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This is a list of incidents that happened on the island of Ireland (encompassing what exists today as the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and are commonly called massacres. All those that took place during the late 20th century were part of the Troubles.
Date | Name | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
c. 900 | Simmonscourt Castle massacre | Simmonscourt Castle | ~600 | A massacre by Vikings; bodies unearthed in 1879 from a mound and reburied in Donnybrook Cemetery. The mound was on the site of modern Ailesbury Road, east of the River Dodder. [1] | |
928 | Dunmore Cave massacre | Dunmore Cave, County Kilkenny | ~1,000 | A massacre by Vikings, led by Godfrey of the Uí Ímair; recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters. A large quantity of human bones was found in the cave in 1869. | |
9 June 1329 | Braganstown massacre | Branganstown, County Louth | ~160 | John de Bermingham and around 160 of his followers were massacred by a mob of angry tenants, over the treatment of the tenants by de Bermingham's soldiers. | |
1569 | Humphrey Gilbert Massacre of the Irish | North Kerry | Several hundred | In November 1569, Gilbert campaigned in north Kerry and in the rebel fastness of Connellough woods. His soldiers routinely killed all men, women and children in their path, as well as any livestock they encountered in order to deprive the rebels of sustenance. | |
1574, November | Clandeboye massacre | Belfast | 200 | A massacre of The O'Neills of Lower Clandeboye by the English Forces of Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. | |
1575 | Rathlin Island massacre | Rathlin Island | 600+ | A massacre of MacDonnell clansmen both Irish and Scottish by English forces. | |
1578 | Massacre of Mullaghmast | Mullaghmast, County Kildare | 100+ | The Irish chieftains of Laois and their families were summoned to a meeting with Tudor officials and massacred. | |
1579, 13 November | Sack of Youghal | Youghal, County Cork | Several hundred | Youghal was an important stronghold for the English in southern Munster. During the Desmond rebellions it was sacked by the forces Gerald, 15th Earl of Desmond who massacred the English garrison, hanged the English officials and looted and abused the townspeople. | |
10 October 1580 | Siege of Smerwick (Dún an Óir) | Ard na Caithne, County Kerry | 600+ | During the Second Desmond Rebellion, English Naval personnel under the command of Lord Deputy Arthur Grey slaughtered 300–700 Papal mercenaries from Spain and Italy after they had surrendered. | |
June 1602 | Dursey Massacre | Dursey Island, off the Beara Peninsula | ~300 | A group of Irish soldiers and civilians taking shelter on the island during the Siege of Dunboy were attacked by English forces, and massacred despite being promised quarter. | |
1641 | Ulster massacres | Ulster, Ireland | 4,000–12,000 | The Ulster Massacres were a series of massacres and resulting deaths amongst the ~4,000–12,000 Protestant settlers which took place in 1641 during the Irish Rebellion. [2] [3] [4] | |
November 1641 | Portadown massacre | Portadown | 100+ | O'Neill clansmen massacred as many as 100 English and Scottish Protestant planters, including women, children, and other noncombatants. The massacre took place on the banks of the River Bann. [5] | |
June 1642 | Baldongan massacre | Baldongan Castle, near Skerries, Dublin | 200–250 | Part of the Irish Confederate Wars. After the castle was taken by Parliamentary forces, the entire garrison of Confederate forces was put to the sword. [6] | |
August 1642 | Second Rathlin Island Massacre | Rathlin Island | 100-3,000 | Covenanter Campbell soldiers of the Argyll's Foot were encouraged by their commanding officer Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchinbreck to kill the local Catholic MacDonalds, near relatives of their arch clan enemy in the Scottish Highlands Clan MacDonald. They threw scores of MacDonald women over cliffs to their deaths on rocks below. [7] [8] | |
15 September 1647 | Sack of Cashel | Rock of Cashel | almost 1,000 | A massacre of English Royalists, plus MacCarthy and O'Brien clansmen, during the Irish Confederate Wars. | |
