The Hillcrest Bar bombing, also known as the "Saint Patrick's Day bombing", took place on 17 March 1976 in Dungannon,

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. It is no longer used as an administrative division for local government but retai ...

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

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaign ...

(UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, detonated a car bomb outside a

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

crowded with people celebrating

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

. Four

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

civilians were killed by the blast—including two 13-year-old boys standing outside—and almost 50 people were injured, some severely. In December 1980, UVF member Garnet James Busby confessed to having been one of the bombers and was sentenced to life in prison. The UVF unit responsible was the Mid-Ulster Brigade, which at the time was led by

Robin Jackson Robert John Jackson (27 September 1948 – 30 May 1998), also known as The Jackal, was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and part-time soldier. He was a senior officer in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) during the period of viole ...

. The attack is one of many linked to the Glenanne gang, a loose association of loyalist militants and rogue members of the Northern Ireland security forces, who carried out a series of attacks against the Catholic/Irish nationalist community in the area during the 1970s.

Situation in Northern Ireland

By the mid-1970s, the conflict in Northern Ireland, known as

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 " ...

, showed no signs of abating. 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) intensified its bombing campaign to drive British forces out, and began targeting English cities. The main loyalist paramilitary groups—the UVF and

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and undertook an armed campaign of almost 24 years as one of t ...

(UDA)—responded with random attacks on the local Catholic population, which in turn led to IRA reprisals against Protestants. During 1975 the IRA was officially on ceasefire. Loyalists believed the ceasefire was part of a secret deal between the British Government and IRA which would mean a British withdrawal from Northern Ireland. According to journalist Peter Taylor, the vicious tit-for-tat violence between the IRA and loyalists made 1975 one of the "bloodiest years of the conflict". In Belfast, the loyalist

Shankill Butchers The Shankill Butchers were an Ulster loyalist gang—many of whom were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)—that was active between 1975 and 1982 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was based in the Shankill area and was responsible for t ...

gang, led by

Lenny Murphy Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy (2 March 1952 – 16 November 1982) was a Northern Irish loyalist and UVF officer. As leader of the Shankill Butchers gang, Murphy was responsible for many murders, mainly of Catholic civilians, often first kidna ...

, began an 18-month killing spree designed to strike terror into the Catholic community, who they believed were giving succour to the IRA. The gang would drive around Catholic areas in a black taxi and kidnap random Catholic passersby, then torture and hack them to death. However, most tit-for-tat attacks were bombings and shootings targeting pubs, or roadside ambushes, as in the case of the

Miami Showband massacre The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband massacre) was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Irelan ...

. This saw three members of the popular Irish cabaret band shot dead at a fake military checkpoint by UVF gunmen in British Army uniforms. Two of those convicted were

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

(UDR) soldiers. Investigations established that UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade commander

was the organizer and main gunman in the July 1975 ambush. Described as "the most notorious Loyalist paramilitary in Northern Ireland","Report of the Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland", October 2006 (The Cassel Report 2006), p.63
Retrievedved 15 March 2014 it was also revealed that he was a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Special Branch agent. A further 50 paramilitary attacks have been linked to Jackson, including the 1974

Dublin and Monaghan bombings Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ce ...

, which killed 33 people."Report of the Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland", October 2006 (The Cassel Report 2006), p.68
Retrieved 15 March 2014 In January 1976, the UVF killed six members of two Catholic families in a co-ordinated attack. The following evening, IRA members (using the covername "Republican Action Force") retaliated by shooting eleven Protestant men after ordering them out of a minibus. Only one survived. Loyalists sought revenge, and members of the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade planned to attack a nearby Catholic primary school. The operation was aborted by the UVF leadership on the grounds that it was "morally unacceptable", would provoke a terrible response from the IRA and could spark civil war."UVF planned to kill 30 children". ''Irish News''. McCaffrey, Barry; McKinney, Seamus. 9 July 2007
Retrieved 15 March 2014 Harold Wilson announced on 16 March 1976 that he was resigning as British Prime Minister. That same day, the British Army defused a 200-pound IRA bomb left outside a garage in Dungannon.

The bombing

The Hillcrest Bar (now McAleer's)"Priest’s words of comfort to father of 13 year-old killed in St Patrick’s Day bomb"
''

Tyrone Times The ''Tyrone Times'', more correctly known as the ''Tyrone Times and Dungannon Gazette'', is a newspaper based in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was published by Johnston Publishing (NI), which was part of Johnston Press and w ...

