BELFAST MAGAZINE ISSUE
74
A mystery never Woman’s to be solved terrible fate
OLD BELFAST PHOTOGRAPHS
Mellifont Abbey HILLSIDE PLANE CRASH
ISSN 1470-0417
£2.50
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Highway robberies, a determined violator and one of our youngest offenders n July 1857 a rather rare occurrence in Ireland took place not once but twice in one week. A woman was stopped on the road near Kanturk, Co Cork and robbed of 3s by a young man aged around 20 who was carrying a pistol which he pointed at her. The next day another woman was stopped near Buttevant and was robbed of 7s as she was passing through a deep glen on a very lonely part of the road, a place that was once celebrated for the number of robberies which took place there in times past. The second woman was with her servant and was travelling in a car when the robber presented a pistol, and ordered her to deliver; he had another pistol in the hand with which he seized
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the horse. The police barrack in Buttevant was informed and a patrol was immediately dispatched and at daylight the acting constable came upon the robber hiding a glen, not far from where the robbery had taken place, and he was changing in to a set of different clothes to make his escape. The robber pointed a pistol at the policeman, but the constable raised his weapon, a carbine, and summoned the robber to surrender or die. The highwayman chose the former and laid down his pistols. The remainder of the patrol then caught up and the man was arrested and taken to the police station where he admitted to be Daniel Joseph of Dublin, self-described as a retired convict.
Back in Belfast there was an incident when children were acting like highway robbers. A lady of the highest respect was enjoying a walk along the banks of the River Lagan near Molly Wards with her two children. The two young boys were engaged with playing along the riverbanks and were slowly making their way along the path after their mother. There was at one time a considerable distance, which had built up between the mother and her children, and five young mischief-makers took advantage of the two little ones on their own. The five youths, aged between 10 and 14 tried to make friends with the little boys and then by force they rifled their pockets of what they contained, which was not very much. The rascals got away with only a penny and a little ornament anchor.
n August 1857 Peter Slavin made yet another appearance at the Belfast police court. It was his nineteenth appearance and his third in just one week. This time Peter Slavin was charged with a series of disorderly acts and assaults at the quay in Belfast. Constable Carruthers gave evidence to the court that he had seen Slavin at the quay and heard
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his cursing and swearing in a loud and offensive manner. Slavin was observed taking cake out of an old woman’s basket, and having broken it, threw half of it into the street, and the other half back into the basket. A gentleman who came out of the Fleetwood boat, happened accidentally to brush up against Slavin in the
crowd, was immediately struck a violent blow on to his breast. Slavin then turned to his own father who was close by and caught him by his neck scarf and choked him until he became black in the face. The policeman then intervened and arrested Slavin, but Slavin caught the policeman by the neck and tried to choke him also, and
would have assaulted him further had he not been stopped by a passer-by. Slavin could say nothing in his defence, as he could not remember anything. The magistrate called him a ‘determined violator’ of the peace. He told him he abhorred the way in which he assaulted his own parents and imprisoned him to one month at hard labour.
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Robert Wolf was an acquaintance of the tea merchant Dickson and was arrested and charged with theft from his friend and business associate. The main witness was a young boy who worked at the merchants and he told the police that Mr Wolf was on a visit to Mr Dickson from Glasgow and that when Mr Dickson was out of the shop for a short time Mr Wolf persuaded the boy to run an errand for him. When the boy returned he saw Mr Wolf put some tea in his pockets and boxes of handkerchiefs under his coat. He watched Mr Wolf then take out the counter brush and sweep away any evidence that he had spilt tea. The little fellow alerted the police and Wolf was arrested with the articles in his possession. Mr Wolf said nothing in his defence other than he was drunk at the time and was unconscious of what he was doing; and the young boy and Mr Dickson both confirmed that Wolf had been drinking. The judge sentenced him to two months imprisonment. ames Twedie, one of the youngest offenders to appear at the Belfast police courts in September 1857 was charged with the theft of a £1 note from the counter of the Public Bakery in Church Street. The young boy was with his friend in the bakery when
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the £1 note was set on the counter had appeared in the police court. and when the two youngsters left, The magistrate Mr W J C Allen the note was also gone. stated that ‘if there were a juvenile reformatory in town he would The police were alerted and they send the boy to it as long as there arrested young Twedie but the was any chance of effecting a money was not found. This was reformation in him’. He then sent the fourth time that the young boy the boy to prison for two months.
Donegall Square North around 1920
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Hillside Plane Crash
n August 19th 1949 a B.E.A. Dakota plane, flying from Belfast to Manchester crashed on a remote hillside at Kindersintake, Greenfield, near Oldham in Lancashire. There were only 32 people on the plane and 24 were killed. Of 16 women on board the plane, 14 were killed and of six children on board only two survived. All eight survivors were seriously injured and were treated at Oldham Royal Infirmary, mostly for severe burns and broken limbs.
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The plane left Nutts Corner at 11.57 am and was due at Ringway Airport near Manchester just one hour later. At 12.58 the last contact with the plane was made
when it contacted Ringway as it turned to make its approach towards the airport. All seemed normal and the pilot did not report any problems. Contact was then lost and the plane crashed a few mintues later in thick mist. The plane expldoed on contact and was burned out. At the time of the crash visibility in the area was down to just one and a half miles and there was slight drizzle and low clouds. The pilot of the Dakota was in effect flying blind in the mist and tried to descend to discover where he was as he became disorientated on his approach. He crashed in desolate and almost inaccessible moorland on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border at a local beauty spot
known as Winberry Stones which is around 1300 feet high. If he had been flying just 50 ft higher he would have cleared the hill. Locals from the town of Greenfield heard the plane and thought that it was flyign a bit low but they could not see it, and assumed that the cloud and mist was affecting the sound coming from the plane, but they heard the crash clearly. The lcoal paper mill sounded an alarm and the siren could be heard for miles around, calling the communities in the area to help. Locals left their work and homes to rush to the scene to see if they could assist in any way. CONTINUED PAGE 7
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BELFAST MAGAZINE
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5 Churchill Street, Belfast BT15 2BP Tel: 9031 0859 Fax 9035 1326 E-Mail:
glenravel@ashtoncentre.com Web Page:
www.glenravel.com The Belfast Magazine is a monthly publication compiled by the Glenravel Local History Project. It is just one of several Glenravel titles which aims to promote an interest in the subject of local history. It has always been claimed that history belongs of the higher classes and looking at the way it has been presented for decades then this would seem to be the case. Glenravel are not interested in the history of lords and earls, their estates and titles, instead we are interested in the history of working class life. We are not interested in politics either and we must stress that if an article appears in the magazine which appears to be a bit one sided then this is due to the simple fact that it is taken from a Nationalist or Unionist newspaper. We use both to try and balance things out. The Glenravel Local History Project is a local historical scheme based in the North Belfast area. It’s activities are centred around the educational promotion and restoration of the areas historic burying ground at Clifton Street and is named after the nearby Glenravel Street which was destroyed to make way for the disastrous Westlink road system.
Looking down Castle Junction towards High Street around the turn of the last century. BELOW - The same view today
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There is perhaps no more fruitful form of education than to arouse the interest of a people in their own surroundings
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The first on the scene were two farmers, who found the airplane burning firecely, bodies strewn across a ravine and luggage, jewellery, valuables and debris scatttered over a wide area. Despite the fierce heat coming from the burning plane the two men tried to pull people from the wreckage and managed to pull eight people to safety. Meanwhile workers from the paper mill and hurriedly organised rescue parties, including eight doctors who summoned ambulances and fire brigades from Oldham, Ashton under Lyme and West Ridings, made their way a quickly as they could up the hill. 30 RAF mountain rescue officers from Buxton, 45 miles away, rushed by car to the scene carrying stretchers and walkie talkie equipment. Hundreds of people wathched from vantage points up to four miles away as relays of ambualnces carried away the dead and injured. For over five hours the rescuers worked at the scene, hampered by the fact there were no roads or paths and rescuers had to walk for 30 minutes from the crash scene before reaching the nearest roads. It took 12 men to carry each stretcher on the journeys down from the hill to the road. The last body recovered was that of the pilot, his watch had stopped at two minutes past one. There was tremendous interest in
the crash from Ireland as many people had relatives and friends on the flight. One woman, Miss Kitty McMahon, aged 31 and from Cullentra, Fivemiltown, Co Tyrone, was seriously injured in the crash. She was returning to her job in England after a short holiday with her parents in Tyrone. The dead included a family party returning home after a holiday in Co Down and the group were almost wiped out. Mr and Mrs Prestwich, their daughters Anne, aged 10, and Jane, aged 8, were killed but their 2 year old son Michael survived. The family had been visiting Mrs Prestwiches mother who lived in Killinchy. Another family party was also involved in the crash. Mr and Mrs Evans and their son Roger, aged 2, were injured but their other son, Stephen, aged 5, was killed. Mrs Evans had come
to Ireland with her children to spend a five week holiday with her parents and her husband had jointed her to help with the children on the return journey. Also killed was Mrs Sarah Baird who had come to Belfast for the funeral of her father Mr Samuel Wilson of Hampton Park. The dead also included Miss Bromilow and Miss O’Farrell, nieces of Miss Hudson, matron of the Childrens Hospital on the Falls Road. They were returning home after a short holiday in Belfast with their aunt. It took several days to identify all the bodies, many of which were only identified by clothing or jewellery. Services of remembrance were held throughout Ireland and England as inquests were held to confirm the cause of death and allow for funerals to be held.
