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A Chronology of the Northern Ireland Conflict March - April 1977
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A Chronology of the Northern Ireland Conflict
ISSUE 41
22222
I t can often be a contentious issue of debate of when and how Northern Ireland’s‘Troubles’ began, who and what is to blame, and even which event in case led us to
where we are now. You can go back 30 years, or even 300 years and beyond for inreality Ireland has been engaged in conflict with England for centuries.
Therefore, in order to compile a chronological record of the modern Troubles - theterm usually given to the most recent conflict, we must mark a defining point of start,which we have taken as partition itself and from which we began in. In turn again,we feel it is equally important to give you the reader some understanding why eventsspiralled as they did into a bloody civil war.This is not another view of the Troubles, this has been done and redone. This is thehistorical recording of events compiled by people from different parts of Belfast wholived through them. Our objective as local historians is to compile what we hopewill be as near as possible a definitive reference to events as they unfolded throughthe last three decades.
In terms of research we have used as much material as possible and from diverseperspectives. We are confident that we have covered events as they werereported at the time. If however you feel that we have either left something out orindeed got something wrong we are more than happy to hear from you. As mentionedabove this series of publications is the historical recording of the Troubles and allcorrections are more than welcome.
GLENRAVEL LOCAL HISTORY PROJECTAshton Centre
Churchill StreetBelfast BT15 2BP
Tel: (028) 9020 2100 • Fax: (028) 9020 2227E-Mail: [email protected]
This is designed to create a better historical understanding of what has becomeknown as ‘The Troubles.’ Therefore for educational purposes you are more thanwelcome to use any material from them. All that we ask is that the source isacknowledged and a copy of the material sent to us after publication. We use materialthat has been placed in the public domain. We try to acknowledge all the copyrightholders but sometimes this is not possible. If you claim credit for something thathas appeared in this publication then we will be happy to know about it so that wecan make the appropriate acknowledgements.
SOURCE MATERIAL USED FOR THIS PUBLICATION
IRISH NEWS
Numerous issues for
period covered
NEWS LETTER
Numerous issues for
period covered
BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Numerous issues for
period covered
LOST LIVES
A record of all those killed
during The Troubles
www.wikipedia.orgWe use this site to cover
major events during the
Northern Ireland conflict.
We recommend its use not
only for local material but
also for any general
educational or research
subject.
33333
Tuesday 1st March 1977The brother of a loyalist
politician was shot and
wounded in Portadown.
The brothers looked
very similar and it was
believed that it was a
case of mistaken
identity. The man was
hit on the chest and face
when he was ambushed
while walking to work.
A man armed with a
handgun fired several
times at the brother of
the loyalist who was on
his way to work in the
accounts department of
a hardware and timber
firm.
Five buses were
destroyed during an
attack on the depot in
Ballymena. At the same
time the centre of the
town was sealed off
after a number of hoax
bomb alerts in a number
of shops.
The two men who were
blown up by their own
bomb on Corporation
Street were named as
Joseph Lavery aged 35,
married with three
children from Kilwarlin
Crescent and James
Cordner aged 20 from
East Bread Street.
According to the UVF
the men were on active
service at the time.
The spot where Mr Walker Whitten
was shot in Portadown
Wednesday 2nd March 1977Mr Donald Robinson,
who ran the Apex
Ceiling Company in
Lawrence Street in the
Botanic area, was shot
dead in his office.
Three gunmen were
involved in the shooting
and Mr Robinson was
shot three times in the
dead and died at the
scene. The gunmen
made their getaway
before the police
arrived.
A firebomb attack on a
Newry Hotel was
claimed by the south
Down IRA. Two
cassette type
incendiaries exploded
in the Ardmore Hotel
and a third device was
Mr Robinson’s body is carried away
from his Lawrence Street office
(Right)
later found in the gents
toilet and was defused.
Little damage was
caused. The hotel had
been cleared after a
warning to the nearby
Daisy Hill Hospital.
44444
Thursday 3rd March 1977Shots were fired over
the coffin and scuffles
broke out between
mourners and the RUC
at the funeral of one of
the two UVF men killed
by their own bomb.
Hundreds of mourners,
mostly young men,
attended the funeral.
A bomb, which
exploded inside an
Ardoyne bookmakers
shop, caused extensive
damage and a woman
was treated for shock.
The bookmakers shop
at the junction of
Crumlin Road and
Brompton Park in
Belfast was hit by
explosion caused by a
20lb bomb.
Children playing in an
entry at Bright Street on
the Albertbridge Road
in Belfast found a box
containing a small
quantity of ammunition.
A single low velocity
shot was fired at an
army patrol at
Stewartstown Road,
and a blast bomb
discovered by the army
on waste ground in
Lenadoon was blown
up by the army.
In Omagh fire crews
watched as Smiths
furniture warehouse at
Dromore Road was
destroyed by a blaze,
which lasted for about
an hour, following a
warning that there was
a bomb in the building.
Friday 4th March 1977A 5lb bomb attached to
a can of petrol exploded
without warning in the
hallway of the home of
a leading Belfast
jeweller and chairman
of Linfield Football
Club. The house at
Harberton Drive in the
Malone area had some
structural damage and a
small fire caused some
scorching before it was
put out. There was no
one in the house at the
time.
A telephone caller to the
Samaritans warned that
a bomb had been
planted at a house in
Derryvolgie Avenue in
the Malone area of
Belfast. The owner, a
company director, was
evacuated along with
his family. Only part of
the 5lb bomb exploded
and the rest was later
neutralised by the army.
No damage was caused.
Two elderly men were
treated for shock after a
no warning bomb attack
on the Tyrone home of
a former DUP
Convention member.
The man was not at
home at the time. The
blast broke windows in
the house.
Police were involved in
a car chase in Newry
when they noticed two
suspicious vehicles in
St Mary’s Street and
gave chase. The police
stopped one of the
vehicles and a firearm
was recovered. Four
people were detained.
Mr Rory O'Kelly was
shot dead as he sat in a
bar drinking with
friends in Coalisland.
Mr O'Kelly was a
Crown Prosecutor in
County Down and in
claiming the attack the
IRA said the shooting
was "part of our
continuing attacks
against British
imperialism's judiciary
and administration."
55555
Saturday 5th March 1977A 20-year-old woman
of Lavinia Street in
Belfast was charged
with causing an
explosion in the city.
Two men were charged
with the killing of an
RUC Inspector in
Lurgan. They were
accused of shooting
dead Inspector Harry
Cobb at security gates
in Lurgan.
A 33-year-old man was
shot in the arm in
Belfast. He was found
in the West Circular
Road and taken to
hospital.
Two youths planted a
6lb bomb at a petrol
station on the Antrim
Road in Belfast. The
area was cleared and the
bomb partially
exploded causing little
damage.
A small bomb exploded
at the rear of Kelly’s
supermarket in Spencer
Road, Derry. The area
had been cleared after a
telephone warning to
the RUC and little
damage was caused.
The army found a rifle
and ammunition hidden
near the baths in
William Street, Derry.
Two half brothers from
Rathcoole were jailed
for having a
concentrated arms
dump for the UVF.
They had stored rifles,
shotguns, explosives
and ammunition and
were also charged with
possessing a home
made sub machine gun,
over 1000 rounds of
ammunition and nail
bombs.
Monday 7th March 1977Two men were
seriously injured when
they were shot on a
building site in the
Twinbrook Estate. One
of the men was hit in the
chest and the other in
the shoulder, chest and
back. The men, one
aged 24 and the other
aged 60 were sitting in
a hut at a building site
at Areemta Drive when
they were attacked. A
youth and a girl entered
the hut and opened fire,
hitting the men. Two
other men in the hut
were ordered outside
before the shooting.
A booby trap device
was planted under the
car of a RUC man
outside the Ahoghill
home of friends he was
visiting. The RUC man
spotted it and alerted the
army. The bomb, which
contained 2lb of
explosives, was
destroyed in a
controlled explosion.
In Co Fermanagh, a
passenger in a car being
chased by a police
patrol opened fire. He
fired a number of shots
through the rear
window of a car in
which he was travelling
and two bullets struck
the police vehicle.
Police returned fire, but
the car was driven
across the border.
