there were no injuries.
These loyalist attacks were responded to in kind by the PIRA (sometimes using the cover name South Armagh Republican Action Force
South Armagh Republican Action Force
The South Armagh Republican Action Force was an alleged Irish republican paramilitary group that was active from 1975 to 1977 during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Its area of activity was mainly the southern part of County Armagh. According to writers such as Ed Moloney and Richard English, it...
or similar), with the months that followed the Bayardo attack being characterised by a bloody game of tit-for-tat. The focus on sectarian killings was met with disillusionment by imprisoned republicans such as Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern...
and Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes
Brendan Hughes , also known as "The Dark", was an Irish republican and former Officer Commanding of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army...
with the latter claiming that sectarianism was "destroying the whole struggle".
Convictions
In May 1976, Brendan McFarlane, Seamus Clarke, and Peter Hamilton were convicted in a non-jury Diplock Court and sentenced to life imprisonment inside the Maze Prison for carrying out the Bayardo murders. Inside the Maze, McFarlane rose to become Officer Commanding IRA prisoners and in 1983 he led the Maze Prison escapeMaze Prison escape
The Maze Prison escape took place on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. HM Prison Maze was a maximum security prison considered to be one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe, and held prisoners convicted of taking part in armed paramilitary campaigns during the Troubles...
, which was the mass breakout of 38 republican prisoners, including Clarke and Hamilton. McFarlane and Clarke then went on the run, although Hamilton was immediately recaptured outside the prison's main perimeter gate. McFarlane has never spoken about the killings, and the IRA leadership has never encouraged him to do so, considering the attack was viewed as having been "purely sectarian". Sinn Fein
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
president Gerry Adams, however told journalist Alan Murray that McFarlane "hadn't a single, sectarian bone in his body".
Peter "Skeet" Hamilton died of cancer in Dundalk
Dundalk
Dundalk is the county town of County Louth in Ireland. It is situated where the Castletown River flows into Dundalk Bay. The town is close to the border with Northern Ireland and equi-distant from Dublin and Belfast. The town's name, which was historically written as Dundalgan, has associations...
on 25 February 2011 at the age of 57.
The Bayardo Somme Association has described the Bayardo attack as "a forgotten atrocity". The association erected a memorial to the victims on the site where the Bayardo Bar stood before its demolition. The large steel monument was incorporated into the remaining section of the original structure; it features the names and photographs of the five people who were killed plus photos of the pub taken before and after the bombing.