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Queen’s Quay Railway Station around 1890
Lower North Street in 1926
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1919 1919
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Dublin Road shop in 1919
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Shipyard workers pictured on the Queen’s Quay on their way to work in 1919
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The following is an independent review of our city centre tour which was written by Andrew Johnston for the Culture Northern Ireland website. For tour details see back cover.
TOURS REVIEW The Darker Side of Belfast’s History Nazis, body snatchers, drunkards, lunatics, hangings, beheadings, slums, brothels, men killing rats with their bare teeth… No, it’s not a night on the town with Colin Farrell, but some of the horrors you will hear about on the Glenravel Local History Project’s walking tour The Darker Side of Old Belfast. The tour takes in the streets in and around the Cathedral Quarter, or to give it its original name, 'the Half Bap'. Long before the Troubles, this place had its fair share of misery, and guides Joe Baker and Michael Liggett are dying to tell us about it. We begin on the corner of Academy Street and Exchange Street West, behind St Anne’s Cathedral. None of the old buildings remain, thanks to the sterling efforts of the Luftwaffe
and the paramilitaries, so Baker and Liggett encourage us to use our imaginations. This area was home to the dirt-poor of Victorian Belfast, who lived – if you can call it 'living' – in overcrowded tenement blocks. Baker’s tales of disease, degradation and untimely death are disturbing, even to someone who has watched all seven Saw movies. Also resident here were Belfast’s body snatchers. The 'resurrection men', as they were known, dug up corpses from Clifton Street Cemetery and shipped them out to medical schools in Edinburgh. When Baker explains that a single cadaver could earn the criminals the equivalent of three years’ wages, you can kind of understand why they did it.
(Before you get all moral, consider how much modern medical science owes to Burke and Hare and their ilk – we’d be 100 years behind if it weren’t for the grave robbers, reckons Baker). Moving along through the cobbled streets, we stop in an alleyway behind the Duke of York bar and restaurant. Amidst the pigeon droppings and overflowing bins, Baker spills his guts on the dubious entertainment Victorian-era drinkers could enjoy in the shebeens around these
parts. The story about the 'lunatics' (i.e., alcoholics) who would tear rats apart with their teeth for a wager will stay with me for some time. As we head out onto Waring Street, Liggett takes over, relating strange incidents from Belfast’s past, such as the Mafia-style shooting in the 1930s of a Turkish circus giant, whose body was found naked save a pink bathing cap, and the Belfast News-Letter’s world exclusive publication in 1776 of news of the American Declaration of
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Independence. To underline that the darker side wasn’t the only side old Belfast had, Liggett dispenses locally relevant factoids concerning Madame Tussaud and Jonathan Swift. The tour ends outside Primark on Castle Place, near the scene of many of Belfast’s public hangings. We can’t get to the exact spot because a group of teenagers are drinking across from McDonald’s, but we’re close enough. ‘All our great-greatgrandparents were probably standing right here, watching,’ grins Liggett. ‘That’s probably why we’re so wired-up today. It’s in our genes.’ The Darker Side of Old Belfast is a hugely enjoyable two and a
half hours, delivered with trademark blacker-than-black Ulster humour by the e n d l e s s l y knowledgeable Baker and Liggett. It’s not a ghost tour, more a macabre history lesson, though the guides do throw in a few supernatural titbits. Being an atheist, I’m duty-bound not to believe in the likes of Galloper Thompson, Haddock’s Ghost or the Five Mary’s. But you never know: after all, the first draft of this review came to 666 words… The Darker Side of Old Belfast walking tour (suitable for adults only) departs on the last Sunday of each month at 6.30pm from St Anne’s Cathedral. For more information, visit www.toursofbelfast.com.
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Hard Labour and Jail for Two Men At Belfast Crimes Court James Steenson, no address given, and Albert Kennedy of Hunter Street in the Sandy Row area, were charged with assaulting Constable Albert Johnston, with damaging his uniform and with damaging a door in the licensed premises of Michael Caulfield in Albion Street on Tuesday evening, August 6th 1935. In court evidence was given by Constable Johnston and also by the publican Michael Caulfield on behalf of the prosecution. Michael Caulfield recalled that on the day of the assault the two accused walked into his pub, the worse for drink and with another man ordered three glasses of water. He gave them the water and one of the men left. The two accused remained in the pub, standing at the bar counter and asked Caulfield if he would stand them a drink. Caulfield told them to go home and to come back when they could "stand". The men were not well pleased but they ordered a glass of beer and as Caulfield was afraid of any trouble erupting he served the beer and asked his assistant to get the police. When Constable Johnston arrived the trouble started. Constable Johnston arrived at the bar and saw the two accused at the counter. Caulfield again asked them to leave but they refused and then the policeman asked to leave, and put them out of the bar. They came back in and both the accused assaulted the policeman. Steenson tried to get the policeman’s revolver from its holster and Kennedy took his baton. Constable Johnston managed to get his baton back and hit Steenson with it to prevent him from taking his gun. Kennedy attacked the policeman again, tearing at his belt, and during the fracas the Constable had one of his fingers injured. Constable Johnston shouted to Caulfield to get more police as he managed to hold the prisoners until more police arrived. Caulfield told the court that he knew Kennedy and Steenson well, they often came to his pub for a drink and he had never had any trouble with them before. He submitted to court a receipt for £4 for the damage caused to his premises. The accused gave no evidence in their defence and both men were sent to prison for two months with hard labour and ordered to pay all costs incurred.
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Death from Gunshot Wound On September 11th 1954 an inquest was held on two year old Owen Samuel James Allen from the Hillhall Road in Lisburn. Owen Allen died on September 9th after he had been admitted to the Lagan Valley Hospital in Lisburn suffering from a gusnhot wound in his chest.