A number of shots were
fired at the RUC
operating a checkpoint
on the Antrim Road,
near Carlisle Circus.
The shots were fired as
police were talking to
people in a car stopped
at the checkpoint. No
one was hit and the
police fired 4 shots back
at the gunmen.
The RUC noticed three
men trying to hijack a
car at Straw near
Draperstown. The men
were asked to stop and
when they ran off the
police opened fire.
Later a .22 rifle was
found at the scene.
Tuesday 8th March 1977A policeman came
under fire as he
diverted traffic away
from a Crumlin Road
garage where a
suspect device had
been planted. The
policeman was
wounded in the arm
and hand, the shots
were fired from the
Flax Street direction.
A gunman shooting
from a motorcycle
fired one shot from the
pillion seat at a
motorist who was
driving along
Balmoral Avenue.
The shot missed and
the gunman escaped
towards the Malone
Road.
The RUC uncovered an
arms and explosives
cache in Portadown.
They found a quantity
of bomb making
materials including fuse
and detonators, a
revolver and a number
of bullets in a house in
Obins Street. An
elderly man was
detained.
Mr Myles Scullion,
aged 47, from
Craigavon, was shot
dead when he went to
answer the door at his
home in Enniskillen.
Two youths were
involved in the shooting
and a number of shots
were fired in the
66666
incident. Mr Scullion
was married with five
children and was a
processor at the
Exquisite Fabrics plant
at Seagoe.
Three soldiers and a 20-
year-old civilian were
injured when a van
bomb exploded without
warning outside a
Belfast Volkswagen
showroom. One of the
soldiers had a broken
leg and the other three
men were treated for
cuts. Cars and property
were damaged in the
blast.
Wednesday 9th March 1977A UDR man was shot
dead when he went to
check cattle that he
owned on a remote farm
near the Monaghan
border. The man was a
full time member of the
regiment and was from
the Caledon area of
Tyrone. He had driven
to the area in his van
and was found dead in
a pool of blood near his
vehicle. Two gunmen
were involved in the
incident and a number
of shots were fired at the
man who was named as
53-year-old Mr John
Reid, a bachelor from
Main Street, Caledon.
A taxi driver foiled an
attempt to hijack his
vehicle in Belfast. The
driver had gone to
collect a fare at
Castlereagh Street
where a man asked him
to drive to the Ravenhill
Road. The driver was
struck on the back of the
head with a pistol and
ordered out of the taxi.
The taxi driver
struggled with the
gunman and later a man
was arrested in
connection with the
incident.
The teenage daughter of
a part time police
reservist narrowly
escaped injury when
gunfire raked her
Tyrone home. The 15-
year-old girl had just
gone into the bathroom
of her house at
D r o m o r e ,
Stewartstown, and
turned on the light when
two gunmen opened
fire. The bullets
smashed through the
window and the girl
was cut about the face
by flying glass. Her
father fired at the
gunmen with his
revolver and a shotgun
but the men escaped
across fields to a
waiting car.
A 20-year-old man was
shot as he left his work
in the Limestone Road
area of north Belfast.
Two waiting gunmen
opened fire on the man
and he was hit on the
neck and stomach.
Two children playing in
the Antrim Road area
near Bellevue reported
seeing a man burying a
polythene wrapped
container. When the
RUC searched the area
they found a box
containing two hand
grenades and gun
cleaning material. The
hand grenades were
made safe by the army.
A number of nail bombs
were discovered in a
city scrap yard after a
worker reported finding
suspicious objects. The
devices were made
harmless.
Thursday 10th March 1977E i g h t e e n - y e a r - o l d
Norman Sharkey from
the Belvoir area was
shot dead when he tried
to warn colleagues of a
bomb attack. The youth
shouted bomb when
two men burst into a car
accessory shop near the
city centre. One of the
men opened fire from
point blank range and
Mr Sharkey died at the
scene. They then
planted a bomb in the
shop at the York Street,
Great Patrick Street
junction. The blast
started a fierce fire,
which destroyed the
premises and threatened
to engulf adjoining
buildings.
Two small explosions in
the docks area of
Belfast started a fire in
a shed at Sinclair
Wharf, where raw leaf
tobacco and feeding
stuffs were stored. No
one was hurt, but stock
was damaged.
A 24-year-old man was
shot in both legs in the
Creggan estate, Derry
as he was held against
railing outside St
Mary’s Church.
A single shot was fired
at a police patrol
checking a car parked at
Annadale Street on the
Antrim Road in Belfast.
None of the policemen
were hurt and a hostile
crowd stoned the patrol
for a short time.
A routine army patrol
discovered a small
quantity of explosives
near the border. The
army found a plastic
bag containing 2lb of
explosives close to the
Sion Mills, Clady Road.
They were blown up by
the army.
77777
Bomb attack on Paddy Hopkirk’s at the junction of York Street and Great Patrick
Street during which eighteen year old Norman Sharkey was shot dead
Saturday 12th March 1977The 24-year-old wife of
a prison warder was
shot in the neck at her
Glengormley home and
at the same time bombs
exploded under two
prison warders’ cars in
Belfast. A device also
went off on the
windowsill of an ex
prison warders home. It
was thought the UVF
were responsible due to
the long sentences
handed out to 26 UVF
men in a Belfast court.
Two youths planted a
bomb, which damaged
the Capital Cars
showroom on the
Antrim Road in Belfast.
They planted a parcel
and a tin beside a car
and the 2lb bomb went
off 7 minutes later. The
ceiling collapsed in the
garage and there was
some glass damage but
no one was hurt.
Firebombs exploded in
three Derry shops and
incendiaries were found
in two boutiques. Fires
damaged stock at
Woolworth’s in
88888
Ferryquay Street,
Austin’s Store in the
Diamond and the
Thatch boutique in
Shipquay Street. Staff
found a cassette type
incendiary at the
Playgirl boutique on the
Strand Road and two
were found near a stock
of sugar at Kelly’s
supermarket on the
Waterside. The army
dealt with three devices,
which did not explode.
Ann Street in Belfast city centre is evacuated following
four IRA bomb blasts
Monday 14th March 1977
Clearing up after bomb attacks on
shops in Castle Lane
Constable William
David Brown, aged 18
of Strabane was shot
dead in an IRA ambush
near Lisnaskea. He was
driving a police car on
the Ballaghs Cross
when a number of
gunmen opened fire
with high velocity
weapons. One bullet hit
Constable Brown in the
back and his car
careered out of control
and overturned. A
reserve policeman in
the car was wounded.
Fire was returned but no
hits were claimed.
Bombs exploded in four
shops in Belfast. No
one was injured in the
no warning attacks in
the Ann Street and
Castle Lane areas. The
targets included BHS,
Curtess’s shoe shop, La
Babalu boutique and a
tobacconist. The
explosion fractured
water mains in the street
causing flooding.
Extensive structural
damage was caused to
premises and windows
were blown in and the
streets were carpeted in
glass.
Two youths, one
carrying a gun, planted
two bombs in the hall of
the Sterling Hotel on the
Antrim Road, Belfast.
They shouted a 15-
minute warning and
then ran to a waiting car.
They fired shots at the
police as they
abandoned their car in
Oceanic Avenue, a short
distance away. Fire
swept through the front
of the building and
engulfed the roof.
An ex member of the
UDR was injured in a
gun attack at his home
in Dungannon. The
man had just parked his
car and was walking
towards the front door
of his house at
Ballygawley Road
when he was fired on.
20 shots were fired at
him, one hit him on the
hand and another
grazed his head.
A bomb thrown into the
car of a policeman at
Florence Place in the
Crumlin Road area only
partially exploded.
There was no one in the
vehicle at the time.
A petrol bomb planted
at the side of an RUC
mans home near
Portadown, spotted by
a passing motorist was
kicked into the street.
The device, a can of
petrol with firelighters
on top, exploded
harmlessly.
Small bombs were
thrown at two houses in
99999
Braehill Park, Crumlin
Road, Belfast. One
blew glass in the front
door but the other
exploded harmlessly.
No one was injured.
A petrol bomb thrown
at a house in Highfern
Gardens hit a gate and
exploded. No one was
hurt.
Several shots were fired
through the living room
window of a house in
the Donegall Road area.
No one was injured.