11 September 1649 | Siege of Drogheda | Drogheda, County Louth | 3,552–6,400 | A massacre committed by the New Model Army and its commander Oliver Cromwell during the Eleven Years War; also called "the Drogheda Massacre." Drogheda had been defended by a garrison of English and Irish Royalists, many of whom belonged to the Anglican Communion. When the city fell, Cromwell's Army, which was enraged by events like the Portadown massacre, made no distinction between captured soldiers and civilian noncombatants and razed even the churches where civilians took shelter. In a subsequent report to Parliament, Cromwell called the massacre "the vengeance of God against these barbarous wretches." | |
11 October 1649 | Sack of Wexford | Wexford, County Wexford | 3,500 | Following a siege by Cromwell's New Model, Parliamentary troops broke into Wexford after negotiations with the commander of the garrison, David Sinnot, broke down – massacring soldiers and civilians alike. Much of the town was burned and the harbour was destroyed. | |
February 1650 | Massacre at Donore Castle | Donore Castle, County Meath | 50 | During the Cromwellian wars, the MacGeoghegan (Mac Eochagáin) took refuge in Donore Castle. It was captured by Sir John Reynolds who put most of those inside to death. [9] | |
19 May 1798 | Gibbet Rath executions | Curragh, County Kildare | 300–500 | part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 | |
1798, 25 May | Dunlavin Green executions | Dunlavin, County Wicklow | 36 | 3 | Massacre of rebel prisoners by loyalist militia. Part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. |
1798, 25 May | Carnew executions | Carnew, County Wicklow | 38 | part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 | |
1798, 5 June | Scullabogue massacre | Scullabogue, County Wexford | 100–200 | 2 | part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 |
1798, 20 June | Wexford massacre | Wexford bridge, Wexford | 90–100 | part of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 | |
1834, 18 December | Rathcormac massacre | Bartlemy, County Cork | 20 | 45 | Massacre by British soldiers and the Irish Constabulary as part of the Tithe War. |
1887, 9 September | Mitchelstown massacre | Mitchelstown, County Cork | 3 | Several | British soldiers fired into a crowd of Irish civilians during the Land War. [10] |
1914, 26 July | Bachelor's Walk massacre | Bachelor's Walk, Dublin | 4 | 32 | 35 people were shot and 1 bayoneted by British troops on Bachelor's Walk, Dublin. [11] |
1916, 28–29 April | North King Street massacre | Dublin | 15–16 | unknown | British soldiers of the South Staffordshire Regiment raided houses on North King Street and killed 15 male civilians, part of the Easter Rising [12] |
1920, 21 November | Bloody Sunday (Croke Park massacre) | Dublin | 14 | 60–70 | part of the Irish War of Independence; Spectators were shot by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Auxiliary Division at a Gaelic football match. This was the first Irish mass-killing to be called "Bloody Sunday". |
1921, 10 July | Bloody Sunday (Lower Falls massacre) | Belfast | 17 | Over 70 | one of a series of killings by Protestant extremists, the IRA and the Royal Irish Constabulary after the Irish War of Independence; named "Belfast's Bloody Sunday", until 1972. |
1922, 1 April | Arnon Street killings | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 6 | 1 | A mass shooting by the Police Specials under command of Senior Officers; part of the Irish War of Independence. |
1922, 26–28 April | Dunmanway killings | Dunmanway, County Cork | 13 | 1 | A mass shooting of Protestant civilians alleged to be informers by the "old" IRA. |
1923, 7–12 March | Ballyseedy massacre | Ballyseedy, Caherciveen | 17 | 2 | 19 prisoners of war were tied to landmines and blown up in three separate incidents by the Irish Army. |
31 March 1926 | La Mancha massacre | Malahide, County Dublin | 6 | 0 | Residents of a mansion named "La Mancha;" four members of the McDonnell family and two of their employees, who were poisoned with arsenic and beaten to death; the house was then set on fire. Their gardener Henry McCabe was controversially convicted of their murders and hanged. [13] [14] |
3-5 July 1970 | Falls Curfew or (or known locally as the Battle of the Lower Falls) | Falls Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland | 4 | 60 | During a gun battle against both the Official IRA and Provisional IRA the British Army shot dead three civilians and ran one down. |
1971, 9–11 August | Ballymurphy massacre | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 11 | unknown | A mass shooting by the Parachute Regiment, British Army. |