she found Mary again in an hysterical state, standing over the cot where Owen lay bleeding, unmoving and silent. Mary screamed at Mrs Anderson, "I have shot Owen, is there anything you can do for him?". Mrs Anderson looked into the cot and Owen was bleeding profusely from his chest but was still breathing. An ambulance arrived an took him to The main evidence at the inquest came from the Lagan Valley hospital but he died there shortly after childs father, Harold Allen from 103 Hillhall Road. 3 pm. He told the coroner that his wife had put their son to bed around 8pm on the Wednesday evening, the At Mary’s trial Mrs Anderson gave evidence that 8th, as normal. When Harold Allen left for work Mary had been very fond of the child and that she the next morning around 8 am his son was fast asleep cared well for him but that since he had been born in bed and his wife was also still in bed. Around Mary had not been quite the girl she had been. She 10.20 am a message was relayed ot him at work to was always very nervous and agitated, she had lost return home immediately as something terrible had all her confidence and seemed unsure of herself. taken place and he was taken to the hospital where he identified the body of his son at 3.30 pm. Mr Beside the cot, lying on the floor was a .22 BSA Allen then explained that his wife, Mary aged only rifle which belonged to Mr Allen and was always 25, was then arrested and charged with the murder kept in the house. Mary told Mrs Anderson that of their son, Owen. she had used it to shoot Owen. Mary in her hysteria explained that "something had told her to do it". Mary Allen appeared in court several times in the September and October of 1954 but as she was Dr Charles Robinson the mdiecal superintendent at undergoing medical treatment she did not appear Purdysburn Hospital stated that while Owen was on the charge of murder until the Winter Assizes in fighting for his life in the hospital Mary Allen had December of 1954. On the 3rd December 1954 pleaded with him to save Owens life, she told him Mary Allens story was told in the Belfast courts. that she did not want her son to die. After Mary was arrested and sent to Armagh Prison, he visited On that fateful morning of the 9th September the her there several times, trying to find out what had first anyone knew that something was wrong was happened to Mary and she told him that many times when Mary called at her neighbours house in an before she shot Owen, and in particular in the weeks hysterical state. Her neighbour Mrs Totten tried to leading up to the shooting she had tried to gas calm her down so that she could find out what had herself. Marys own doctor told the court how two happened to put her in such a terrible condition. months before she shot Owen she had come to visit Mary eventually was able to explain that she had him. He had diagnosed depression and anxiety and shot Owen and that Mrs Totten should call for a had prescribed her treament for her nervous state. doctor quickley. Mrs Totten ran to another He had also arranged for her to see a psychiatrist. neighbour to get help and Mary fled her neighbours house and went back to Owen. While Mrs Totten When asked about Marys state of mind of the day went for a doctor the adjoining neighbour Mrs of the shooting her own doctor, Dr McClelland Anderson went to the the Allen household where repled: "I have no doubt that the cause of this awful
Belfast Magazine tragedy was a brainstorm of some description. At the time, I don’t think she was capable fo appreciating that what she was doing was wrong". The medical superintendent concurred with this opinion and the jury at the Belfast court took less
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than 10 minutes to find Mary Allen, aged only 25, guilty, but insane, on the charge of murdering her two year old son, Owen. She was sentenced to be detained under the Mental Health Act at the pleasure of the Governor of N. Ireland.
"I am done, father" "I am done, father, my leg and arm are off". These were the last words spoken to his father by William Smith, a 30 year old shunter of Islandbawn Street, Falls area in Belfast. William was being visited in the Royal Victoria Hospital by his father after he was taken there after a shunting accident at Maysfield Depot where he worked. The young man died from his injuries a few hours after his admission to the hospital. The circumstances of the accident were brought to light during the inquest into his death which returned a verdict of accidental death when it sat in August 1926. William J McKee of Ava Cottage at Clandeboye, who was the examiner for the railway company where William Smith worked gave evidence. He told the coroner that he was making an examination of the waggons of a Dublin special cattle train that had just arrived when he heard someone shout "Billy". He went back and found Smith lying between the rails with his left foot caught in the check rail. He was two waggons from the engine; it was William Smiths job to uncouple the waggons from the engine. James Gallagher, the engine driver, from Dundalk stated that before going into the siding Smith gave him the signal to stop and when witness looked over the side of the engine the deceased was stooping and going in between the engine and the first waggon. The train was in motion at this time, and the witness did not see Smith come out again. The train was almost stopped but it ran over him all the same. The driver assumed that Smith would wait until the train had completely stopped. His father told the court that he had identified his son and had spoken only briefly to him in the hospital. His son did not tell him what had happened and was in no fit state to be questioned about the accident before he died. Mr Lewis from the railway company extended his sympathies to the Smith family. He explained that Smith had given the driver the signal to stop and going, he supposed to uncouple the wagons before the train came to a standstill Smith stumbled or something, and that was how the accident happened. It was contrary to regulations to go between the waggons unless the train was at a standstill. It was pointed out to the coroner that Smith had caught his foot on the check rail and if the rail had not been there, no accident would have occurred. The coroner praised the workers on the railway line and stated his surprise that his court was not full of dead railway workers considering the risks that they take every day. He believed that they must have good staffs at the various railway termini in the city.
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MORE TRUE CASES FROM THE OLD BELFAST COURTS FORTUNE TELLING IN BELFAST WIDOW’S AMUSING EVIDENCE In the Belfast Summons Courton 16th April 1908 before Mr F C Johnstone and other magistrates, Elizabeth Fisher of 50 Kenbaan Street, was summoned for professing to tell fortunes, "to deceive and impose upon certain of his Majesty’s subjects, contrary to statute,"on April 11th. Mr T A Lewis prosecuted and Mr N Tughan appeared for the defence. Detective-Constable Stewart stated that he had had defendant’s house under observation for some time and had frequently seen young women and girls enter. Elizabeth Crawford of 16 Perry Street said she went with a friend to defendant’s house on 11th April having heard that she was "awful good" at telling the future. In the kitchen defendant shuffled a pack of cards and asked witness to take some from the top. Witness lifted the cards as directed and defendant then told her that a dark man was dying about her. (Laughter) Defendant afterwards told her to have a wish. Mr Lewis - Did you take a wish? - Oh that doesn’t matter; that is my own. She was not able to tell me that. What did she say? - She said I would get my wish, but I didn’t get it. Did she say anything to you about
how soon you would be married to that man? - Very soon. (Laughter) How much did you pay for this performance? - Threepence. Mr Tughan - And when did you take the notion of going round to get the future read? - I just heard about this woman and I thought I would go and hear about getting a good man. (Laughter) You are lonely now? - Yes Sir, certainly; we are all lonely without a man. (Laughter) You are no place without a man, Sir. (More laughter) You never got your fortune told before? - Never, but I just heard that much talk about this woman. I never worked out before and I was working in a place where they told me about her. Who sent you round there? Nobody. When you went round the pack of cards was produced? - I was asked to sit down, as she was talking to two women in the back room. Did she pull down the blind? - I never took heed to the blind. The candle was on the table and mind you it was not very big. (Laughter) Did you tell her you were looking for a man? - Oh no. What did you say? - Well she "knowed" what we wanted. (Laughter) Upon further cross-examination the witness said that she wished that she might hear from her brother who was away from
Elizabeth Fisher claimed she could see into the future yet she could not see the police arriving to arrest her! home, but she had not yet heard from him. Minnie Hughes, 241 Newtownards Road, said she accompanied the last witness to defendant’s house. Witness lifted some of the cards and defendant told her she was going to meet with a disappointment. Afterwards the cards were cut, and defendant said a dark man wanted to keep the witness’s company. (laughter) Mr Tughan, for the defence, said the witness had not been deceived in any way by the defendant. He was not going to say that the practice of telling fortunes ought to be observed, but the prosecution was brought under a criminal statute, which meant absolute imprisonment or nothing to the defendant. Elizabeth Fisher was freed.
Belfast Magazine Tuesday February, 3rd, 1858 CURIOUS CHARGE An old, withered looking harridan, named Susan Magee, was charged by a young woman, very respectable in appearance, named Eliza Jane Mc Connell, with "calling her out of her name." Mr. Seeds was concerned for the prosecution, and Mr. Sheals defended. Complainant examined by Mr. Seeds - I know the prisoner. We both reside in Peter’s Hill. She came into my house, and, without any provocation, she used very offensive expressions to me. She said I had a child by my stepfather. I put her out of my house, and when she got to the street she repeated the accusation. Crossexamined by Mr. Sheals - I am living with my mother. I was so
unfortunate as to have a child. My stepfather was not the father of the child. The prisoner came into the kitchen. I put her out. She did not state that she had heard it but made the assertion herself. Maria Wilson, examined by Mr. Seeds Heard the prisoner call the names with which she is charged. Crossexamined by Mr. Sheals - The last time I was here was for a "simple drop of drink." I could not tell you how many times, perhaps a hundred. I did not commence to circulate the charge against the young woman. Mr. Sheals addressed the bench for the defence, and acknowledged that the defendant did make use of the offending words, but that she was told them by the witness Wilson, and that, when using them, she said she "heard" the story, and did
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not originate it. Judge - It is most unwomanly this attack upon this young girl. She has been unfortunate, but that is no reason why an old harridan like you should use such language towards her, no matter whether you heard it or not. You are to pay a fine of 5s, and 10s costs, or be imprisoned for one month. Monday, 15th February, 1858 A FEROCIOUS CUSTOMER A woman in town named Anne Malone, was charged with being "drunk and disorderly, and using obscene language." When locked up in the cell, for her amusement she caught hold of a sister in affliction by the hand, and actually bit a finger off her. She was fined in 10s, and costs, or fourteen days’ imprisonment. She walked off vowing vengeance.