A small bomb was
defused by the army in
Strabanes Railway
Street. The device, in a
plastic bag, had been
planted outside a
hardware merchants
and the detonator had
William David Brown
exploded when the
device was spotted.
An explosion wrecked a
Foyle Fisheries
Commission building at
the Gribbon, near
Bready. Two shots were
fired at a house near the
building in which an
elderly couple lived.
A single low velocity
shot was fired at an
army mobile patrol at
the Buncrana Road. No
one was hurt and no fire
was returned.
The army carried out a
search of a scrap yard in
Obins Street in
Portadown and
discovered a .303 rifle,
one round of .303
ammunition and nine
shotgun cartridges.
Tuesday 15th March 1977A part time UDR man
was killed when he was
shot at point blank
range, he died instantly.
The man was named as
Mr David McQuillan,
from Mullaghboy
Crescent, Bellaghy. He
was married with
children and his family
witnessed the killing.
Four gunmen shot at Mr
McQuillan and a friend
as they waited for a van
to take them to work at
a construction
company. His
workmate was also
injured in the attack.
A part time UDR man
was shot and injured as
he arrived at his work at
a concrete factory at
Gortgenis, Coalisland.
The gunmen opened
fire on the man with a
pistol and a sawn off
shotgun.
A policeman on duty
outside the courthouse
in Magherafelt was
fired on by gunmen in a
passing car.
The IRA threatened to
attack part of the Royal
Victoria Hospital in
Belfast after it alleged
that the hospital was
being used by the army
for counter insurgency
and surveillance
operations.
Mr James Nicholson
was shot dead after
leaving Strathearn
Audio in Belfast. He
Car bomb which was left outside the
Belfast Prison on the Crumlin Road
1010101010
was married with two
children and was
travelling back to
Aldergrove airport
when he was shot. Mr
Nicholson, aged 50,
was from Capegrove,
Harrogate, Yorkshire,
and was on business in
Belfast. A number of
shots were fired at his
chauffeur driven car
while it waited in traffic
at Stockman’s Lane.
Mr Nicholson was
killed instantly and his
driver who was from
Belfast was seriously
injured. The gunmen
escaped in a hijacked
car, which was later,
found abandoned
nearby. A former
journalist, Mr
Nicholson was a partner
in a London public
relations consultancy
firm and had done work
for Strathearn Audio for
many years.
Seven bombs exploded
in Belfast city centre but
no one was injured.
One of the explosions
was outside the Crumlin
Road prison and
courthouse. A proxy
bomb in a Belfast
Telegraph van blasted
the prison gate and blew
in the windows in the
courthouse opposite. A
gunman in Berlin Street
in the Shankill area
hijacked the van.
Another explosion was
in a derelict building at
Alfred Street. A
telephone caller warned
the Samaritans that a
bomb was planted in the
area but nothing was
found in a search. The
building was
demolished in the blast.
The army returned fire
after a shot was fired at
Rosemount RUC
station in Derry. No one
was hurt.
Wednesday 16th March 1977A gunman armed
with a high-
powered rifle fired
two shots at a
Royal Navy vessel
as it left
Carlingford Lough.
The army stated
that a member of
the crew of HMS
Vigilant spotted the
gunman hiding
near a church at
Omeath. Fire was
returned but no one
was injured in the
exchange.
A Belfast man was
charged with the
possession of
explosives at his
home in Oldpark
Avenue in Belfast.
Two part time UDR
men were fired on
in Obins Street,
Portadown, as they
returned from
work. Four shots
were fired at their
car but missed the
target.
Thursday 17th March 1977A businessman and his
daughter narrowly
escaped injury in a
booby trap blast at their
home in Derry. The
shop owner was driving
his daughter to school
when he triggered a
bomb planted in the
driveway of their home
at Tirkeeran. The
device was partially
detonated when he
drove over a piece of
catgut stretched across
the driveway.
The army defused a 7lb
device after a UDR man
checked under his car
before leaving for work.
The army defused the
device at Magheralane
Road, Derry.
The army found a box
containing 50
detonators in a derelict
building outside
Omagh.
Mr Alexander Watters
was found shot dead
near Banty Bridge, Co
1111111111
Derry. Mr Watters, a
bachelor left his home
at Main Street,
Tobermore to cycle to
Draperstown. Two
hours later he was found
shot several times in the
stomach.
Three gunmen forced
Department of
Agriculture workers
into Mullan customs
post near Derrylin and
assaulted them. The
gunmen were looking
for army or RUC
personnel. After the
assault five men were
challenged by the RUC
and one man fired a
number of shots at the
police before
disappearing across the
border towards
Kinawley.
Friday 18th March 1977Mr Daniel Carville,
aged 32, was shot dead
as he shielded his son
from the gunman’s
bullets. Mr Carville and
his son were travelling
by car from their home
in the Ardoyne area of
Belfast to collect an
aunt from the
Springfield Road. The
gunmen fired into the
car and Mr Carville lay
across his son
protecting him from the
attack. Mr Carville, a
father of 5 died at the
scene after being shot
four times in the head
and back.
The headquarters of
Radio Rentals, a TV
rental firm, was
extensively damaged in
a double blast attack.
The fire, which
followed, destroyed the
premises at Northbrook
Street on the Lisburn
Road in Belfast. Staff
in the building fled to
safety minutes before
the first bomb exploded,
and no one was injured.
A large amount of stock
was destroyed in the
bomb attack.
Three lumps of concrete
were thrown through
the window of a peace
woman’s home in the
Turf Lodge area of
Belfast.
Four shots were fired at
a 20 year old man
walking in the
Rathcoole Estate. The
shots fired by the
occupant of a black taxi
all missed.
A small bomb was
planted on the doorstep
of a house in Cranmore
Park in the Malone area
of Belfast. The army
defused it. The bomb
consisted of 1lb of
explosives attached to a
can of petrol. The petrol
ignited but caused little
damage.
A woman suffering from shock is
helped away following bomb attacks
in Belfast city centre
Saturday 19th March 1977Citybus services in west
Belfast were disrupted
when two buses were
hijacked and burned at
Celtic Park. The drivers
of the buses were
ordered out and a gang
of youths set fire to both
vehicles.
Shots were fired at the
army in the Whiterock
Road area of Belfast.
Three high velocity
shots were fired and fire
was returned.
Two petrol bombs
exploded in Norglen
Parade in Belfast.
There was no damage.
The Newry Drama
festival was interrupted
by a bomb hoax.
A 10 lb bomb found
under a UDR mans car
at Pinewood Avenue in
Newry was defused by
the army.
A prison officer and his
daughter were injured
in a no warning bomb
attack on their home at
Brucevale Park, off
Duncairn Avenue.
1212121212
Monday 21st March 1977In Belfast 120 workers
had to run from a shirt
factory after three
armed men planted a
bomb. The device was
planted in Elwood’s
shirt factory in
Exchange Street. The
gunmen pushed past
security officers and
while one held a gun on
staff the other two
planted the bomb at the
rear of the building. A
few minutes after the
bombers fled the bomb
exploded causing blast
damage at the back of
the building and starting
a small fire. There were
no casualties.
A booby trap bomb
went off in the grounds
of the Royal Victoria
hospital in Belfast.
Police officers were
walking across a path
near the sports complex
in the grounds of the
hospital when the bomb
went off in a waste bin,
blowing on of the
officers to the ground.
All three RUC men
suffered from shock but
were uninjured. The
explosion damaged part
of the sports complex.
A young UDR man was
fired on when he
returned home near
Magherafelt. A number
of shots struck his house
but the 26-year-old part
time soldier was only
grazed on the knee.
A gang of 30 youths
attacked an army foot
patrol and three petrol
bombs were thrown.
The soldiers fired three
rubber bullets to cover
their withdrawal and a
young boy was hit on
the head by a rubber
bullet. Following the
incident local youths
took material from a
building site to build a
barricade at the junction
of Norglen Parade and
Monagh Road. A car
was set on fire at the
barrier and a bus, which
was taken from the Falls
Road depot was burned
out nearby.
A youth was admitted to
hospital with gunshot
wounds to the knee after
an incident in the
Andersonstown area of
Belfast.
The windows of a house
in Forth River Close
were blasted with a
shotgun but no one was
hurt.
The RUC found 80
bullets on waste ground
at Whitla Street.
