Bloody Sunday (1921)
Encyclopedia
Bloody Sunday or Belfast's Bloody Sunday was a day of violence in Belfast
, Northern Ireland
, on 10 July 1921, during the Irish War of Independence
. Over a four day period, 22 people were killed, 16 of them on 10 July itself. Another 70 people were badly wounded and 200 houses were destroyed.
(IRA) shooting dead a Royal Irish Constabulary
(RIC) detective in nearby Lisburn
—7,000 Catholics
were driven from their jobs in the Belfast shipyards and over 50 people were killed in rioting between Catholics and Protestants
.
However, violence in Belfast waned until the following summer of 1921. At the time, Irish Republican
and British authorities were negotiating a Truce to end the conflict, but fighting flared up in Belfast. On 10 June, the IRA ambushed three RIC constables on the Falls Road, fatally wounding one. Over the following three days, 14 people lost their lives and 14 were wounded in fighting in the city; including three Catholics who were taken from their homes and killed by uniformed police.
Low level attacks continued in the city over the next month until another major outbreak of violence that led to "Bloody Sunday".
Also on 9 July, the IRA ambushed an armoured police truck on Raglan Street, killing one RIC man, injuring two more and destroying their armoured car. Around 14 IRA men took part in the operation. They had been alerted to the police presence by local residents banging dustbin lids to warn the IRA of the RIC patrol.
This sparked an outbreak of ferocious fighting between Catholics and Protestants in west Belfast on the following day, Sunday 10 July, in which 16 civilians (11 Catholics and 5 Protestants) lost their lives and 161 houses were destroyed. Of the houses destroyed, 150 were Catholic.
Gun battles raged all day along the sectarian 'boundary' between the Falls and Shankill Roads and rival gunmen used rifles, machine gun
s and hand grenade
s in the clashes. Gunmen were seen firing from windows, rooftops and street corners. A "Loyalist
mob, several thousand strong" attempted to storm the Catholic Falls Road, carrying petrol and other flammable materials.
Another four people died over the following two days. While the IRA was involved in the violence, it did not control the actions of the Catholic community. An IRA officer reported that "the Catholic mob is almost beyond control".
The violence occurred only one day before a truce between the IRA and British forces formally ended the conflict - though in the north the official truce did not end the fighting. IRA members later recalled, "The Truce was not observed by either side in the north". The leader of the Belfast IRA's Active Service Unit, Roger McCorley
, stated that "the Truce lasted six hours only".
The New York Times characterised the fighting as "a three-fold fight between Sinn Féin
and Unionist
snipers and Crown forces". It added, "In the extent of material damage to property, Sunday's rioting can be compared to the Dublin Rising in 1916
".
At the time the day was referred to as "Belfast's Bloody Sunday". However the title of "Bloody Sunday", is now more commonly given in Ireland to events in Dublin in November 1920
or Derry in January 1972
.
Directly after the violence, on 11 July, the Commandant of the IRA's 2nd Northern Division, Eoin O'Duffy
, was sent to Belfast by the organisation's leadership in Dublin to liase with the British authorities there and try to maintain the Truce. He said, "I found the city in a veritable state of war. The peal of rifles could be heard on all sides, frenzied mobs at every street corner...and ambulances carrying the dead and dying to hospitals". He organised IRA patrols to try to restore order in Catholic areas and announced that IRA action would cease except in self defence. However, this temporary ceasefire only lasted until the end of August.
The violence of the period in Belfast was cyclical, and the events of July 1921 were followed by a lull until a three day period starting on 29 August, when another 20 lives were lost in the west and north of the city.
The conflict in Belfast between the IRA and Crown forces and between Catholics and Protestants continued until the following summer, when the northern IRA was left isolated by the outbreak of the Irish Civil War
in the south and weakened by the rigorous enforcement of internment in Northern Ireland
.
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...
, on 10 July 1921, during the Irish War of Independence
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence , Anglo-Irish War, Black and Tan War, or Tan War was a guerrilla war mounted by the Irish Republican Army against the British government and its forces in Ireland. It began in January 1919, following the Irish Republic's declaration of independence. Both sides agreed...
. Over a four day period, 22 people were killed, 16 of them on 10 July itself. Another 70 people were badly wounded and 200 houses were destroyed.
Background
Belfast saw almost 500 people die in political violence in the period 1920–1922. The violence in the city broke out in the summer of 1920, when—in response to the Irish Republican ArmyIrish Republican Army
The 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...
(IRA) shooting dead a Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
(RIC) detective in nearby Lisburn
Lisburn
DemographicsLisburn Urban Area is within Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area and is classified as a Large Town by the . On census day there were 71,465 people living in Lisburn...
—7,000 Catholics
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
were driven from their jobs in the Belfast shipyards and over 50 people were killed in rioting between Catholics and Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
.
However, violence in Belfast waned until the following summer of 1921. At the time, Irish Republican
Irish Republicanism
Irish republicanism is an ideology based on the belief that all of Ireland should be an independent republic.In 1801, under the Act of Union, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merged to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
and British authorities were negotiating a Truce to end the conflict, but fighting flared up in Belfast. On 10 June, the IRA ambushed three RIC constables on the Falls Road, fatally wounding one. Over the following three days, 14 people lost their lives and 14 were wounded in fighting in the city; including three Catholics who were taken from their homes and killed by uniformed police.