Looking up High Street from the Albert Memorial Clock in 1897
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A mystery never to be solved eptember 1933 brought to Carrickfergus a mysterious and strange discovery on the quiet foreshore at Kilroot. The skeleton of a man was found embedded in clay by a local man while he was out walking. This gruesome discovery was made by Mr Donald Lockhart, a farmer, who was out walking on his land, tracing the shore and carrying out an examination of the battery wall which protected his land from the sea. The preceding days had brought stormy weather and high tides and the walls which protected Mr Lockhart’s property had been seriously damaged by how they had got there. Many in the area believed the heavy waves which thrashed it. that the bones had been washed up in the high tides At a point near the battery wall Mr Lockhart turned that had been experienced in recent weeks but the over a large boulder on the shore side of the battery police seemed more inclined to the theory that the wall and he was shocked to discover a skull remains had been buried in the clay for a number of embedded in the clay. He recognised immediately years. They were concerned in trying to identify that it was a human skull for although the skull was the body and also to find out whether foul play was partly buried, the teeth were still visible. He ran involved in the demise of the remains. The rumours straight away to get the police and stayed with them around the town were of a local murder, a body until the remains were removed. As the police dug dumped after being killed, this mainly fuelled by into the clay they discovered bones of various sizes the reporting that the skull still had flesh attached and fragments of what at first appeared to be cloth. to it. The medical examiner was more inclined to All items were removed from the beach, as it was the body having been embedded for a number of at a point where the tide reached up to each day and years, the flesh preserved in the clay. there was great concern that some items may be The inquest was held at the courthouse in lost in the next tide. Carrickfergus and was full to the brim with The remains were taken out of the clay on the beach interested spectators, determined to find out what and transported by the police to Dr Killen at the the real story behind the mysterious remains. morgue at Carrickfergus for examination. When Constable Ernest Totten was the first witness called the bones were sorted out the doctor found some at the inquest, he had been present when the body small pieces of grey cloth and also three small had been dug up and he confirmed to the court that wooden buttons which the police had mistaken for the iron bar found had no connection to the remains, small bones. A rusting and decayed iron bar was it had been buried for at least 15 years and there also found at the spot where the remains were found were no surface wounds on the remains that would and they were also examined by the police and suggest an attack by an iron bar. The constable confirmed that the cloth and buttons found with the medical examiner. remains could possibly belong to a soldier’s uniform Throughout the local area there was a lot of but at this stage in the investigation this was merely speculation as to who the remains belonged to and speculation.
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Belfast Magazine Dr Samuel Killen was next to give evidence and he told the coroner that he saw the remains being dug up. When collected together they formed the skeleton of a male person, but due to the condition of the remains it was not possible for him to comment on how long the skeleton had been lying on the shore, nor how death occurred. A thigh bone and most of the bones of the hands and feet were missing. The remains were also partially wrapped in an old army blanket but this only fuelled the mystery of the affair and added to the general topic of conversation in the district of the time, everyone
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was discussing the mystery of the skeleton the on the beach. Further inquiries were made and as far as the police could ascertain, all people reported missing in the district over recent years had been accounted for, this skeleton was not local. After a short deliberation the jury found in accordance with the statement of Dr Killen, cause of death was unknown, as was the identity of the man found.
Woman’s terrible fate
n July 1912 Mary Ann McMullan, aged 35 years, was found lying in Great Patrick Street, Belfast in the early hours of a Tuesday morning. She was unconscious and was taken to the nearby Mater Hospital where she died shortly after being admitted. Due to the nature of her injuries it was decided by the authorities that a post mortem be held by Professor Symmers of Queens University, Belfast along with Dr Peter Clearkin of the Mater Hospital.
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Evidence showed that Mary Ann McMullan who had no permanent home, employment or family had succumbed from the effects of blows to the head, probably caused by a hammer.
Professor Symmers gave most of the evidence at the inquiry and stated that when he made his examinations of her remains he found no fewer than twenty fresh bruises on the body, but only two of these were of any real importance, and the important ones were on the front of the right arm and on the finger. Each of these bruises was the size of half a crown.
When he first examined her head nothing could be seen externally, but under the skin he found an enormous quantity of blood on the top of the head in two places, each being the size of ones hand. In the middle of one of these patches of blood he found that the skin of the head had been driven into the bone of the
skull, and immediately under this there was a cut in the skin of the bone, and the bone itself was crushed in a V-shaped manner-the shape in which one would extend the first two fingers of the hand. A portion of the bone was driven in on to the brain and the skull bones were torn apart with great violence and separated by as much as a quarter of an inch. The forehead bone was completely broken in two between the eyes, and the two side bones of the head were torn apart so that enormous violence must have been used. The whole skull was simply crushed and broken. The Professor told the inquiry that the brain was very seriously wounded and the whole surface of it was torn
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Belfast Magazine
and mashed. A lot of blood was spread over the face of the brain and the cause of death was the haemorrhage and laceration of the brain. The dead woman had most probably received a blow from some blunt instrument, such as a club or a hammer. She was struck on the back of the skull where the bone was Mary was taken to the Mater Hospital where she died crushed in, and the brain was forced forward to the front The coroner addressed the impossible to get if by a fall. jury and told them that they The injury was exactly what bone. could reach an open verdict in would be got with a blow from The Professor told the court case any further evidence a carpenters hammer. that although there were no would be forthcoming. He visible injuries it could added that there was no doubt The jury then found that the possible have been caused by that person or persons woman came to her death a fall but he did not think it unknown had murdered Mary from haemorrhage and was probable. The twenty Ann McMullan. She could lacerations of the brain bruises had occurred within 24 not have walked a step after following a fracture of the hours of her death and that she had been attacked and skull "the result of violence they could have been caused therefore she had most inflicted by some person at in scuffling but the cause of probably been murdered at a present unknown to the jury". the bruises on the hand and house somewhere and then arm were definite blows. He carried to Great Patrick Street No one was ever charged with confirmed to the court that and laid out where she was the murder of poor Mary Ann McMullan. The police after Mary Ann had been subsequently found. investigation came up against struck on the head she would have fallen unconscious and The jury then asked to speak a brick wall with no witnesses would not have been able to to the Professor again. They and no friends or family of the asked him if there was any victim to interview they knew walk any distance. possibility of Mary Ann so little about her. No one ever The police admitted that they having fallen against a wall or came forward to say that they had no evidence concerning against a curbstone and the had seen her the night she was who may have attacked Mary Professor said that there was murdered and in the end she Ann nor any other clues as to of course some possibility but became another statistic in the where she had been or whom from the position of the fatal violence of Belfast in the early wound it was almost 20th century. she had been with.
Belfast Magazine
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ROAMING IRELAND We at the Glenravel Project regularly visit different sites of historical interest throughout the country. For up to date information on all the latest trips visit the Facebook page of the Glenravel Local History Project
MILLIFONT ABBEY
Mellifont Abbey is a ruined 12thcentury Cistercian monastery near Monasterboice in County Louth. It is of considerable historical significance, for it was the Cistercians' first and most important abbey in Ireland, and a site of conflict between the Irish and the Anglo-Normans. Most of what remains of the great Mellifont Abbey is only foundations, but there is a fine lavabo that is mostly intact, along with the chapter house and a section of the cloister. There are also evocative ruins of a great gateway and a small church nearby.
History By the mid-12th century, Irish monastic life (as in many other places) had become significantly less austere and more corrupt than in earlier days. So in 1140, Malachy, Bishop of Down, invited a group of severe Cistercian monks from Clairvaux to set up a monastery in Ireland and act as a reforming influence. Malachy had stopped by Clairvaux in France during a pilgrimage to Rome and had been so impressed by St. Bernard (founder of the Cistercian order) and his monks that he converted to the monastic life himself.