An incendiary bomb
was thrown into the
photographer’s studio
on the Antrim Road in
Belfast and caused
slight damage to a
carpet.
A 22 year old man from
Harcourt Drive in
Belfast was charged
with possessing an
armalite rifle, a bolt
action rifle, a double
barrelled shotgun, 185
rounds of ammunition,
11 magazine clips and
two magazines with
intent.
Tuesday 22nd March 1977A young girl suffered
leg injures after a
booby trap explosion
in her brothers
hijacked car. The car
had been recovered
and checked by the
army and girl was
kneeling on the seat of
the Ford Escort when
the bomb was
triggered. The RUC
stated that they were
investigating whether
the device had been
left after the army had
made their
examination of the
vehicle.
Incendiary devices
started a fire in the
Smarti Pants boutique
in High Street Omagh.
A mother and her two
young children were
trapped in the building
as the fire swept
through the boutique.
A 22-year-old man
was taken to hospital
in Belfast suffering
from gunshot wounds
in both legs. The man
was found in
Battenburg Street in
the Shankill area.
Eight shots were fired
at the home of a
reserve policeman
near Portglenone. One
shot went through the
living room window
but no one was hurt.
Four members of the
security forces
manning a checkpoint
at Kildare Street,
Newry, came under
fire but no one was
injured.
A 30lb bomb exploded
without warning at a
checkpoint on Strand
Road, Derry. No one
was injured.
A 39-year-old Belfast
housewife was
charged with
possessing explosive
substances, mainly
five incendiary
devices in Belfast.
1313131313
Wednesday 23nd March 1977Five men were charged
with illegal possession
of arms and explosives
and with trying to
murder members of the
RUC after a boat chase
on Carlingford Lough.
A booby trap blast at the
Co Antrim home of a
part time RUC man
injured a friend of his.
The 22-year-old friend
triggered off the booby
trap in a barn. He
received leg injuries in
the blast but was not
seriously hurt.
A policeman was
ambushed as he was
going off duty at
Springfield Road RUC
station. A number of
shots were fired as he
drove past the Cupar
Street junction. None
of the bullets hit the
policeman but he was
cut by flying glass.
City centre traffic was
disrupted for four hours
while the army defused
a proxy bomb behind
the City Hall. Two
gunmen had hijacked a
van carrying a load of
gas cylinders on the
Falls Road. They
ordered the driver to go
to Lower Clonard Street
and there a bomb was
loaded on board and the
driver was directed to
drive to the City Hall.
The army defused a 5lb
bomb in a hijacked van
parked on the approach
road to the M1 at
Kennedy Way, Belfast.
Thursday 24th March 1977A bomb on a hijacked
fuel tanker exploded
outside Donegall Pass
RUC station. The
tanker was hijacked in
the Upper Springfield
Road area with 1000
gallons of oil aboard.
The driver was forced to
drive it to the police
station. The area was
evacuated before the
blast, which caused a
fierce fire.
Eight people were
injured when a bomb
exploded at the
Northern Ireland
Polytechnic as the Lord
Chief Justice was
giving at lecture. The
building was
extensively damaged
when the bomb, which
was concealed in a
cupboard in the lecture
theatre, exploded
without warning. The
lecture theatre was
packed at the time of the
explosion.
A loyalist politician was
injured in an attempt on
his life. He was
wounded in the arm by
a gunman at Maghera
post office who fired
two shots at the
politician.
A number of children
playing in the
Grosvenor Road area of
Belfast escaped injury
when shots were fired
towards them. Two
gunmen fired four
bullets across a car park
towards the children in
Distillery Way. An
army patrol in the area
fired one shot back but
no hits were claimed.
The army in Derry
uncovered a
considerable amount of
ammunition hidden in
the grounds of a
Mormon Church in the
Shantallow area of the
city. A routine patrol
also found 600 rounds
of ammunition under a
manhole cover in the
grounds of a church at
Racecourse Road.
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1414141414
Friday 25th March 1977One man was killed and
five others injured when
a booby trap bomb
exploded in their
minibus as they set out
for work at Greenisland.
The explosion
happened as the men,
employed by Abbey
Meat Packers in
Whiteabbey, set off in
their van from the front
of the house where they
were staying at Shore
Road, Greenisland. A
length of fishing line
tied to a crankshaft had
detonated the device.
Mr Larry Potter from
Cherry Park in Clones
was the man who was
killed. He was married
with two children. The
bomb-contained 3lb of
explosives and damage
was confined to the van.
The house was not
damaged at all.
A St Christopher
medallion saved the life
of a 13-year-old girl
who was shot on her
doorstep. The
medallion was hanging
around her neck and
took the force of a bullet
and deflected it into her
shoulder. The girl had
been babysitting for
neighbours when the
gunmen knocked at the
door in Upper Meadow
Street in the New Lodge
area. They fired 10
bullets through the
door, hitting her three
times. The gunmen’s
vehicle had been
hijacked at Coningsby
Street in the Oldpark
area.
An incendiary device
exploded at Patterson’s
shop in High Street
Lurgan, starting a fire,
which destroyed the
building.
In Derry the army
neutralised a grenade
that had been spotted by
a passer by at the rear
of a derelict house in
Bishop Street.
Saturday 26th March 1977A police patrol fired at
four gunmen in north
Belfast. The gunmen
fired four shots at
Copperfield Street. A
passing RUC patrol
returned fire and
claimed a hit as the
gunmen escaped
towards the New
Lodge.
In Derry soldiers found
bomb making
equipment, two clocks
attacked to batteries , in
the back garden of a
house in Cromore
Gardens, Creggan.
Monday 28th March 1977The 63-year-old mother
of a reserve RUC man
was shot dead. Mrs
Hester McMullan was
shot twice and died at
the scene. The gunmen
opened up with
armalites and machine
guns, raking the small
cottage where she lived.
Mrs McMullan was in
bed at the time, her
daughter who was in the
house escaped injury.
Her son, who was not
connected to the RUC,
was fired on 17 times as
he made his escape in a
lorry.
Bombers left a petrol
tanker with a suspect
bomb in Dunmurry.
The tanker was hijacked
and left near a petrol
station. The area was
evacuated and the army
dealt with the device.
A shot was fired from a
Shankill Road bar at
two newspaper delivery
boys. The police
searched the premises
of the Salisbury Bar and
found seven guns.
Ten shots were fired
near Carnagh at an army
patrol but no hits were
claimed. The same day
a 12-man army patrol
came under heavy
attack after landing a
helicopter at Culloville
in south Armagh. The
soldiers fired more than
300 bullets in return but
no one was injured. A
12-man patrol was also
fired on near Forkhill,
100 shots were fired.
A motorist and his
girlfriend were driving
1515151515
along a road near
Carrickmore when a
bomb went off at the
roadside a short
distance in front of
them. The couple got
out to see what had
happened and were
fired on but escaped
injury. The land mine,
with wires leading away
form it, contained about
25lb of explosives.
Two police land rovers
were fired on near the
Donegall Road end of
the M1 but there were
no injuries. Later a two-
man foot patrol was
fired on from a speeding
car in the same area.
A number of shots were
fired into the Windsor
Bar at Downing Street
off the Shankill Road
but no one was injured.
Incendiary bombs
hidden in armchairs in
the Wellington Park
Hotel burned
themselves out and
caused only slight
damage.
In Fermanagh the army
cleared a bomb that had
been packed into a milk
churn and left in a field
near Rosslea. The
bomb was not primed.
In Derry a gunman fired
a single shot at Creggan
army camp but there
were no casualties. No
fire was returned.
Five shots were fired
through the front door
of the home of a 77 year
old man in Cliftondene
Gardens in the Oldpark
area of Belfast.
Tuesday 29th March 1977Two soldiers escaped
with only minor injuries
when a rocket hit their
armoured vehicle as it
drove along the
Springfield Road in
Belfast. The rocket
attack was at the
junction of the
Whiterock and
Springfield Roads and
was fired from waste
ground. High velocity
shots were also fired at
the vehicle that was
driven away at speed.
In Omagh the mother of
a policeman escaped
injury when she spotted
a booby trap attached to
the back door of her
home. The woman
partly opened the back
door but noticed
something suspicious
outside. The army were
called and defused the
3lb device, which was
attached to the door
handle with fishing line.
