Remembrance Day Bombing
Encyclopedia
The Remembrance Day bombing (also known as the Enniskillen bombing or Poppy Day massacre) took place on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen
, County Fermanagh
, Northern Ireland
. Eleven people were killed when a Provisional Irish Republican Army
(IRA) bomb exploded at the town's war memorial (cenotaph
) during a Remembrance Sunday
ceremony – held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. The bombing has been described by the BBC as a turning point in "The Troubles
", and an attack that shook the IRA "to its core".
(UDR) soldiers who were parading to the memorial, with the civilian deaths deemed acceptable collateral.
The bombing was thought by British and Irish authorities to have been planned and overseen by up to three units of the IRA from both sides of the border. They believed that a bomb of such strength must have been sanctioned by IRA Northern Command
. On the same day, a bomb four times larger was placed at a similar but smaller parade 20 miles (32.2 km) away at Tullyhommon
. That parade was conducted by members of the Boys' Brigade
, Girls' Brigade
and "three or four members of the security forces in uniform there to lay a wreath". That bomb failed to explode.
The bomb was made in Ballinamore
, County Leitrim
and brought to the town over a 24 -hour period by up to thirty IRA volunteers. On 7 November it was placed against the gable wall inside the town's Reading Rooms, and set to explode at 10:43 am the next day.
Ulster Unionist
politicians Sammy Foster
and Jim Dixon were among the crowd; the latter received extensive head injuries but recovered.
Eleven people were killed — ten civilians and one Royal Ulster Constabulary
(RUC) officer. One of the dead, Marie Wilson, was the daughter of Gordon Wilson
. Wilson went on to become a peace campaigner and member of the Seanad Éireann
. The twelfth fatality, Ronnie Hill, died after spending 13 years in a coma. Sixty-three people were injured. A local businessman captured the immediate aftermath of the bombing on video camera while at the scene. His footage, showing the effects of the bombing, was broadcast on international television. All the victims were Protestant.
and the UK
. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
, Tom King
, denounced the "outrage" in the House of Commons (the lower house of the British parliament), as did the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs
, Brian Lenihan in Dáil Éireann
(the lower house of the Oireachtas
, the Irish parliament), while in Seanad Éireann Senator Maurice Manning
spoke of people's "total revulsion". Many public figures used terms such as 'barbarism' and 'savagery' to describe the bombing.
The bombing was widely seen as an attack on the Northern Irish Protestant community. The day after the bombing five Catholic teenagers were injured in an apparent retaliation shooting in Belfast, and a Protestant teenager was killed by the Ulster Defence Association
after being mistaken for a Catholic.
The then prime minister Margaret Thatcher described the attack as "It's really desecrating the dead and a blot on mankind".
Many Republicans were horrified by the bombings. Sinn Féin's publicity director Danny Morrison said he was "shattered" on hearing that the IRA was involved at all.
The bombing also had a negative impact on Sinn Féin's electoral support. In 1989, in the first local elections held in Fermanagh after the bombing, Sinn Féin lost four of its eight council seats and was overtaken by the SDLP
as the largest nationalist party. It was not until 2001, fourteen years after the Enniskillen bomb, that Sinn Féin support returned to its 1985 level.
Enniskillen's Remembrance Day service was re-staged two weeks after the bombing. It was attended by about 5000 people, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
. The bombing may have inspired many Irish Catholics to begin observing Remembrance Day. In the years afterwards, there was an increase in Catholic representation at various Irish and Northern Irish remembrance events. There was also a general surge in attendance at Remembrance Day services in the years after the bombing, although the increased attendance of both Catholic and Protestant was an acceleration of earlier trends rather than an entirely new development.
The site of the bomb, which was owned by the Catholic Church
, was rebuilt as a Youth Hostel
in 2002. The hostel was opened by and named after former US President Bill Clinton
.
In 1997 Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams
apologised for the bombing on behalf of the republican movement.
Enniskillen
Enniskillen 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...
, County Fermanagh
County Fermanagh
Fermanagh District Council is the only one of the 26 district councils in Northern Ireland that contains all of the county it is named after. The district council also contains a small section of County Tyrone in the Dromore and Kilskeery road areas....