1971, 23 October | 1971 Newry Killings | Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland | 3 | 0 | Undercover British soldiers shot dead three civilians in disputed circumstances, it appeared to be a case of mistaken identity |
1971, 2 November | Red Lion Pub bombing | Belfast | 3 | 30 | A bombing by the IRA's Belfast Brigade. |
1971, 4 December | McGurk's Bar bombing | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 15 | 17 | A bombing by Ulster loyalists. Ulster Volunteer Force |
1972, 30 January | Bloody Sunday (Bogside massacre) | Derry, Northern Ireland | 14 | 17 | A mass shooting by the British Army's Parachute Regiment. Part of "the Troubles"; the third Irish mass-killing to be called "Bloody Sunday". |
1972, 9 July | Springhill massacre | Springhill estate West Belfast, Northrern Ireland | 5 | 2 | The British Army shot seven unarmed Catholics near a timber yard in Belfast, five of whom died, including a Catholic priest and a 13-year-old girl |
1972, 21 July | Bloody Friday | Belfast | 9, including two British soldiers | 130 | Within the space of 75 minutes, the Provisional IRA detonated 22 bombs in Belfast. Nine people were killed (including two British soldiers and one Ulster Defence Association member) while 130 were injured |
1972, 31 July | Claudy bombing | Claudy | 9 | 30 | Three car bombs were detonated in the early morning on Main Street, Claudy, killing 9 civilians, including three children. The Provisional IRA are believed to be responsible for what became known as "Bloody Monday". Part of "the Troubles". |
1972, 20 December | Top of the Hill bar shooting | Derry | 5 | 4 | At 10:30 p.m., two Ulster Defence Association gunmen entered the Top of the Hill bar in Derry and opened fire, killing five patrons and injuring several others. The shooting is believed to be revenge for the IRA's killing of UDR soldier George Hamilton earlier that day. [15] |
1974, 17 May | Dublin and Monaghan bombings | Dublin and Monaghan | 34 | 300 | Three bombs exploded in Dublin and a fourth exploded in Monaghan, carried out by the Glenanne gang; included British soldiers from the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), police officers from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and members of the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) |
1975, 31 July | Miami Showband killings | Buskhill, County Down, Northern Ireland | 5 | 2 | A botched attack by the UVF. Part of "the Troubles". |
1975, 13 August | Bayardo Bar attack | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 5 | 50 | A shooting and bombing at the Loyalist-owned Bayardo's Bar in Belfast. Three members of the IRA were convicted over the attack. |
1976, 4 January | Reavey and O'Dowd killings | Whitecross, County Armagh | 6 | 1 | A massacre of two families by the Ulster Volunteer Force. |
1976, 5 January | Kingsmill massacre | Kingsmill, County Armagh, Northern Ireland | 10 | 1 | A sectarian massacre of Protestant workers. A report by the Historical Inquiries Team found that Provisional IRA members were responsible. Part of "the Troubles". |
1978, 17 February | La Mon restaurant bombing | Gransha, County Down, Northern Ireland | 12 | 30 | Massacre conducted by the IRA. A large incendiary bomb, containing a napalm-like substance, was detonated outside one of the restaurant windows. Part of "the Troubles". |
1979, 27 August | Warrenpoint ambush | Narrow Water Castle, County Down | 19 | 6 | Double bombing against British soldiers by the IRA. |
1987, 8 May | Loughgall Ambush | Loughgall, County Armagh | 8 IRA Volunteers 1 civilian | 1 | British Army SAS ambush killed eight experienced IRA volunteers, making it the IRA's biggest loss of life from one incident since the 1920s, two Catholic civilians were also shot by the SAS in the ambush, one of whom died from his injuries, referred to by Irish republicans as massacre as a number of the IRA men shot dead were unarmed while trying to surrender. |
1987, 8 November | Remembrance Day bombing | Enniskillen, Northern Ireland | 12 | 63 | A mass civilian bombing by the IRA. Part of "the Troubles". |
1988, 16 March | Milltown Cemetery attack | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 3 | 60+ | A gun and grenade attack on Catholic civilians and IRA supporters carried out by UDA member Michael Stone. Part of "the Troubles". |