The army defused a
booby trap device left at
the end of a lane near
Cookstown of a part
time UDR man. The
landmine contained
80lb of explosives and
was designed to go off
when a length of fishing
line was pulled.
A man from the New
Lodge area of Belfast as
shot in an incident on
Duncairn Gardens.
The army defused a
bomb in a van at
Diamond Gardens,
Finaghy.
Wednesday 30th March 1977At John Neills flourmill
in College Place North
the army dealt with four
incendiary devices.
They had been planted
by six men who shouted
a three-minute warning
to the staff. Controlled
explosions made the
devices safe and the
building was not
damaged.
The M1 motorway was
closed for a time
between Stockman’s
Lane and Lisburn after
a suspect device was
found under a bridge at
Finaghy Road North. It
turned out to be a hoax.
Firebomb attack at McCue Dick’s
Timber Yard in Duncrue Street
Gillespie and Wilsons’ store which
was destroyed in an IRA attack
1616161616
Thursday 31st March 1977A bus driver drove into
Derry with three bombs
under his seat. His
vehicle was hijacked in
the Creggan and he was
forced to take the bus
and 6 passengers to
Strand Road. Two of
the bombs on the bus
exploded in premises in
the Strand Road but no
one was injured. Minor
damage was caused and
the other devices were
defused.
A bomb left in
Warwick’s paint and
paper store in Derry was
carried outside onto the
footpath where it
exploded. A
considerable amount of
damage was caused. A
second bomb exploded
at Ballintines timber
yard at McFarland
Quay. Another 3lb
bomb, with a petrol can
attached, was defused.
Minor damage was
caused to the British
customs post at
Molenan. Nobody was
hurt.
Two shots were fired at
a man at the corner of
Adam Street and
Canning Street. A car
pulled up beside the
man and two shots were
fired from inside it. The
man dived to the ground
and a third shot was
fired at him but he
managed to escape.
The gunman’s car was
later found in the New
Lodge area.
A gunman operating
from Casement Park
GAA ground fired a
high velocity shot at a
passing police Land
Rover. It smashed a
roof spotlight but no
one was hurt. Fire was
not returned.
1717171717
Friday 1st April 1977Soldiers ordered a man
to drive his car, which
contained a proxy
bomb, away from
Palace Barracks,
Holywood. The man
told soldiers at the
barracks checkpoint
that he had been ordered
to take the bomb into
the complex. His car
had been hijacked on
the Twinbrook Estate
and he was told his
family were being held
at gunpoint. After the
30 minute drive through
Belfast the man arrived
at the barracks. A
soldier there ordered
him to take it to a patch
of waste ground 40
yards away. The bomb
exploded minutes later,
smashing windows in
nearby soldiers married
quarters, but no one was
injured. The explosion
hurled parts of the
vehicle over both lanes
of the dual carriageway.
A youth was seen
dropping a parcel in the
Cromore Gardens area
of Derry. The parcel
was found to contain
two firebombs.
A booby trap bomb,
which injured a soldier
in Whiterock Rock, was
detonated from a nearby
house. The bomb
contained 2lb of
explosives and was
packed with scrap iron.
The injured soldier was
on foot patrol when the
device exploded and
was seriously injured.
Two youths planted a
bomb, which badly
damaged the Spar
supermarket on the
Albertbridge Road. The
device exploded five
minutes after the youths
ran off and no one was
injured.
Three shots were fired
at Forkhill police
station but no one was
injured. The army
returned fire but
claimed no hits.
Saturday 2nd April 1977A 33 year old man from
Dermott Hill Road was
charged with possessing
a pistol, a rifle and 114
rounds of ammunition
with intent.
Six people were injured
in Belfast when a heavy
metal pipe was thrown
at a Ford Transit van.
The pipe was thrown
from waste ground near
the Boundary Bar at the
transit van which was
mistaken for a RUC
vehicle. Five of the six
injured were cut by
flying glass and one, a
13 year old girl, was
detained in hospital,
A bomb left in a
shipyard workers car
exploded in the
Hamilton Road car park
in the Harbour Estate,
as the army were about
to deal with it. The
owner of the car had
opened the driver’s
door and spotted a
suspicious looking
parcel on the floor and
alerted the army. No
one was injured.
In Armagh an
incendiary device was
found in a settee about
to be delivered from a
shop to a customer. It
was later defused
outside Lennox’s store
in Market Street.
Army patrols were fired
on twice in the Lecky
Road area of the
Bogside and a high
velocity shot was fired
at Andersonstown
police station in Belfast.
Firebomb attack on the Radio
Rentals depot at Northbrook Street
1818181818
Monday 4th April 1977Forty people were taken
to hospital after two
bombs exploded
without warning in two
cafes in Belfast. A baby
was among those
injured in the
explosions at the cafes
in Rosemary Street.
Each bomb contained
2lb of explosives and
were placed inside the
Rosemary Restaurant
(Below) and Isobel
Ervine's café. A
warning telephone call
was made just as the
first bomb exploded in
the Rosemary
Restaurant and it was
followed a minute later
by the blast at Isobel
Ervine’s a short
distance away. There
was widespread blast
damage to surrounding
offices and shops.
Mr Hugh William
Clarke from Armagh
Street in
Newtownhamilton was
shot dead near
Mullaghbawn. The 31
year old was digging
drains in a farm when
three masked men
carrying rifles ordered
him into their car. They
drove him to near
Forkhill and then shot
him three times in the
head. Two loyalist
politicians denied that
the father of three was
a member of the Ulster
Service Corps. The
claim was made by the
South Armagh
Republican Action
Force who stated that
their members killed Mr
Clarke. Mr Clarke was
a Protestant, married
and had 3 children, and
at the time the IRA
claimed that he was
involved in the killing
of an IRA man, the
claim was strenuously
denied by his widow.
More than 20 bullets
were fired at a police
patrol in the New Lodge
Road area. Four shots
hit the rear of the police
vehicle but none of the
occupants were injured.
The patrol was fired on
as it went to investigate
a petrol bombing in
Duncairn Gardens. The
bomb landed on the
footpath, causing no
damage or injury. The
shots were fired from
the junction of
Edlingham Street and
Upper Meadow Street.
In a follow up search 17
spent armalite cases
were found and several
people were detained
for questioning.
A 21 year old man was
shot as he tried to
escape from police
custody during an arms
find at Kilkeel. Two
rifles and a quantity of
ammunition were found
during the search at the
Grange, Kilkeel. When
the man ran off five
shots were fired and the
man was hit in the leg.
The man was one of two
men arrested earlier in
April after an arms find
near Kilkeel RUC
station when two rifles,
two loaded magazines,
200 rounds of
ammunition and a rifle
sight were found.
1919191919
A bomb extensively
damaged a house in
Comber Street, off the
Newtownards Road,
after it had been left in
the street by three
youths in a hijacked car.
30 other houses in the
street sustained
damage. The car used
by the bombers was
hijacked earlier at the
Bridge End and was
found abandoned at
Martin Street.
Police who searched the
Carnmoney social club
at Glebe Road found
more than 70 rounds of
assorted ammunition
including shotgun
cartridges.
In the Antrim Road area
the RUC found 56
rounds of ammunition
and a bag containing
shotgun cartridges on
waste ground at
Chichester Park.
Police searching a
house at Euston Street,
off the Woodstock
Road, found a pistol and
several rounds of
ammunition in a
backyard.
A youth was found at
Gracehill Street in the
Oldpark area with
gunshot wounds to the
right knee.
An 18 year old man was
shot in west Belfast. He
was walking along the
Glen Road when he was
stopped by two men in
a van who took him to
Shaw’s Road and shot
him in the right thigh.
Tuesday 5th April 1977Two gunmen entered
the household goods
wholesalers, Tohani and
Sons in King Street and
after rifling the till
planted a bomb near a
telephone and warned
staff it would explode in
5 minutes. The bomb
exploded shortly
afterwards starting a fire
that caused serious
damage.
A soldier died in
hospital after being
injured in a landmine
explosion in
Fermanagh. The soldier
was named as Trooper
Sean Prendergast, a 22
year old single man
from Corby in England.