Malachy was canonized a saint after his death. A group of Irish and French monks settled in this remote site
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Belfast Magazine in 1142 and began construction in the traditional Cistercian style. This marked the first time that a monastery was built in Ireland with the formal layout used in the Continent. Within a couple decades, before Mellifont's church was even consecrated, nine more Cistercian monasteries were established in Ireland. At its height, Mellifont was the mother house of 21 monasteries and as many as 400 monks made Mellifont Abbey their home. In 1152, the abbey hosted the Synod of Drogheda. By this time, all the monks of Mellifont were Irish, for an early dispute between the native Irish monks and the imported French monks led to the departure of the latter. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII, Mellifont Abbey was demolished and sold. A fortified Tudor manor house was built on the site in 1556 by Edward Moore, using materials scavenged from the monastic buildings. This house was the site of a turning point in Irish history. After Hugh O'Neill, last of the great Irish chieftains, was defeated in the Battle of Kinsale (1603), he was given shelter here by Sir Garret Moore. O'Neill soon surrendered to the English Lord Deputy Mountjoy and was pardoned, but he fled to the Continent in 1607 with other Irish leaders in the Flight of the Earls. The site of Mellifont Abbey and its manor house was abandoned in 1727.
What to See The first ruins visitors encounter are those of the abbey church, which has a typical cruciform plan and some gravestones in its floor. Beyond this, to the south, is the cloister (with only a short section of its colonnade remaining) and the chapter house. The chapter house remains mostly intact and is partially paved with medieval glazed tiles that originally decorated the church. Adjacent to this was the refectory, kitchen and warming room. The monks' sleeping quarters was in the eastern range. The most beautiful structure at Mellifont is the lavabo, an octagonal washing house. Built in the early 13th century, it used lead pipes to bring water from the river. Up the hill from Mellifont Abbey and worth a quick look is a ruined little church, of unknown (to us) date but presumably used by the lay employees of the monastery. Getting There Mellifont Abbey is about 1.5km off the R168, which connects Drogheda with Collon. A back road connects Mellifont with Monasterboice. There is no public transportation to the abbey.
Magazine Page 21 200 YEARS OF BELFASTBelfast HISTORY
Visit the most historic site in Belfast
CLIFTON STREET GRAVEYARD SEE THE OLD BELFAST POORHOUSE Not a pleasant place to be in Victorian times! VISIT THE GRAVES OF THE FOUNDERS OF IRISH REPUBLICANISM Did you know that they were all Presbyterians and Freemasons! THE CHOLERA PITS Where the remains of thousands of victims of this horrific disease lie buried inches beneath the soil THE GRAVE ROBBERS Discover why corpses were stolen from this very cemetery and sold THE FAMINE GRAVE See Belfast’s largest remaining grave from the period of the Great Hunger And lots, lots more ranging from the founders of the worlds oldest newspaper to the inventor of Christmas cards
EVERY SUNDAY AT 11am MEET OUTSIDE St ANNE’S CATHEDRAL £7 (£10 tour includes local history booklet and DVD on cemetery)
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Belfast Magazine
Never Let The Truth Get In The Way Of A Good Story f there is one thing that we at the Glenravel Project are very proud of it's the fact that every single story we do is extremely well researched. We are well aware that all our material goes straight into the local libraries as well as the university libraries throughout Britain and Ireland so we are only going to get one chance to get it right. This being the case there are indeed others throughout our city who deliberately change our history to suit their own needs. Now, believe it our not, I'm not talking about politicians here because they have been doing it for years but people such as developers who have changed things a bit and even local tour guides who really should know better.
I
Take this 'Cathedral Quarter' for example. One thing I enjoy watching in this area is the tourists who walk up and down Donegall Street with their guide books open looking everywhere for this buzzing arts scene. 'Cathedral Quarter' is a name given to the historic Half Bap area by Laganside who wanted to copy Dublin's Temple Bar forgetting that Temple Bar is a total failure. Anyway they then go on to present the history of the area and tell us the sanitised version leaving out the fact that this was Victorian Belfast's red light district as well as one of our most notorious slums where disease and death were a regular occurrence.
Another aspect of this sanitised version of history are the information boards which have been placed in many parts of the city by the City Council. Now let me point out that I think these are a great idea but it's whats on them that I have a problem with. For example going briefly back to 'Cathedral Quarter' these signs inform us that the New Lodge and old Sailortown areas are also part of 'Cathedral Quarter' Tell that to the residents! The history on them is true but it what they don't say that's the problem. Take the one in Castle Place for example. It informs us that Belfast's last public hanging took place there. No it didn't. The last public hanging was the first hanging at the Belfast Prison which was
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Belfast Magazine
carried out in full view of the surrounding area and the massive crowds who showed up to watch. What this sign does not tell us is that all the horrific executions such as hung, drawn and quartered took place here. Another aspect that these signs tend to leave out is the period known as The Troubles. If you read these signs that long, long conflict never took place. Now I'm not saying we should glamourise this in any way but we should certainly not pretend that it never happened. I have spoken to many tourists over the years and Belfast is on the same par as Beirut and most of these tourists come to see the so called peace walls as well as the murals in both republican and loyalist areas. Lets not pretend we are something we are not.
Now most of the bus tours realise that tourists wish to see these things and take them to the one in West Belfast which brings them up the Falls and down the Shankill but unfortunately some of these tours just fill tourists heads full of wee sweety white mice as we say in these parts. One of the tours which comes down the Shankill had obviously nothing to talk about in the section between Agnes Street and Peter's Hill so they focused in on the KFC outlet and informed people that Colonel Sanders who founded KFC gave money to the UVF and yes you read that right. But is it any different to the bus tour which states that the Titanic was the greatest ship ever built. Am hello - it sank on its maiden voyage! Back to Laganside another development they were involved in was McHugh's Bar behind the Albert Clock. Now I was invited to the opening of this establishment and was shocked to discover that it was established in 1711. I instantly knew this was wrong and asked around for someone who could tell me more about this. I was introduced to
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one of the PR guys from Laganside and he told me that they had discovered bricks in the basement which they were able to date back to 1711. Now how they done this is beyond me but someone should tell Tony Robinson and his Time Team guys that Laganside had a device which could date ancient items right down to an exact year! leaving that aside lets just say there were bricks in their basement which were placed there in 1711. If you lift up the floorboards in my front room you can see part of the foundations of the old Duncairn House which was formally known as Fortfield House. Does that mean that my house is 500 + years old. McHugh's is an excellent bar and restaurant and the staff are second to none but it's a modern development made to look very old with materials out of architectural salvage yards. On the site of McHugh's was the infamous DuBarry's, a Chinese take away restaurant and Paddy Reas bar. I remember the whole lot being razed to the ground and McHugh's being built and I can assure you it wasn't in 1711.
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Belfast Magazine
Another local public house which seems to have fallen for this false history is Kelly's Cellars. A few years ago they had a blue plaque placed on their building by the Ulster History Circle which states that the Society of United Irishmen met there. Could be true but it's highly unlikely. I have e-mailed the Ulster History Circle several times asking for their source material but all my e-mails were ignored. There are quite a few bars in Belfast claiming to be the oldest ranging from Kelly's Cellars through to
McHugh's with their amazing Established in 1711 date for a modern building. If I were to say which was the oldest then it would have to be White's Tavern in Wineseller Entry. Where Kelly's Cellars is situated was the Catholic section of the old town and the Belfast United Irishmen were not only all Presbyterian but also Freemasons. It could be argued that they went to Kelly's to meet with members of the Defenders who were Catholic and who sided with the United Irishmen during their 1798
Rebellion. However the Defenders were a rural organisation and there was never a branch in Belfast. The United Irishmen set themselves up in a small tavern just of High Street but after that the meetings were held in private as well as in masonic rooms. There is no evidence that the United Irishmen ever went near Kelly's Cellars never mind met in it but I'll conclude with the words of Pieter Geyl. Imagination plays too important a role in the writing of history.