''. 14 March 2016. on Dungannon's Donaghmore Road, was a pub frequented by Catholics and was jointly owned by a Catholic and a Protestant. An incendiary device had been planted inside the premises the year before."Report of the Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland", October 2006 (The Cassel Report 2006), p.53
Retrieved 15 March 2014 On the evening of 17 March 1976, the pub was packed with revelers celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. There was also a disco for young people being held in a school across the road."Murdered by the Glenanne gang: ‘Patrick lived till the ripe old age of 13’"
''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

''. 2 May 2015. According to writer and former British soldier

Ken Wharton Frederick Charles Kenneth Wharton (21 March 1916 – 12 January 1957) was a British racing driver from Smethwick, England. He competed in off-road trials, hillclimbs, and rallying, and also raced sports cars and single-seaters. He began racing ...

, a loyalist attack had been anticipated in Northern Ireland as 'Catholic pubs' would be packed with people enjoying the Irish holiday. Earlier that day in East Belfast, Catholic teacher John Donnelly had been drinking in the Cregagh Inn on Woodstock Road. When one of his former students identified him as a Catholic, UDA members who happened to be in the pub forced him outside (in full view of the customers) and stabbed him to death behind the building.Wharton, Ken (2013). ''Wasted Years, Wasted Lives, Volume 1: The British Army in Northern Ireland, 1975-1977''. UK: Helion & Company That evening, UVF members parked a green

Austin-Healey Austin-Healey was a British sports car maker established in 1952 through a joint venture between the Austin division of the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and the Donald Healey Motor Company (Healey), a renowned automotive engineering and des ...

1100 car outside the Hillcrest Bar. It had been stolen in Armagh nine days earlier. At 8.20 pm, the

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 ...

hidden in the car exploded. The blast killed three people outright and fatally wounded another. Almost 50 people were injured, nine of them severely. The force of the blast blew out all the pub's windows and rained debris on the footpath outside. The pub manager, who had been upstairs when the bomb detonated, said "everything just simply erupted around us. There was no warning".McKittrick, David (1999). ''Lost Lives''. Mainstream Publishing Company, Ltd. p. 634 One of those killed was Joseph Kelly (57), who had been inside the pub. Two 13-year-old boys, James McCaughey and Patrick Barnard, were in the street near the car bomb when it went off; James was mutilated beyond recognition and Patrick would die of his horrific injuries in hospital the following day. The boys were on their way to a disco at a school across the road. Andrew Small (62) was walking past with his wife and was also killed in the blast. All of the victims were Catholic civilians with no links to republican paramilitary groups. The getaway car used by the bombers had been stolen in

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

. It was found burnt out a mile from the bomb site.

Responsibility

The 17 March bombing is one of the attacks that the

Pat Finucane Centre The Pat Finucane Centre (PFC) is a human rights advocacy and lobbying entity in Northern Ireland. Named in honour of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane, it operates advice centres in Derry and Newry, dealing mainly with complaints from Irish nati ...

(PFC) has attributed to the Glenanne gang. This was a loose alliance of loyalist militants (in particular the UVF Mid-Ulster Brigade) and rogue members of the Northern Ireland security forces: the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the British Army's

(UDR). The group carried out a series of attacks against Catholics/Irish nationalists in the area during the 1970s. The PFC requested that Professor Douglass Cassel (formerly of

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law s ...

in Chicago) convene an international inquiry to investigate allegations of collusion between loyalists and the security forces in sectarian killings. This international team concluded in their 2006 report that the Hillcrest Bar bombing was one of the attacks perpetrated by the Glenanne gang. In December 1980, Dungannon UVF member Garnet James Busby confessed to having been part of the bombing unit. He also confessed to other attacks, including another Dungannon pub bombing, and the double murder of married couple Peter and Jane McKearney at Listamlet,

Moy, County Tyrone Moy () is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland about southeast of Dungannon and beside the smaller village of Charlemont. Charlemont is on the east bank of the River Blackwater and Moy on the west; the two are joined by ...

in 1975. (The couple was mistakenly believed by loyalists to be related or even the parents of PIRA volunteer Margaret McKearney, but were, in fact, unrelated.) Although Busby named three other men involved in the Hillcrest Bar bombing he was the only one convicted. At his trial, an RUC inspector told the court that the same UVF group had carried out the Miami Showband killings. In 1981 Garnet Busby received six life sentences for the murders of the McKearneys, Joseph Kelly, Andrew Small, James McCaughey and Patrick Barnard. He was sent to the

Maze Prison Her Majesty's Prison Maze (previously Long Kesh Detention Centre, and known colloquially as The Maze or H-Blocks) was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house alleged paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from August 1971 to Sep ...

."Report of the Independent International Panel on Alleged Collusion in Sectarian Killings in Northern Ireland, October 2006" (The Cassel Report 2006), p. 111
retrieved 15 March 2014
, patfinucanecentre.org; retrieved 14 March 2014.

References

Bibliography

Situation in Northern Ireland

The bombing

Responsibility

See also

References

Bibliography