He served with the 9/12
Lancers. He was
injured when a
landmine exploded
under the armoured car
in which he was
travelling at Manger
near Belleek. Another
soldier in the Ferret
scout car was not
seriously hurt. A
second armoured car in
the patrol was not
damaged.
An explosion, followed
by fire, caused
extensive damage to a
garage near Strabane.
Two men, one armed,
held up staff at
McMullan’s garage at
Rabstown and planted a
container under a car in
the forecourt. The
bomb exploded 30
minutes later, starting a
fierce fire. No one was
hurt.
A 17 year old youth was
shot in the left knee at
an entry near Mayfair
Street in the Oldpark
area.
A petrol bomb was
thrown into the garden
of a house in
Blackmountain Grove.
No damage was caused
and no one was hurt.
A hoax bomb was
planted at a garage near
Dungannon. The army
who went to the scene
after an anonymous
warning found a
package filled with
earth.
A Fermanagh UDR
patrol discovered
1300lb of explosives at
M u l n a b u r t l i n ,
Lisnaskea. It was in 32
plastic bags hidden in a
drain behind a ditch
covered with heather.
Wednesday 6th April 1977A 5lb device was
spotted below a window
at a businessman’s
house at Harberton
Avenue in the Malone
Road area. The army
defused the device.
An army patrol
discovered a .303 rifle
and 8 bullets lying on
waste ground at the
junction of Brookvale
Avenue and Brookvale
Drive off the Antrim
Road.
The army found a box
left outside the Five Star
garage, Dungannon,
was a hoax but nearby
a real bomb was
discovered in a hedge
and blown up.
A blast was heard in the
Castlederg area and the
army helicopter spotted
a huge crater on a
narrow road, which had
been blocked. No one
was injured.
The army found an
armalite rifle, which
had been dumped on
waste ground off the
Antrim Road and in
Whitehouse a fire
started by an incendiary
device destroyed a
building suppliers store.
2020202020
Thursday 7th April 1977A binman was wounded
in a shooting incident in
Toomebridge. The man
was shot in the leg.
A bomb exploded on a
hijacked beer lorry
outside a Belfast city
centre bank. (Below)
The 150lb bomb had
been left outside the
Northern Bank in
Donegall Square North
and a number of shops
and offices were badly
damaged. Less than 30
minutes after the
explosion the IRA said
it was responsible. A
number of shoppers
were taken to hospital
with shock and flying
glass injured a security
guard. Gunmen at the
Donegall Road junction
of the Falls Road
hijacked the Bass lorry
and the driver was
ordered out, the lorry
was driven away to load
the bomb and then the
driver was ordered to
drive the lorry to the
bank. The driver alerted
the RUC at the Royal
Avenue security barrier.
The blast shattered
panes of stained glass in
the City Hall.
Two policemen and a
policewoman were
injured in bomb attacks
in Belfast. The first
attack was made on a
Department of
Manpower senior
principal officer and the
other on a civil servant
living in Castlehill Park,
Belfast. The first bomb
was spotted on the
windowsill of the
dining room of the
senior officers home. It
exploded as the area
was being evacuated,
causing severe damage.
A minute later the
second bomb exploded
on the bathroom
windowsill of the other
house and shattered
windows in the vicinity.
A part time UDR lance
corporal was shot dead
as he drove from his
Glenside Park home to
an evening shift at the
Du Pont factory in
Derry. He was named
as Gerald Cornelius
Cloete, aged 46, and he
was hit by five bullets
in the head, chest and
hand. Mr Cloete was
married with five
children and the
gunmen crashed their
car into his vehicle and
shot him as he tried to
get out. He was born in
England and had served
in the Royal Navy from
1946-1961. He had a
son serving in the army
also.
Two gunmen fired five
shots at an army foot
patrol as it was going
into the Whiterock
community centre in
west Belfast. No one
was hurt and the patrol
returned fire, but
claimed no hits.
A controlled explosion
was carried out on a
stolen car left outside a
garage in Church Street,
Antrim. Three people
in the car escaped on
foot after the car failed
to stop at the security
barrier. Nothing was
found in the vehicle.
Friday 8th April 1977An ex RUC reservist
was slightly injured
when he was ambushed
on the south Armagh
border. The man was
cut in the face when
gullets shattered the
windscreen of his lorry.
He was ambushed at
Carnagh near Keady as
he drove his lorry along
a quiet country road.
An incendiary device
caused a fire that
2121212121
destroyed Una's baby
shop on the Antrim
Road, near the
waterworks park.
One shot was fired at an
army patrol in Hamilton
Street in Derry and later
a gunman operating
from Greehaw Road
fired nine shots at an
army checkpoint at
Culmore Road. The
gunman escaped by car
and in a follow up
operation cartridge
cases were found at the
scene.
Near Keady in south
Armagh soldiers
opened fire on two
gunmen spotted in a
wood a few miles
outside the town. No
hits were claimed.
Soldiers found a
cassette type incendiary
device, a quantity of
micro switches,
batteries and other
items of bomb making
material in the Sloan’s
Terrace area of Derry.
The articles were found
during a follow up
search after bomb
disposal experts were
called to examine a
suspect device in the
Foyle Road which
turned out to be a hoax.
A bomb warning halted
a British Rail container
ship on passage from
Belfast to Holyhead off
the Isle of Man.
Lifeboats took some of
the crew off, but no
bomb was found. The
only casualty was a
crewman who fell in the
sea going back on
board.
Bomb attack on Donegall Pass Barrack using an oil lorry which turned into
a massive fireball
Saturday 9th April 1977Two RUC men were
shot dead in south
Derry. They were
named as Constable
Kenneth William
Sheehan aged 19 and 22
year old Constable John
McCracken and were
shot dead in the
Moneymore area. The
two policemen were
going to check out three
men in a car when the
men opened fire
without warning. The
constables died at the
scene and a third officer
was injured. The
gunmen made off on
foot after their getaway
car got stuck in a ditch.
Shots were exchanged
with a second police
patrol but there were no
hits.
Two Kilkeel men
appeared at a special
court in Newcastle
charged with possessing
rifle and ammunition.
Three buses were
destroyed and three
more badly damaged in
a fire at the Falls Road
bus depot. Four men,
one armed with a pistol,
held up security staff,
sprinkled petrol over
two buses and set them
alight. The men said
two devices had been
planted at the depot and
the army defused one
device that was a small
quantity of explosives
linked to a can of petrol.
The second device
exploded but caused
little damage. No one
was hurt.
2222222222
In Randalstown, Orr's
furniture warehouse
was gutted in an
incendiary attack. The
warehouse, consisting
of four wooden huts and
the contents were
completely destroyed.
A 28 year old man was
shot in the leg at
Springhill Avenue in
Belfast.
A former part time
policeman escaped with
William Sheehan John McCracken
The bullet riddled car in which the
policemen were killed
minor cuts on his face
and hands after two
shots were fired through
the windscreen of his
lorry in south Armagh.
The shooting happened
in the Keady area.
There was a petrol
bomb attack on a house
in Sudan Street but the
family living there were
uninjured. A milk bottle
petrol bomb was thrown
on to the garage roof.
There was a bomb
attack on the Pomeroy
home of a retired
schoolteacher. The
explosion severely
damaged the furniture
and the roof but the 77-
year-old man and his
wife who were asleep at
the back of the house
were uninjured.
A suspect bag found
behind the British
Legion Hall in Bangor
turned out to be a hoax.
The army dealt with the
bag after an anonymous
caller gave a five-
minute warning about a
bomb behind the
building.
2323232323
Tuesday 12th April 1977Mr Miles Vincent
McGrogan aged 22 of
Coolnasilla Avenue,
Belfast was found shot
dead at Colin Glen
Road, Dunmurry. He
had been shot through
the temple and the
killing had been carried
out on the spot. Mr
McGrogan had been
acquitted of killing
Constable Brian Bell
and Constable John
Ross in 1974. Another
acquitted man Vincent
Hetherington was killed
in July 1976. Both men
were accused of being
informers, used by
British Intelligence to
feed false names of
informers to the IRA.
49 year old Mr John
Short of New Barnsley
Crescent was shot dead
by three gunmen from
the Provisional IRA as
he walked with the
father of a ten year old
boy who had just been
killed by a bomb.