JANUARY Belfast Magazine 1978 Page 25
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Belfast Magazine
Tuesday 3rd January 1978 Wednesday 4th January 1978 A device was carried into the sub post office at Jonesboro, South Armagh by two men. They told the postmistress that it was a bomb and the office was cleared by the sub post mistress who then raised the alarm. One of the men was seen putting a light to the box. Three shops and a garage in the Tyrone border town of Castlederg were blasted by bombs. The bombs were planted by a group of four men and they exploded within half a mile of each other. The first blast was at Connor’s electrical shop in William Street and two minutes later a bomb exploded at Lyon’s Brothers garage in Upper Strabane Road. Fifteen minutes later the third explosion went off in Baskin’s grocery shop in Upper Strabane Road. The fourth bomb went off in Harpur Brothers’ furniture store in Ferguson Crescent. The bomb at Baskin’s was left by two men who also robbed the till. While clearing the area
the bomb exploded in the nearby garage and police attending the scene had to rush to safety. No warning was given of the device in William Street, but a pedestrian raised the alarm after seeing the men leaving a device at Harpur Brothers’ store. No one was hurt in the blasts, but all four premises received extensive damage. In Derry a number of devices were planted but they were all defused by the army and only slight damage was caused in one case. Three youths in a hijacked car planted a bomb at McLean’s garage at Drumahoe. A controlled explosion was carried out and the device was neutralised. Damage was slight. In the same area at Altnagelvin, a shopping bag containing explosives and petrol was spotted at an AA box and was safely defused. Two devices were planted in Strand Road, at McIvor’s plastics, but both were defused. Warnings about the bombs were given by the Provisional IRA.
The Four Winds Inn after an IRA bomb attack A 33 year old prison explosion was tied to an officer had a lucky outside grille on the wall escape when an of the bar. The bar was explosion wrecked his destroyed but the off car as he set off for work. licence and restaurant on The man who had been the other side of the a prison officer for six premises suffered only years was driving his car smoke and water out of his garage in damage. An anonymous Belfast when the bomb phone call warning of exploded. He escaped the bombs in the with bruises and an building was received injury to his leg. The and the bomb exploded officer’s wife and two ten minutes later. The young sons were in the area was evacuated and house on the Saintfield there were no injuries. Road when the explosion occurred. His An incendiary device 12 year old son heard the exploded in a tea chest bang and looked out of in a Winetavern Street the window and saw his shop in Belfast. A father coming towards mother and her three the house with a hole in children who lived his leg. Only the above the shop had a detonator of the bomb lucky escape when the went off. incendiary exploded as they were watching A parcel bomb exploded television and were able at the Four Winds to drag the tea chest out restaurant at of the building. If they Knockbracken in had been asleep upstairs Belfast. The bomb they would have been which caused the trapped in the building.
Belfast Magazine
Five teenagers were injured in Belfast when soldiers opened fire on a stolen car which careered through a roadblock in Andersonstown. (Above) All the young men escaped serious injury but four were detained in hospital. Police stated that the car failed to stop at a road check at the junction of Glen Road and Falls
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in Great Victoria Street. Street. The police began Three men, one of them to clear the area but a with a handgun, held bomb went off in three members of staff Conlons furniture store. and three customers at And a few minutes later gunpoint before planting there was a blast at a bomb. The men made Kennedys florists and off and the area around then a third bomb went the shop was evacuated. off at Connolly estate Ten minutes later the agents. A fire broke out bomb exploded, and at Conlons which causes started a large fire. Army extensive damage but green goddess’s fought the other premises were the blaze but the building not badly damaged. Two was badly damaged. women were treated for The next bombs were shock and four cars Road. The soldiers fired planted on the grilles of parked outside Dick’s a number of shots at the shops in Upper Donegall garage were destroyed. car which sped off, but was recovered a short time later, with several bullet holes in it, at Bingian Drive. A 35 year old man was injured in a shooting incident in Newtownabbey. He was hit in the chest and stomach during the attack which happened IRA firebomb attack on a north Belfast store in the Doagh Road area.
Thursday 5th January 1978 A 46 year old man survived a booby trap attack on his car as he drove from his mother’s house in Glengormley. There was an explosion at the front of his car as he turned off the Whitewell Road into the Antrim Road. He escaped without injury but the front of the car
was badly damaged. The man’s brother in law was a prison officer and it was thought it was a case of mistaken identity. Four shops in Belfast were attacked by bombers. The first explosion was at Jennings electrical shop
Army fire fighters at the scene of a firebomb attack on shops in Gresham Street
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Belfast Magazine
Friday 6th January 1978 Saturday 7th January 1978
The army neutralised a small device found in Belfast. The bomb was thrown out of Jennings Electrical store in Great Victoria Street and the area was sealed off, and traffic disrupted, while the device was dealt with on the footpath. A mortar bomb and two bags of explosives were part of an arms haul found in a Falls Road school, during an army search. They were discovered in a roof space in St Louise’s Secondary Intermediate Girl’s School in St James Road during an army search of the area. Also found at the school were three imitation pistols, an imitation Winchester rifle, an empty armalite magazine, two watches and 25 ft of double strand copperwire. No arrests were made. A warning was received
before a bomb destroyed a pub in Newcastle, Co Down. Three masked men, one armed with a handgun, entered the Capstan Lounge in Main Street and planted a bomb and shouted a warning before making their getaway. Staff and customers evacuated the building before the bomb went off a short time later. The mortar type blast bomb started a great fire, but no one was injured. The RUC and Guarda searched for an armed gang which hijacked three vehicles in south Armagh and held the drivers captive for several hours. The hijackings took place near the village of Cullaville and the drivers were only released when an army helicopter circled over the disused farmhouse where they were held under guard for more than three hours.
The Provisional IRA claimed that they had captured a top secret army intelligence file which related to the army undercover unit. The claim was printed in an article in Republican News which described how the file was taken from an intelligence man after he was shot dead in Turf Lodge. A clothes shop in Belfast city centre was destroyed in a bomb attack. The target was
the Savemore ladies store in Gresham Street and four army fire teams fought to prevent the huge blaze from spreading to adjoining premises. The bomb was planted by an armed man who held up staff at the shop. He ordered staff to stand at the back of the shop while a second man planted the bomb. The army were about to move in to defuse the bomb when it exploded starting a fire.
Monday 9th January 1978 An explosion at a flour mill caused minor damage near the centre of Strabane. The bomb at the premises in Canal Basin went off soon after
two cans were spotted and no one was injured. A telephone warning to police stated that six bombs had been planted but it was a hoax.
Tuesday 10th January 1978 A Belfast city centre toy store was badly damaged in a double bomb attack. Two bombs planted in Frederick Thomas’ warehouse in Academy Street started a fire which swept through the building. Two youths, one of them armed, planted two devices in the premises. Staff managed to get clear before the first bomb went off starting the fire. The second explosion happened as army fire-
fighters were preparing to move in, caused a massive blaze. The area was sealed off while army volunteers using green goddesses tackled the blaze. The army defused two bombs at the Irish Bonding Company’s premises in Pennyburn Industrial Estate, Derry. Three other bombs exploded on the premises causing extensive damage. The
Belfast Magazine blasts started a small fire which was tackled by army firemen. The bombs were planted by three youths who held up staff. The area was cleared after they made their getaway in a hijacked car. The Provisional IRA claimed responsibility and gave a warning of five bombs. Two bombs, thought to have been planted in 1976, were defused by the army on the outskirts of Newry. They were found during a routine search at Mulladuff Bridge, on the Newry to Newtownhamilton road. Two bombs, one containing a homemade explosive mixture and the other commercial
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gelignite, were discovered 25 yards apart. The devices contained 10lbs of explosives each. A packet containing another 10lbs of gelignite was found in an embankment nearby. Three high velocity shots were heard in the vicinity of Whiterock/ Springfield Road junction. It was not known what the target was. Six shots were fired at the Springfield Road army base. Two high velocity shots struck the Fort Monagh army base. They were fired from the direction of Turf Lodge.
Wednesday 11th January 1978 An incendiary device was discovered in a bus depot at the junction of the Falls and Glen Road in Belfast. It was made safe by the army disposal team. A bomb exploded in a building in Murray Street, Belfast. Soldiers watched the building burn after a bomb planted by two men caused a huge blaze and the fire fighting soldiers were ordered back after
a car was spotted beside The remains of the Four Winds Inn after an IRA the building. There were bomb attack (see page 26) no injuries. They found seven Burnside, Craigavon. The forecourt and petrol automatic rifles, 1000 They were acting on a tip pumps of a petrol station rounds of ammunition off. The find included 36 type in Dungannon were and combat jackets cassette damaged in an hidden in a dug out incendiaries, 25 cassette explosion. No one was during a routine search. cases, 63 gas igniters, 18 injured in the bomb All the weapons had watches, electric cable and insulating tape. attack at Moygashel been well maintained. Soldiers found a clip Road. A warning had been telephoned to the The RUC found a cache containing three bullets of incendiary devices in a derelict house at local RUC. The Garda uncovered an and bomb making Aughnagurgan, near in a Keady. The ammunition arms cache at equipment Dungooley, Co Louth. communal garage in was in poor condition.