, 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...
. Eleven people were killed when a Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(IRA) bomb exploded at the town's war memorial (cenotaph
Cenotaph
A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been interred elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion...
) during a Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day. It is the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m...
ceremony – held to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. The bombing has been described by the BBC as a turning point in "The Troubles
The 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...
", and an attack that shook the IRA "to its core".
Target
The IRA released a statement claiming that a "Crown Forces patrol" had been the target. However, it has been alleged that the bomb was intended to kill Ulster Defence RegimentUlster 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...
(UDR) soldiers who were parading to the memorial, with the civilian deaths deemed acceptable collateral.
The bombing was thought by British and Irish authorities to have been planned and overseen by up to three units of the IRA from both sides of the border. They believed that a bomb of such strength must have been sanctioned by IRA Northern Command
IRA Northern Command
Northern Command was a command division in the Irish Republican Army and Provisional IRA, responsible for directing IRA operations in the northern part of Ireland.-IRA:...
. On the same day, a bomb four times larger was placed at a similar but smaller parade 20 miles (32.2 km) away at Tullyhommon
Tullyhommon
Tullyhommon is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It lies within the Fermanagh District Council area. In the 2001 Census the village had a population of 81 people....
. That parade was conducted by members of the Boys' Brigade
Boys' Brigade
For the 80s New Wave band from Canada, see Boys Brigade .The Boys' Brigade is an interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values...
, Girls' Brigade
Girls' Brigade
The Girls' Brigade is an international and interdenominational Christian youth organization. It was founded in 1893 in Dublin, Ireland. The modern organization was formed as the result of the amalgamation of three like-minded and similarly structured organizations in 1964...
and "three or four members of the security forces in uniform there to lay a wreath". That bomb failed to explode.
The bomb was made in Ballinamore
Ballinamore
Ballinamore is a small town in County Leitrim, Ireland, from the border with Northern Ireland. It is located on the R202 regional road where it is joined by the R199 and R204. means "mouth of the big ford", and the town is so named because it was the main crossing point of the Yellow River,...
, County Leitrim
County Leitrim
County Leitrim is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Leitrim. Leitrim County Council is the local authority for the county...
and brought to the town over a 24 -hour period by up to thirty IRA volunteers. On 7 November it was placed against the gable wall inside the town's Reading Rooms, and set to explode at 10:43 am the next day.
Casualties
The explosion destroyed the wall — a vantage point favoured by some of the victims — blowing masonry towards the gathered crowd, many of whom were standing nearby.Ulster Unionist
Ulster Unionist Party
The Ulster Unionist Party – sometimes referred to as the Official Unionist Party or, in a historic sense, simply the Unionist Party – is the more moderate of the two main unionist political parties in Northern Ireland...
politicians Sammy Foster
Sam Foster (UK politician)
Major Samuel Foster CBE is a former Ulster Unionist Party politician who served in the Northern Ireland Executive....
and Jim Dixon were among the crowd; the latter received extensive head injuries but recovered.
Eleven people were killed — ten civilians and one Royal Ulster Constabulary
Royal Ulster Constabulary
The Royal Ulster Constabulary was the name of the police force in Northern Ireland from 1922 to 2000. Following the awarding of the George Cross in 2000, it was subsequently known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary GC. It was founded on 1 June 1922 out of the Royal Irish Constabulary...
(RUC) officer. One of the dead, Marie Wilson, was the daughter of Gordon Wilson
Gordon Wilson (peace campaigner)
Gordon Wilson was a draper in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. During The Troubles Wilson was injured and his daughter Marie was killed in the Enniskillen Remembrance Day Bombing on 8 November 1987....
. Wilson went on to become a peace campaigner and member of the Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann
Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas , which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann . It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members Senators or Seanadóirí . Unlike Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by...
. The twelfth fatality, Ronnie Hill, died after spending 13 years in a coma. Sixty-three people were injured. A local businessman captured the immediate aftermath of the bombing on video camera while at the scene. His footage, showing the effects of the bombing, was broadcast on international television. All the victims were Protestant.
