The Droppin Well bombing or Ballykelly bombing occurred on 6 December 1982,
when the
Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) detonated a
time bomb
A time bomb (or a timebomb, time-bomb) is a bomb whose detonation is triggered by a timer. The use (or attempted use) of time bombs has been for various purposes including insurance fraud, terrorism, assassination, sabotage and warfare. They are ...
at a
disco in
Ballykelly,
County Londonderry,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. The disco, known as the Droppin Well, was targeted because it was frequented by
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
soldiers from nearby
Shackleton Barracks
Shackleton Barracks is a former British military installation at Ballykelly in Northern Ireland.
History
The site formerly known as RAF Ballykelly was handed over to the British Army as Shackleton Barracks on 2 June 1971. Battalion HQ and HQ Co ...
. The bomb killed 17 people: eleven soldiers and six civilians, while dozens more were wounded. It was the deadliest attack during the
INLA's paramilitary campaign and one of the deadliest bombings of
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an " ...
.
Attack
The bomb was made by the INLA in nearby
Derry. One of those involved later revealed that the INLA unit had carried out
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
missions to the Droppin Well to see if there were enough soldiers to justify the likelihood of civilian casualties.
On the evening of 6 December 1982, an INLA member left a bomb inside the pub. There were about 150 people inside.
["Emotional reminder of Droppin' Well bombing"](_blank)
. ''Irish News
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
''. 5 December 2002. Retrieved 7 April 2011. The
Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) believed that the bomb, estimated to be of
commercial (Frangex) explosives
Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion-cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and saltpet ...
, was small enough to fit into a handbag. It had, however, been left beside a support pillar and, when it exploded at about 23:15,
the blast brought down the roof. Many of those killed and injured were crushed by fallen masonry.
[Chronology of the Conflict: December 1982](_blank)
Conflict Archive on the Internet
CAIN (Conflict Archive on the Internet) is a database containing information about Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland from 1968 to the present. The project began in 1996, with the website launching in 1997. The project is based within Ul ...
(CAIN)
Following the blast, it took a few hours to pull survivors from the rubble. The last survivor was freed at 04:00, but it was not until 10:30 that the last of the bodies was recovered.
Ultimately, 17 people died (11 soldiers, six civilians) and about 30 were injured, some seriously.
Five of the civilians were young women and three (Alan Callaghan, Valerie McIntyre and Angela Maria Hoole) were teenagers.
Angela Hoole was celebrating her engagement to one of the soldiers who survived the incident. Of the eleven soldiers who died, eight were from the 1st Battalion
Cheshire Regiment
The Cheshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. The 22nd Regiment of Foot was raised by the Duke of Norfolk in 1689 and was able to boast an independent existence of over 300 years. ...
, two from the
Army Catering Corps
The Army Catering Corps (ACC) was a corps of the British Army, responsible for the feeding of all Army units. It was formed in 1941 and amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps in 1993.
History
In 1938 Leslie Hore-Belisha, the Secretary of ...
and one from the
Light Infantry
Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...
. One of those on the scene was
Bob Stewart,
then a company commander in the Cheshire Regiment. He lost six soldiers from his company and was deeply affected as he tended to the dead and injured.
Aftermath
Suspicion immediately fell upon the
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, facilitate Irish reu ...
(IRA), who denied involvement. By 8 December, the British Army was blaming the INLA on grounds that the IRA, in a mixed village, would have made greater efforts not to risk killing civilians.
Shortly afterwards, the INLA issued a statement of responsibility:
We believe that it is only attacks of such a nature that bring it home to people in Britain and the British establishment. The shooting of an individual soldier, for the people of Britain, has very little effect in terms of the media or in terms of the British administration.
The INLA also described the civilians killed as "
consorts __NOTOC__
Consort may refer to:
Music
* "The Consort" (Rufus Wainwright song), from the 2000 album ''Poses''
* Consort of instruments, term for instrumental ensembles
* Consort song (musical), a characteristic English song form, late 16th–earl ...
".
The attack was criticised by many on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland due to the high loss of civilian lives. Soon after the INLA had issued its statement, the government of the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
banned the INLA, making membership punishable by seven years imprisonment.
In an interview after the bombing, INLA leader
Dominic McGlinchey
Dominic "Mad Dog" McGlinchey (1954 – 10 February 1994) was an Irish republican paramilitary leader, who moved from the Provisional IRA to become head of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) paramilitary group in the early 1980s.
McGlinch ...
said that the Droppin Well's owner had been warned six times to stop offering entertainment to British soldiers. McGlinchey added that the owner, and those who socialised with the soldiers, "knew full well that the warnings had been given and that the place was going to be bombed at some stage". It later emerged that the INLA may also have targeted Ballykelly because it believed that the military base was part of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
's radar and communications network.
["INLA almost called off attack"](_blank)
. ''Irish News
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
''. 8 December 2007. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
Six days after the bombing, RUC officers shot dead INLA members
Seamus Grew
Seamus Grew (July 1951 – 12 December 1982) was a volunteer in the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) who, along with Roddy Carroll, was killed in controversial circumstances by police officers from the Special Support Unit E4A of the Roy ...
and Roddie Carroll near a vehicle checkpoint in
Armagh. The officers said they believed that the two men were ferrying McGlinchey into Northern Ireland. Neither was armed, nor was McGlinchey in their car.
Convictions
In June 1986, four INLA members (sisters Anna Moore and Helena Semple, Eamon Moore (no blood relation) and Patrick Shotter) received
life sentence
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes fo ...
s for the attack. Anna Moore would later marry
loyalist Bobby Corry, whilst both were in prison. Anna's daughter, Jacqueline Moore, was given ten years for
manslaughter as the court believed she had been coerced into involvement. She was pregnant during her arrest and later gave birth in jail.
All of those convicted were from Derry.
See also
*
Timeline of Irish National Liberation Army actions
This is a timeline of actions by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group. Most of these actions took place as part of its 1975–1998 campaign during "the Troubles" in Northern Ireland. The ...
References
{{The Troubles
1982 in Northern Ireland
1982 murders in the United Kingdom
1980s in County Londonderry
1980s trials
20th-century mass murder in Northern Ireland
Attacks on buildings and structures in 1982
Attacks on nightclubs
Building bombings in Northern Ireland
December 1982 crimes
December 1982 events in the United Kingdom
Explosions in County Londonderry
Improvised explosive device bombings in 1982
Irish National Liberation Army actions
Mass murder in 1982
Mass murder in County Londonderry
Massacres in Northern Ireland
Military history of County Londonderry
Murder trials
Terrorist incidents in County Londonderry
Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 1982
1980s murders in Northern Ireland
1982 crimes in Ireland
The Troubles in County Londonderry
Trials in the United Kingdom