Kieran McMenamin
was killed by a no
warning parcel bomb at
Beechmount Avenue
where Official IRA
supporters were
gathering for the Easter
Sunday parade to
Milltown Cemetery.
Five others were injured
in the blast. Mr Short
were on their way to tell
other members of the
family about the boys
death when he was shot
dead, another relative
was shot in the legs but
Kieran’s father was
uninjured. 20 shots
were later fired when
provisional and Official
supporters clashed
outside the cemetery
gates.
Wednesday 13th April 1977An unexploded
firebomb was found
under stairs of Dunne’s
Stores in Henry Street,
Dublin.
A bomb partially
exploded at Valentines
filling station at
Coalisland Road,
Dungannon. A warning
had been phone to a
local priest and the area
was cleared.
A bomb hoax in Keady
forced the evacuation of
dozens of families for a
number of hours.
Thursday 14th April 1977A bomb was planted in
the centre of a multi
storey block in Belfast.
The bombers used a lift
to raise the bomb to the
second floor. It later
went off causing
considerable damage to
Marlborough House in
Victoria Street.
The army defused a
firebomb found in
Eason’s bookshop in
O’Connell Street Dublin.
Five shots were fired at
soldiers and RUC men
by an IRA sniper
operating outside
Springfield Road RUC
station. No one was hurt
but one soldier working
on the perimeter fence
fell to the ground,
injuring his knee.
Two controlled
explosions were carried
out during an
examination of a house at
Strand Road, Derry.
There had been reports of
an explosion, a dog was
seen running from the
house, but no traces of a
blast were found.
Friday 15th April 1977A 34 year old police
constable was shot and
injured while he sat in
his car with his two sons
outside a butchers shop
in Lurgan. Gunmen in
a car opened fire with
handguns. The bullets
smashed through three
of the cars doors. The
children were sitting in
the back seat.
A man escaped injury
when a petrol bomb was
thrown into his home.
The bomb caused only
slight damage to the
sitting room of the
house at Moylinn, Co
Armagh.
A group of children
escaped injury when a
detonator they found
exploded without
warning. The children
brought a box
containing several
detonators back to
Mashona Street in east
Belfast, after finding it
beside the railway at
Holywood.
Saturday 16th April 1977A soldier was injured in
a south Armagh bomb
attack. It happened
while a patrol was
passing the derelict
town hall building in
Market Square,
Crossmaglen. A 5lb
bomb went off
knocking the soldier to
the ground.
A hoard of petrol bombs
was found in an east
Belfast street by
children who were
playing in the area. Six
gallons of petrol and 16
pieces of wood wrapped
in fabric were found in
an unoccupied house in
Arran Street in the Short
Strand area.
2424242424
Sergeant William
Edgar, of the Royal
Corps of Transport,
aged 34, married with
three children was shot
dead while visiting
Derry. He was
originally from Derry
and had arrived on a
family visit. He had
been drinking in a bar in
the Waterside area and
his body was found in a
cemetery between the
Bogside and the
Creggan. The IRA
claimed that he was
working as an
intelligence officer for
the army. He was shot
three times in the head.
A soldier was injured
when gunmen opened
fire on his patrol in
Fermanagh. The patrol
was ambushed near
Newtownbutler and
although the soldiers
fired back they did not
claim any hits.
Soldiers and police
found a pistol and a
number of rounds of
ammunition when they
searched Twinbrook
Library in Gardenmore
Road, Dunmurry.
Monday 18th April 1977A 3lb device was found
in Lisburn Orange Hall,
after south down MP
Mr Enoch Powell had
left the building. The
bomb as later destroyed
in a controlled
explosion.
Trevor McKibben, 19,
from Etna Drive in
north Belfast was shot
dead at the junction of
Flax Street and Butler
Street. He was seen
carrying a weapon in a
plastic bag and when he
turned round to face the
army he was shot dead.
An air rifle was found
at the scene. He was a
member of the IRA 3rd
Belfast battalion.
Shots were fired at an
army patrol in
Springhill Crescent.
One soldier was hit.
Several bursts of
automatic fire raked the
car of a RUC man in
Ahoghill, hitting the
man on the ankle.
Another officer inside
the car escaped unhurt,
2525252525
as did a youth and two
schoolgirls standing in
a phone kiosk nearby.
In Derry residents of the
Foyle Road area
escaped injury after a
mortar bomb attack on
the army camp at
Craigavon Bridge. 16
houses were damaged
in the attack and three
children were taken to
hospital suffering from
minor injuries and
shock. They were
attending a youth club
when one mortar bomb
exploded without
warning at the junction
of Lower Bennet Street
and Foyle Road.
Windows of the club
were blown in. Two
more mortar bombs
landed in Lower Bennet
Street. Slates were
blown off houses and
windows were smashed
in the blast. Another
bomb landed close to
the camp but no one
was hurt. A fifth bomb
landed on waste ground
behind the firing point
at Alexandra Place. In
a follow up operation
the army found five
mortar tubes at
Alexandra Place.
Over 1000 rounds of
ammunition and an air
pistol were found on the
shore at Cherryvalley,
near Comber.
Police in Omagh found
a pistol in a hedge on
the Derry Road.
A young girl was shot
during a struggle
between two youths and
two RUC men. The girl
had been standing in a
crowd at Churchill Park
when the shooting took
place.
Tuesday 19th April 1977Mr William Strathearn
aged 39, was shot dead
when he was tricked by a
gunman who told him that
he needed tablets for a sick
child. Mr Strathearn
owned the VG store at
Portglenone Road in
Ahoghill and he opened
the door and was shot
twice in the head. He died
almost immediately. Mr
Strathearn was married
with 7 children and was a
well-respected member of
his local community. He
was originally from near
Bellaghy and was known
in GAA circles having
played Gaelic football for
Derry County. Two RUC
officers were charged and
found guilty of the
shooting.
The army defused a tanker
bomb in Belfast. The
tanker was carrying over
1000 gallons of central
heating oil and was
hijacked in the Brompton
Park area of Ardoyne. The
driver was ordered to take
the ranker to the army post
in Flax Street and when he
got there alerted the army
who told him to drive to
waste ground nearby. Two
bombs were on board, one
in the cab and one in one
of the tanks. The bomb in
the cab turned out to be a
hoax but when the other
device was lifted out it
exploded but no one was
hurt and little damage was
caused.
Two petrol bombs were
thrown at a police mobile
patrol in Twinbrook but
both failed to ignite and
there were no injuries and
no damage.
In Derry an army patrol
found 50 shotgun
cartridges hidden in a
plastic bag in a hedge on
the Steelstown Road on the
outskirts of the city.
Wednesday 20th April 1977One person was killed
and many others injured
when a car bomb
exploded as people
gathered for the funeral
of a young IRA man in
Belfast. The bomb was
in a car in Etna Drive in
the Ardoyne area. 23
people were taken to the
Mater hospital for
treatment.
The car was ripped
apart by the blast and
people standing by the
blast were thrown to the
ground by the force.
Many of the injured
were hit by flying
pieces of metal form the
blasted car. The man
who was killed was
Sean Campbell aged 19,
a single man from
Parkview Street. He
was killed when the
100lb UVF bomb
exploded with no
warning. He had just
left a snooker club and
was walking past the car
when he caught the full
force of the blast.
Another youth who was
injured in the blast died
the next day. He was
John McBride aged 18,
and single from Flax
Street in the Ardoyne
area. He died in the
Mater Hospital from his
injuries.
Police questioned seven
men after dawn raids on
houses in the
Springfield Road area
and also the Markets
area of Belfast.
The RUC came under
fire in the Sandy Row
area of Belfast. Two
policemen were on foot
patrol at Albion Street
when three or four shots
were fired from City
Street. Fire was
returned but no one was
injured.
2626262626
The army spent over 2
hours dealing with a
hoax outside the Flax
Street base in Belfast. A
Northern Ireland
Loyalist car bomb attack on an IRA members funeral in North Belfast
Carriers van was
commandeered by two
masked men at the
junction of Balcombe
Drive and Brompton
Park and a box loaded
into it. The driver was
then ordered to drive it
to Flax Street and shout
a five-minute warning.
The box was examined,
a controlled explosion
carried out and the
"bomb" was declared a
hoax.