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Belfast Magazine
Firebomb attack on Campbell’s Furniture Store, Duncairn Gardens. BELOW - Gribben’s furniture shop on Duncairn Gardens following an IRA attack
IRA firebomb attack on Gillespie and Robinson’s A bomb hung on a wire grill at the Stagecoach throughout the adjoining Inn, Derriaghy, exploded premises. The fire as a police patrol arrived destroyed the buildings. to check the building. Bombs exploded at Browns hardware shop Two bombs exploded in Finaghy and the starting fires in Gribbens nearby Finicky Fashions and Campbell’s furniture shop. The blasts were stores. The adjoining were followed by fires and the buildings blaze at Browns spread destroyed by the blazes. to the post office next People living nearby were evacuated from door.
Thursday 12th January 1978 Three bombs exploded at McCormick’s and Gillespie and Robinsons wholesalers in King Street, Belfast. The bombs had been hung on wire grills on the buildings by a bomber who arrived at the scene in a black taxi. The explosions started a blaze which spread
their homes while the army tried to douse the flames. Four men planted two bombs in a six storey building in Murray Street in the city centre. The first device exploded starting a big fire which damaged the building. Three people were treated for shock. A van left by the bombers outside the
Belfast Magazine
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building was destroyed by the army in a controlled explosion. A cassette type firebomb exploded in a hardware shop in William Street, Cookstown. It had been hidden in a vegetable rack. Little damage was caused. A 3lb bomb attached to a can of petrol was thrown into the office of the Tyrone Democrat newspaper and was defused by the army. Two youths were spotted drapers shop in Upper back into the street by a Only the detonator throwing a small bomb Square, Castlewellan. passerby and later into the doorway of a The device was thrown defused by the army. exploded.
Friday 13th January 1978 The Guildhall in Derry was extensively damaged in a bomb attack which was preceded by a rioting crowd who fought with the RUC and army who were trying to evacuate the building after a telephoned bomb warning. 12 people were injured in the riots during which windows and statues were smashed, the toilets were wrecked. The ceiling of the minor hall and windows were blasted by the bomb explosion. A hole blasted in the floor of the hall brought down the ceiling of the living accommodating below. No people were arrested during the rioting.
The Provisional IRA released a statement claiming that they had carried out 18 bombings since 1st January 1978 and declaring that their actions would continue until British withdrawal took place.
A soldier was injured by flying glass when a bomb exploded inside Shackleton army camp at Ballykelly. The bomb had been thrown over the perimeter fence from a side road. The bomb did not cause much damage.
Mr Cecil Grills, a 56 year old corporal in the UDR was shot dead in Newry. He was ambushed as he drove home from work at a builder’s providers firm at Merchants Quay. He was shot in the head as he drove along Arthur Street and died in hospital. Mr Grills was married with two young children.
A bomb planted by two youths in the doorway of the Five Star petrol station at Ballygawley Road, Dungannon was defused by the army. A suspect parcel placed near petrol pumps was found to contain two bricks. A 26 year old man from Norglen Parade in Belfast was given a suspended sentence for having a Lewis machine
gun and 37 rounds of ammunition at his home. A 19 year old man of Ruth Street was jailed for five years for possessing a Mauser pistol and ammunition with intent to endanger life. Another 19 year old man of Upper Mervue Street was jointly charged. A teenage girl from the Short Strand area was charged with having a gun and belonging to the Woman’s IRA. A 36 year old mother of six of Glenalina Park was given a two years suspended sentence for possessing four revolvers, a rifle and more than 100 rounds of ammunition.
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Belfast Magazine
Saturday 14th January 1978 Soldiers tackling a fire in a derelict house in Derry came under fire but none of them was hit. The shooting happened as they were fighting a fire at a house in William Street on the fringe of the Bogside. 10 shots were fired during the attack
and fire returned.
was
not
A suspect package in Bedford Street, Belfast caused traffic chaos for over two hours. It was later found to be a plastic bag filled with magazines.
Monday 16th January 1978 Bombs destroyed two shops and a garage on the Ormeau Road in Belfast. The first bomb exploded at Northern Ireland Audio and Visual Aids in Rugby Avenue and the blast started a
small fire which was put out by local residents. A short time later a bag was spotted hanging from a grill at the CSC electrical store and before it could be examined a second
Shops in Gresham Street following an IRA bomb attack
IRA fire bomb attacks on shops in the Ormeau Road area bomb exploded at Two devices were Browns sports shop spotted on a window sill nearby. The blast was at Derry garages in quickly followed by an Strand Road in Derry. explosion at CSC. The Another was discovered explosions started fires at Thompson McGeady which spread to other nearby. buildings. Both shops and the garage were Five shots were fired at an army patrol in destroyed.
Belfast Magazine Twinbrook and in a follow up search a handgun was found in a dustbin. During the
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search the army came under fire but no one was injured and fire was not returned.
Tuesday 17th January 1978 A 23 year old man from New Barnsley was charged with planting hoax bombs on hi jacked vehicles in Belfast. Traffic was diverted from the Antrim Road in Belfast after a suspect parcel was found close to a post box near Girdwood Army camp. The parcel fitted with wires but turned out to be an elaborate hoax. A 36 year old Protestant man was hospitalised after he was shot in the groin, right leg and cheek after two gunmen
climbed a ladder on to the roof of a Co op store on the Springfield Road to shoot him and a second man. The second man threw himself off the roof and broke both wrists. The three gunmen pulled up outside the store where the two men were working on the roof and crossed the road and two of them climbed to the roof. They then opened fire. The police arrived and the gunmen were chased through The Flush towards the Beechmount district. Shots were exchanged
and a revolver was dropped through the window of the getaway car. The windscreen of the police car and the
back window of the gunmen’s car were shattered by flying bullets.
Wednesday 18th January 1978 Brough, Cox and Dunn, printers and stationers, and Abraham’s army surplus store on Clifton were targeted by bombs. Both bombs had petrol lines attached and were hung on security grilles. No warning was given but passersby spotted the devices and the RUC were called. The area was cleared just two
minutes before the bomb at the clothing store went off starting a fire. Residents of Clifton House had a narrow escape as shrapnel from the bomb crashed through windows. The old people’s home had been evacuated just seconds before the blast. The second bomb ripped through the printers and
IRA firebomb attack on the Brown Brothers funiture store
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Belfast Magazine
part of the building was engulfed by flames and the Belfast firemen, just returned to work after the prolonged strike tackled the flames. While they tackled the blaze the army dealt with a suspect bomb at a nearby petrol station. The device was strapped to a pillar of the canopy but was an elaborate hoax.
Thursday 19th Bombs were planted in John Hand shop at Lincoln Place, Great Victoria Street, by three armed youths. The bombs exploded a short time later starting a fire but no one was hurt. A Derry pub was damaged in a three bomb attack. The bombs went off in a shopping complex in the Great James Street area. One blast damaged the newly built Savoy Bar and two other explosions damaged two shops. The bombs were planted by armed men and a telephone warning was received. A bomb exploded at Smyth and McClure’s supermarket on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. A fire started after the blast and caused minor damage. The second
The army discovered a bomb at the entrance to an observation post in Crossmaglen. The bomb went off as the army were moving in to deal with it. Although the blast caused slight damage to the area, no one was injured. The Provisional IRA in Crossmaglen claimed responsibility for the attack.
Friday 20th January 1978
The army sent in helicopters after a gun battle in south Armagh. Two gunmen were involved in the exchange between them and the army and over 200 shots were fired in intermittent firings. The battle lasted for almost an hour until the helicopters with searchlights combed the area for the gunmen who January 1978 escaped in the direction device was later defused. of Cullaville. No hits were claimed by the A 32 year old man was army. shot in the leg in the Whiterock area of Belfast. Car bombs were used to attack premises in and Shots were fired at a Dungannon
Cookstown. A car bomb was left in James Street, Cookstown and exploded causing structural damage to business premises. It was estimated to be 250lb and was described as ‘old style, big car bombs’. A hijacked car which blew up Scotch Street in Dungannon contained over 150lb of explosives. Three policemen were injured when two land rovers were raked by gunfire at the junction of Letterkenny Road and the Lone Moor Road in
workers’ minibus at the junction of Falls Road and Broadway but no one was hurt. One bullet hole was found in a mudguard. A bomb left hanging on a security grille at a carpet store in Belfast was dealt with by the army and no damage was caused. The device was found at Rite Price carpet store in Duncairn Gardens in north Belfast. A controlled explosion was carried out. Another device was found on a grille at Macklins outfitters on the Antrim Road but it turned out to be a hoax.