1992, 17 January | Teebane bombing | County Tyrone | 8 | 6 | A roadside bombing carried out by the IRA on a van transporting workers hired by the British Army. |
1992, 5 February | Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting | Belfast | 5 | 9 | A mass shooting by the UDA. |
1993, 25 March | Castlerock killings | Castlerock, Northern Ireland | 4 | 1 | A mass shooting by the UDA |
1993, 23 October | Shankill Road bombing | Belfast, Northern Ireland | 10 | 57 | A mass bombing by the IRA in a protestant area that killed mostly civilians. Part of "the Troubles". |
1993, 30 October | Greysteel massacre | Greysteel, Northern Ireland | 8 | 13 | A shooting by the UDA. Part of "the Troubles". |
1994, 18 June | Loughinisland massacre | Loughinisland, Northern Ireland | 6 | 5 | A shooting by the UVF. Part of "the Troubles". |
1998, 15 August | Omagh bombing | Omagh, Northern Ireland | 29 | 220–300 | A car bomb attack which exclusively targeted civilians, carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA) |
The Easter Rising, also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the aim of establishing an independent Irish Republic while the United Kingdom was fighting the First World War. It was the most significant uprising in Ireland since the rebellion of 1798 and the first armed conflict of the Irish revolutionary period. Sixteen of the Rising's leaders were executed starting in May 1916. The nature of the executions, and subsequent political developments, ultimately contributed to an increase in popular support for Irish independence.
The Battle of the Boyne took place in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II, had acceded to the Crowns of England and Scotland in 1689. The battle was fought across the River Boyne close to the town of Drogheda in the Kingdom of Ireland, modern-day Republic of Ireland, and resulted in a victory for William. This turned the tide in James's failed attempt to regain the British crown and ultimately aided in ensuring the continued Protestant ascendancy in Ireland.
The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War, took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kingdoms of Ireland, England and Scotland – all ruled by Charles I. The conflict had political, religious and ethnic aspects and was fought over governance, land ownership, religious freedom and religious discrimination. The main issues were whether Irish Catholics or British Protestants held most political power and owned most of the land, and whether Ireland would be a self-governing kingdom under Charles I or subordinate to the parliament in England. It was the most destructive conflict in Irish history and caused 200,000–600,000 deaths from fighting as well as war-related famine and disease.
Irish republicanism is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. An ideology since the 17th century, various methods have been employed to achieve the republic, including rebellions and paramilitary campaigns. Although the makeup of republicanism has been multidenominational, its relation to catholicism increasingly became central.
Sir Phelim Roe O'Neill of Kinard was an Irish politician and soldier who started the Irish rebellion in Ulster on 23 October 1641. He joined the Irish Catholic Confederation in 1642 and fought in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms under his cousin, Owen Roe O'Neill, in the Confederate Ulster Army. After the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland O’Neill went into hiding but was captured, tried and executed in 1653.
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising by Catholics in Ireland, whose demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and return of confiscated Catholic lands. Its timing was partially driven by the dispute between Charles I and his opponents—the English Parliamentarians and Scottish Covenanters—which the rebels feared would lead to an invasion and further anti-Catholic measures. Beginning as an attempted coup d'état by Catholic gentry and military officers, it developed into a widespread rebellion and ethnic conflict with English and Scottish Protestant settlers. It led to the 1641–1653 Irish Confederate Wars, part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, with up to 20% of the Irish population becoming casualties.
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland with the New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in August 1649.