Thursday 21st April 1977An army patrol in Derry
found bomb making
material and
ammunition in a
derelict house at Moore
Street in the Brandywell
area. They found two
parcels in a plastic bag
containing 6lb of
explosives, a clock,
battery and length of
fuse. Later in the same
area a small number of
rounds of ammunition
was found in a plastic
bag.
Eight high velocity
shots were fired at
Coalisland RUC station
but no one was hurt.
Fire was not returned.
Friday 22nd April 1977Mr Brian Smith aged 24
and married with 2
children was shot dead as
he and three workmates
walked along Snugville
Street in the Shankill
area. From Tyndale
Gardens in the
Ballysillan area of north
Belfast Mr Smith was on
his way to a Shankill
Road bank to cash his
pay check. The car used
in the attack was hijacked
at Ardoyne and later
found abandoned in the
Oldpark area. Two of his
workmates were also
injured in eh attack and
the incident was later
claimed by the IRA under
the cover name
Republican Action Force.
A 16-year-old youth was
shot in both arms when
two gunmen called at a
house at Ulsterville
Gardens in south Belfast.
Two men went to the
door of the house and one
entered through the open
front door. He went into
the living room and shot
the youth who was
washing dishes in the
kitchen.
A Territorial Army
reservist was seriously
injured when gunmen got
a ten year old girl to call
her father to the front
door of their home at
Tildarg Avenue, Suffolk.
When he came to the
front door, he was hit in
the legs and back by a
number of shots. At least
three men are thought to
have been involved.
In a routine army patrol
in Derry a rifle and 19
bullets were found
hidden in a pipe in the
city cemetery.
2727272727
Saturday 23rd April 1977
Bomb attack in a lecture room at the
Ulster College at Jordanstown in
which Lord MacDermott was giving
a talk. RIGHT - some of the injured
being removed to hospital
Brendan O’Callaghan
from Carrigart Avenue,
Suffolk was shot dead
by the army near the
Hunting Lodge bar in
the Lenadoon area. Mr
O’Callaghan was 21
and married with 2
children and worked as
a lorry driver. He was
described by the IRA as
part of a three man
patrol and the army said
he was shot when he
was seen to cock a
pistol. It was claimed
that a pistol was later
found in the car in
which he was travelling
with two other men.
The IRA released a
statement in which Mr
O’Callaghan was
described as a volunteer
and a member of a
patrol group designed to
protect republican areas
after the recent
2828282828
2929292929
bombing and shootings
carried out by British
and loyalist elements.
A blast bomb was
thrown into the garden
of a house at Finaghy
Road North. It broke
windows in a nearby
shop-k houses and a
garage but no one was
hurt.
A device was thrown
over a wall into a tyre
storage unit in
Templemore Avenue
causing a huge blaze but
damage to the building
was slight. In another
garage attack the army
took away bomb-
making equipment from
the scene of the blast. It
happened in a block of
garages and the bomb
started a small fire in
Horn Drive, Belfast.
A three year old boy
was injured in a booby
trap explosion was not
seriously hurt. The
blast happened in the
New Barnsley area and
it was thought that a
claymore type device
was used. It was
detonated by remote
control.
A soldier was hit in the
eye with flying glass
after youths smashed
the windscreens of two
army land rovers in the
Derrybeg estate in
Newry. A foot patrol in
the area at the time also
came under attack but
no one was seriously
hurt.
In Derry two bombs
exploded causing slight
damage in the former
Tillie and Henderson
shirt factory. A 4lb
bomb exploded on one
of the floors which was
used as a furniture store
and the other, an 8lb
device, exploded in a
section occupied by an
electrical appliance
firm.
Monday 25th April 1977
FACING PAGE - Firebomb attack
on shops on the Antrim Road
There was an explosion
at a chapel near
Dungiven. The target of
the attack was unknown
and no injuries were
reported.
A Newry furniture store
was destroyed by an
explosion. Two men
entered the store of
McKnight’s in Mill
Street and left on the
floor a parcel, which
they said, was a bomb
and would go off in a
few minutes. The bomb
exploded 8 minutes
later.
A firebomb attacked
wrecked the Super Deal
furniture store at
Merchants Quay in
Newry.
The army came under
attacked when they
were fired on in the Turf
Lodge area of
Andersonstown, but no
one was hurt.
Two shots were fired at
soldiers at Gransha
Road, Turf Lodge.
Three were returned
and afterwards a crowd
stoned the soldiers.
There was a gun attack
at the junction of
Kenard Avenue and
Tullymore Gardens in
Andersonstown. At the
Norglen road soldiers
fired six rubber bullets
and four youths were
detained when rioting
broke out.
Mr Patrick Joseph
Devlin was shot dead as
he drank in the
Legahory Inn. Two
men walked into the bar
and opened fire with a
machine gun and
revolver into the crowd
shortly before closing
time. Three men and a
woman were also hit by
bullets and three others
were treated for shock.
One man was hit on the
left hand and another on
the right hand and the
woman was hit on the
wrist. Mr Devlin aged
72 and married with
three children was a pub
security guard and was
letting a young girl out
of the bar when the
gunmen burst in. Mr
Devlin was hit twice in
the head as he tried to
prevent the gunmen
entering the lounge bar;
they went into the
public bar instead.
Tuesday 26th April 1977An RPG 7 Russian
rocket landed on a 30
year old shift worker as
he slept in the front room
of his Springfield Road
home in west Belfast.
The blast sent him
crashing to the floor, and
caused extensive
damage to the house. It
was thought that the
intended target was a
post office van being
escorted by the army,
which was passing the
house at the time.
A 2lb bomb planted by
two men in a café in
Donegall Street, Belfast,
was defused by the army.
At the same time part of
the M1 motorway
between Moira and
3030303030
Lurgan was closed for an
hour while the bomb
disposal team blew up an
abandoned car.
The RUC found a bomb
in east Belfast while
chasing two men. The
men were spotted
carrying a parcel on eh
Albertbridge Road and
they ran off after they
saw the RUC. One man
was detained at Mount
Street and a 6lb bomb
was found. The army
defused it.
Wednesday 27th April 1977A man was shot at his
work in the Shankill
area of Belfast. The
man was shot five times
in the wrists stomach
and groin. He was in an
office of a building
works in Riga Street
when two gunmen burst
in. They opened fire
form close range but the
man managed to stagger
out onto the street and
was taken to hospital.
A woman was treated
for shock after a bomb
went off at her
Greencastle home. The
bomb was placed at the
front door of the house
in Lansdowne Park and
caused internal
structural damage. The
woman and her tow
sons were in bed at the
time and her elderly
husband was in the
kitchen at the rear of the
house. No one was
injured.
One shot was fired at
Andersonstown RUC
station but the bullet hit
a Sanger and no one
was hurt. Fire was not
returned.
The army found 2 lb of
explosives and a
detonator in a plastic
bag hidden in the city
cemetery in Derry. The
explosives were
neutralised.
The performance of
Rigoletto at the ABC
cinema in Belfast city
centre was interrupted
three times because of
a bomb alert. There was
also a 20-minute
evacuation of the
cinema while
suspicious parked cars
outside were examined.
Friday 29th April 1977Two RUC detectives
were wounded in an
exchange of gunfire
with youths in the Turf
Lodge area of Belfast.
One was shot in the
back and leg and the
other suffered a leg
injury. The policemen
had challenged four
youths and then a short
gun battle flared.
A bomb exploded on
the roof of a crowded
Belfast pub. The 1lb
bomb was thrown on
to the roof of the Club
Bar in University
Street from a derelict
building next door.
The blast damaged the
roof and ceiling. No
one of the 200
customers was injured.
A suspect bomb
planted by two men at
a Lisburn filling
station was an
elaborate hoax.
There was a shooting
in Armagh when an
3131313131
army mobile patrol
came under fire form
gunmen operating in
the Culdee Estate. Six
shots were fired but no
one was injured and
fire was not returned.
A part time UDR
captain was shot dead
in Dungannon.
Businessman Eric
Shiells, 49, married
with 6 children was
shot dead outside his
Northland Row home.
He was shot dead by
the IRA as he got into
his car outside his
home. Mr Shiells was
director of a building
firm and a former
president of
Dungannon Rugby
Club.
ISSN 1472-9962
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