Low level attacks continued in the city over the next month until another major outbreak of violence that led to "Bloody Sunday".
The events of July 1921
On 8 July, the RIC attempted to enter the mainly Catholic and republican area around Union Street and Stanhope Street. However, they were confronted by about 15 IRA volunteers in a firefight that lasted over three hours. On 9 July a truce to suspend the war was agreed in Dublin between Sinn Fein and the British administration, to come into effect at noon on 11 July.Also on 9 July, the IRA ambushed an armoured police truck on Raglan Street, killing one RIC man, injuring two more and destroying their armoured car. Around 14 IRA men took part in the operation. They had been alerted to the police presence by local residents banging dustbin lids to warn the IRA of the RIC patrol.
This sparked an outbreak of ferocious fighting between Catholics and Protestants in west Belfast on the following day, Sunday 10 July, in which 16 civilians (11 Catholics and 5 Protestants) lost their lives and 161 houses were destroyed. Of the houses destroyed, 150 were Catholic.
Gun battles raged all day along the sectarian 'boundary' between the Falls and Shankill Roads and rival gunmen used rifles, machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s and hand grenade
Hand grenade
A hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
s in the clashes. Gunmen were seen firing from windows, rooftops and street corners. A "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...
mob, several thousand strong" attempted to storm the Catholic Falls Road, carrying petrol and other flammable materials.
Another four people died over the following two days. While the IRA was involved in the violence, it did not control the actions of the Catholic community. An IRA officer reported that "the Catholic mob is almost beyond control".
The violence occurred only one day before a truce between the IRA and British forces formally ended the conflict - though in the north the official truce did not end the fighting. IRA members later recalled, "The Truce was not observed by either side in the north". The leader of the Belfast IRA's Active Service Unit, Roger McCorley
Roger McCorley
Roger McCorley was an Irish republican activist.McCorley was born in Belfast. His family had a very strong republican tradition and he was the great-grandson of United Irishmen leader Roddy McCorley, who was executed for his part in the 1798 rebellion....
, stated that "the Truce lasted six hours only".
The New York Times characterised the fighting as "a three-fold fight between Sinn Féin
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...
and Unionist
Unionism in Ireland
Unionism in Ireland is an ideology that favours the continuation of some form of political union between the islands of Ireland and Great Britain...
snipers and Crown forces". It added, "In the extent of material damage to property, Sunday's rioting can be compared to the Dublin Rising in 1916
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising was an insurrection staged in Ireland during Easter Week, 1916. The Rising was mounted by Irish republicans with the aims of ending British rule in Ireland and establishing the Irish Republic at a time when the British Empire was heavily engaged in the First World War...
".
At the time the day was referred to as "Belfast's Bloody Sunday". However the title of "Bloody Sunday", is now more commonly given in Ireland to events in Dublin in November 1920
Bloody Sunday (1920)
Bloody Sunday was a day of violence in Dublin on 21 November 1920, during the Irish War of Independence. In total, 31 people were killed – fourteen British, fourteen Irish civilians and three republican prisoners....
or Derry in January 1972
Bloody Sunday (1972)
Bloody Sunday —sometimes called the Bogside Massacre—was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army...
.
Aftermath
A strict curfew was enforced in Belfast after the violence, to try to ensure the Orange Order's Twelfth of July marches passed off peacefully.Directly after the violence, on 11 July, the Commandant of the IRA's 2nd Northern Division, Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy
Eoin O'Duffy was in succession a Teachta Dála , the Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army , the second Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, leader of the Army Comrades Association and then the first leader of Fine Gael , before leading the Irish Brigade to fight for Francisco Franco during...
, was sent to Belfast by the organisation's leadership in Dublin to liase with the British authorities there and try to maintain the Truce. He said, "I found the city in a veritable state of war. The peal of rifles could be heard on all sides, frenzied mobs at every street corner...and ambulances carrying the dead and dying to hospitals". He organised IRA patrols to try to restore order in Catholic areas and announced that IRA action would cease except in self defence. However, this temporary ceasefire only lasted until the end of August.
The violence of the period in Belfast was cyclical, and the events of July 1921 were followed by a lull until a three day period starting on 29 August, when another 20 lives were lost in the west and north of the city.
The conflict in Belfast between the IRA and Crown forces and between Catholics and Protestants continued until the following summer, when the northern IRA was left isolated by the outbreak of the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
in the south and weakened by the rigorous enforcement of internment in 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...
.
Sources
- Lynch, Robert, The Northern IRA and the Early Years of Partition, Irish Academic Press, Dublin 2006, ISBN 0-7165-3378-2
- McGarry, Fearghal, Eoin O'Duffy, a Self-Made Hero, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005, ISBN 978-0-19-922667-2
- Parkinson, Alan F, Belfast's Unholy War, Four Courts Press, Dublin 2004, ISBN 1-85182-792-7.
- New York Times Archive