Tory Island, or simply Tory, is an island 14.5 kilometres off the north-west coast of County Donegal, Ireland. It is officially known by its Irish name Toraigh, which, although spelled thus, is pronounced the same as the English version. It is the most remote inhabited island of Ireland. The name toraigh means "place of steep rocky heights".
The Battle of Julianstown was fought on 27 November 1641 near Julianstown in County Louth during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. A force sent by the Dublin government to reinforce the garrison of Drogheda was ambushed by Irish rebels and nearly destroyed.
Garret Barry, also called Gerat, was an Irish soldier and military writer, who fought for Spain in the Eighty Years' War and then for the Irish insurgents in the Rebellion and the Confederate Wars. When young he left Kinsale at its surrender in 1602 for Spain where he took service, first as marine in the Atlantic Fleet and then in the Army of Flanders. While in Spanish service, he fought at the Siege of Breda in 1624/1625. He retired with the rank of captain in 1632. Returning to Ireland he was at the Rebellion appointed general of the insurgents' Munster Army. He took Limerick in June 1642 but was defeated at Liscarroll by Inchiquin in September. He was confirmed as General of the Munster Army by the Irish Catholic Confederation but was in practice superseded by Castlehaven in 1643.
Ireland during the period of 1536–1691 saw the first full conquest of the island by England and its colonisation with mostly Protestant settlers from Great Britain. This would eventually establish two central themes in future Irish history: subordination of the country to London-based governments and sectarian animosity between Catholics and Protestants. The period saw Irish society outside of the Pale transform from a locally driven, intertribal, clan-based Gaelic structure to a centralised, monarchical, state-governed society, similar to those found elsewhere in Europe. The period is bounded by the dates 1536, when King Henry VIII deposed the FitzGerald dynasty as Lords Deputies of Ireland, and 1691, when the Catholic Jacobites surrendered at Limerick, thus confirming Protestant dominance in Ireland. This is sometimes called the early modern period.
Events from the year 1642 in Ireland.
Events from the year 1653 in Ireland.
The Portadown massacre took place in November 1641 at Portadown, County Armagh, during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Irish Catholic rebels, likely under the command of Toole McCann, killed about 100 Protestant settlers by forcing them off the bridge into the River Bann and shooting those who tried to swim to safety. The settlers were being marched east from a prison camp at Loughgall. This was the biggest massacre of Protestants during the rebellion, and one of the bloodiest during the Irish Confederate Wars. The Portadown massacre, and others like it, terrified Protestants in Ireland and Great Britain, and were used to justify the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland and later to lobby against Catholic rights.
The siege of Drogheda took place from 21 November 1641 to February 1642 during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. A Catholic force under Féilim Ó Néill laid siege to the town but failed to wrest the garrison from the Royalists. During the siege, the Irish rebels made three attempts to break into and capture the town. All three attempts failed and the town was ultimately relieved by English forces.
Henry Jones was the Anglican Bishop of Clogher and Bishop of Meath.
Ulster Protestants are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the early 17th century Ulster Plantation. This was the settlement of the Gaelic, Catholic province of Ulster by Scots and English speaking Protestants, mostly from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England. Many more Scottish Protestant migrants arrived in Ulster in the late 17th century. Those who came from Scotland were mostly Presbyterians, while those from England were mostly Anglicans. There is also a small Methodist community and the Methodist Church in Ireland dates to John Wesley's visit to Ulster in 1752. Although most Ulster Protestants descend from Lowland Scottish people, many descend from English, and to a lesser extent, from Irish, Welsh and Huguenots.
Jane Ohlmeyer,, is a historian and academic, specialising in early modern Irish and British history. She is the Erasmus Smith's Professor of Modern History (1762) at Trinity College Dublin and Chair of the Irish Research Council, which funds frontier research across all disciplines.
The Laggan Army, sometimes referred to as the Lagan Army, was a militia formed by Protestant settlers in the fertile Laggan district in the east of County Donegal in Ulster, during the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
This article is intended to show a timeline of the history of Belfast, Northern Ireland, up to the present day.