Forkhill Army Base after an IRA attack
Belfast Magazine Derry. More than 20 shots from at least one machinegun were fired at the vehicles. Both land rovers were hit, fire was not returned. Five policemen and three civilians were taken to hospital with minor injuries after a car
bomb explosion in James Street, Cookstown. The police were checking the Post Office after a bomb warning when the car which had been hijacked exploded. The bomb exploded in Eaglesons hardware store and the Post Office.
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Saturday 21st January 1978 Two suspect devices left hanging on security grilles at the Regency furniture store in York Street, Belfast, were found to be hoaxes. The area had been cleared, A suspect milk churn residents evacuated and bomb caused disruption traffic diverted. and long evacuation at A device found outside Eskragh, Dungannon. the Sirocco Works on the A 19 year old man from Mountpottinger Road Frere Street, Belfast, was turned out to be a hoax. charged with possessing a bomb with intent in A 32 year old man of Belfast. He was also Dunville Street in charged with being a Belfast was charged with member of the Fianna na being a member of the IRA. Eireann. A policeman was injured in a bomb blast at Wattle Bridge, near Newtownbutler on the Fermanagh/Cavan border.
Monday 23rd January 1978 Six soldiers were injured in a mortar bomb attack at Forkhill, south Armagh. The attack caused extensive damage to the post and houses in the area were damaged. Mortars were fired from the back of a lorry parked 100m from the army base and crashed into the sleeping quarters and toilets of the joint army RUC base. Rail services throughout the NIR network were disrupted Injured troops are rushed to military helicopters while the army and following the attack on Forkhill Barracks UDR searched the lines
for bombs. Two blast incendiaries were found outside Regent Furnishing Company on York Street, Belfast. A third device was found at McNeill’s and McManus paint shop. All five bombs were defused by the army. In Derry two bombs went off without warning on the roof of premises in the Waterside area. A small fire burned itself out and damage to the building was slight.
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Belfast Magazine
An incendiary device exploded in the Manhattan Restaurant, Lurgan. The owner heard the bomb go off and he managed to put out the small blaze. Two blast bombs were found outside the Strathmore Inn on the Cavehill Road in north Belfast. The bombs attached to the security grill were defused by the army.
Tuesday 24th January 1978 A policeman escaped injury when a shot was fired at him as he locked the gates of Cloughmills RUC station in Co Antrim. Fire was not returned.
In Belfast the army carried out controlled explosions on three suspect bombs, but none contained explosives. A caller warned that a bomb had been left
outside the Irish News office in Donegall Street. The army blew up a cardboard box.
left a short distance from Andersonstown RUC station on the Glen Road. It contained a cardboard box which A controlled explosion turned out to be full of was carried out on a car clothes.
Wednesday 25th January 1978 Thursday 26th January 1978 The premises of Expanite, builders’ suppliers on the Antrim Road in Belfast, were badly damaged in a bomb attack. An armed man carried the bomb into the warehouse after pushing the barrel of a pistol through the letterbox. The army arrived to defuse the device but it exploded before they had a chance.
The Sportsman Inn in Derriaghy came under attack from bombers. Three policemen and a woman constable had a narrow escape as they bomb exploded as they were evacuating the bar. An 88 year old woman was treated for shock. Both bombs were fixed to the windows of the pub and fire swept through the lounge but the rest of the building was saved.
The army dealt with three bomb scares in Belfast. Two controlled explosions were carried out on a stolen car parked outside the Rite price carpet store at Duncairn Gardens but no damage was caused. Shots were fired at a suspect beer keg outside the Knock Golf Club and a suspicious milk churn at Young’s Row on the Newtownards Road but both were hoaxes.
explosion near Crossmaglen. They were airlifted to Musgrave park hospital after the tack. The incident happened when a 12 man patrol passed a disused farmhouse and the bomb was detonated. The patrol came under gun attack after the blast. Shots were returned but no hits claimed. Two hours later an army helicopter in the same area was shot at but troops on the ground Two soldiers were injured returned the fire and there after a booby trap were no causalities.
Belfast Magazine
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Friday 27th January 1978 Monday 30th January 1978 The army carried out a controlled explosion on a booby trap bomb found inside a security barrier in the Lower Falls area of Belfast. The device had been placed in a hole of a concrete post which was part of the barrier at the junction of Divis Street and Hamill Street. The army neutralised another device found in a plastic shopping bag outside J J Stafford’s shoe premises in Union Street. An anonymous caller had earlier told police that there were three bombs planted in the area, but nothing
Saturday 28th An 18 year old youth from Stockman’s Crescent was accused of being a member of the junior wing of the IRA. Two bombs went off in a shopping complex in Derry. They caused minor damage. Two other devices planted in the complex in the Great James Street area were defused by the army. After the first blasts the area was sealed off due to a warning received. The army closed the under deck of the Craigavon Bridge after a
further was found. The blast caused little damage to the door of the premises and there were no injuries.
A 29 year old man was shot three times in the legs in the Agnes Street area of the Crumlin Road.
Two shots were fired at an army mobile patrol at the junction of Linden Gardens and Cliftonville Road in Belfast. The vehicle was not hit and no one was injured. Fire was not returned.
Two soldiers were injured when an army patrol came under fire in the Andersonstown area of west Belfast. The soldiers were members of a foot patrol operating in Stewartstown Avenue. One was hit in the left thigh and the other in the right leg. A rifle was found in the area after a search.
A controlled explosion was carried out on a car parked on the M1 motorway at the Dunmurry Bridge. Nothing was found in it. Members of an army patrol were caught in an January 1978 ambush when a suspect parcel was landmine exploded near Co found. It turned out to Kinawley, Fermanagh. A claymore be harmless. type mine exploded as A bid to blow up a timber the patrol passed but yard at Coalisland was police and soldiers in the foiled by the army. After vehicle were not hurt in a telephone warning a the blast. Soldiers fired parcel was found more than 200 shots at a hanging on a wire grill man seen fleeing across outside Stevenson’s fields towards the border timber yard on the after the explosion. The Dungannon Road. The area was sealed off while the army dealt with bomb was defused. another device found in A parcel left outside the a follow up search. Abbey National Andersonstown RUC Building Society in station was fired at on Donegall Square East three separate occasions turned out to be a hoax. but no one was injured.
Fire was not returned. Shots were fired at Monagh army camp but no one was hurt. An RUC vehicle came under attack as it travelled along North Queen Street but no one was injured. Buses, lorries and vans were hijacked in the Falls and Twinbrook area by gangs of youths, some of them armed. Vehicles were set on fire and left across roads. The army and RUC dealt with a large number of hoax bombs in areas throughout Belfast. A telephone caller had warned that two bombs had been planted in Clifton Street and Donegall Street but they turned out to be harmless. Other hoax bombs were found at a paint store in Cliftonville Avenue, co-op store on the Cavehill Road and at a fruit shop at Cliftonville Circus. A suspect box found on the Ormeau Road was also a hoax. The army blew up a hijacked van left outside a garage on the Cliftonville Road. It did not contain a bomb.
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Belfast Magazine
Tuesday 31st January 1978 A bomb was left at the VG store in Duncairn Gardens and was spotted by an army patrol. It exploded as the area was being cleared and an RUC constable was treated for shock. A fire which broke out after the blast was put out.
Bombs severely damage the upstairs floor of the Marlborough DIY shop on the Lisburn Road. It started a small fire in the building and later a can of petrol was found in the premises. A telephone warning had been given that there
bombs had been planted. A parcel left at Lamont’s supermarket at Cabra Ulster bus chief exploded causing slight executive Mr Verner damage. The device had Heubeck removed a been attacked to the suspect box left on a box outside of the building. after a hijacking in the Short Strand area. The A parcel left outside a box turned out to be grocery store in harmless. Duncairn Gardens was a hoax.
Belfast Magazine
ghost advert
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