Reactions
The bombing led to an outcry among politicians in the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, informally the Northern Ireland Secretary, is the principal secretary of state in the government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State is a Minister of the Crown who is accountable to the Parliament of...
, Tom King
Tom King, Baron King of Bridgwater
Thomas Jeremy King, Baron King of Bridgwater, CH, PC , is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served in the Cabinet from 1983–92, and was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bridgwater in Somerset from 1970-2001...
, denounced the "outrage" in the House of Commons (the lower house of the British parliament), as did the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs (Ireland)
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is the senior minister at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the Government of Ireland. Its headquarters are at Iveagh House, on St Stephen's Green in Dublin; "Iveagh House" is often used as a metonym for the department as a whole.The current...
, Brian Lenihan in Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann
Dáil Éireann is the lower house, but principal chamber, of the Oireachtas , which also includes the President of Ireland and Seanad Éireann . It is directly elected at least once in every five years under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote...
(the lower house of the Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
, the Irish parliament), while in Seanad Éireann Senator Maurice Manning
Maurice Manning
Maurice Manning is a former Irish Fine Gael politician. Manning was a member of the Oireachtas for 21 years, serving in both the Dáil and the Seanad. Since August 2002 he has been President of the Irish Human Rights Commission...
spoke of people's "total revulsion". Many public figures used terms such as 'barbarism' and 'savagery' to describe the bombing.
The bombing was widely seen as an attack on the Northern Irish Protestant community. The day after the bombing five Catholic teenagers were injured in an apparent retaliation shooting in Belfast, and a Protestant teenager was killed by 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"...
after being mistaken for a Catholic.
The then prime minister Margaret Thatcher described the attack as "It's really desecrating the dead and a blot on mankind".
Aftermath
In the aftermath of the attack the IRA stated that it had made a mistake. and its Fermanagh Brigade was stood down. The brigade that had carried out the bombing was suspended from operations for the remainder of the Troubles.Many Republicans were horrified by the bombings. Sinn Féin's publicity director Danny Morrison said he was "shattered" on hearing that the IRA was involved at all.
The bombing also had a negative impact on Sinn Féin's electoral support. In 1989, in the first local elections held in Fermanagh after the bombing, Sinn Féin lost four of its eight council seats and was overtaken by the SDLP
Social Democratic and Labour Party
The Social Democratic and Labour Party is a social-democratic, Irish nationalist political party in Northern Ireland. Its basic party platform advocates Irish reunification, and the further devolution of powers while Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom...
as the largest nationalist party. It was not until 2001, fourteen years after the Enniskillen bomb, that Sinn Féin support returned to its 1985 level.
Enniskillen's Remembrance Day service was re-staged two weeks after the bombing. It was attended by about 5000 people, including British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. The bombing may have inspired many Irish Catholics to begin observing Remembrance Day. In the years afterwards, there was an increase in Catholic representation at various Irish and Northern Irish remembrance events. There was also a general surge in attendance at Remembrance Day services in the years after the bombing, although the increased attendance of both Catholic and Protestant was an acceleration of earlier trends rather than an entirely new development.
The site of the bomb, which was owned by the Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, was rebuilt as a Youth Hostel
The Clinton Centre
The Clinton Centre is situated on the site of the Remembrance Day bombing on 8 November 1987 in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland when the Provisional Irish Republican Army killed 12 and injured 63 with a time bomb...
in 2002. The hostel was opened by and named after former US President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
.
In 1997 Sinn Féin leader 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...
apologised for the bombing on behalf of the republican movement.
See also
- Timeline of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions
- Claudy bombingClaudy BombingThe Claudy bombing occurred on 31 July 1972, when three car bombs exploded mid-morning on the Main Street of Claudy in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The attack killed nine civilians, and became known as "Bloody Monday". Those who planted the bombs had attempted to send a warning before the...
- List of massacres in the United Kingdom
- Gordon WilsonGordon Wilson (peace campaigner)Gordon Wilson was a draper in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. During The Troubles Wilson was injured and his daughter Marie was killed in the Enniskillen Remembrance Day Bombing on 8 November 1987....