Rioting in Belfast
As news came back from Clones on the 12th, shooting broke out in a number of areas of Belfast. A Protestant teenager, David Boyd, was shot in Hanover St. The bodies of two Catholics, William Tennyson and James Mathers, are found near Millfield after heavy ‘B’ Special activity in the area. A few hours later, a Catholic barman, Peter McNelis, is shot dead in the Markets.
On the morning of the 13th, gunfire was directed at men going to work – two Catholics, Frances Neary (40) and James Gregg (50) were killed in Kildare St and two Protestants, James (John) Brown (23) and Ben Lundy (21) are killed near North Howard St. (According to McDermott, latter killed by a sniper operating from the Falls Rd.) At lunchtime, a Catholic publican, Patrick Lambe (53) was shot dead on his premises in York St. In the evening, five people were killed (or received fatal wounds) in the North of the city. Three were Catholics - Anthony Sadlier, Mary Robinson (both teenagers) and Joseph Brown (50) and two were Protestants – Carter William Law (20) and Johnston Crothers (25). (McDermott says Brown was a Protestant.)
In the worst incident of the day, a bomb is thrown into Weaver St killing six and wounding nearly 20 others – most of those dead and injured are children. The names of the dead were: Mary Johnstone (11); Catherine Kennedy (15); Elizabeth O’Hanlon (11); Rose Ann O’Neill (13); Margaret Smith (53) and Mary Owen (40). Churchill in a letter to Collins, say that the bombing is the worse thing that has happened in Ireland in the last three years and RC Bishop MacRory sends a telegram to Llyod George pleading for military reinforcements.
The caretaker of Clifton Street Orange Hall, William Waring (50), was shot dead by a lone gunman on the morning of the 14th, Also, that morning Frank McCoy (26), barman and IRA officer was found dying in Springfield Av. A Protestant, George Harper (16), was fatally wounded during disturbances in York St. Two Protestant workmen, Thomas Samuel Blair (40) and James Lindsay, were fatally wounded on Falls Rd. (McDermott says Lindsay was only slightly wounded but does say that this was a sectarian reprisal carried out by the IRA.) One of the IRA gang, James Morrison, who carried out these killings was shot by police as he fled the scene. A Catholic carter, Henry Gallagher (40), was shot dead on Great George’s St and another Catholic, James Rice (19) was killed by a loyalist mob on Ravenscroft St. Two Protestant workers were separated from their colleagues in Divis St by a 12-strong IRA gang and one of them, John McClelland, later died in hospital as did another Protestant, John Wales, who dies from injuries received earlier.
On the 15th, 8 people were to lose their lives in Belfast. A Protestant, William Duffin (24), was shot by an IRA gang in his place of work. Two Catholics, Peter McCall and Owen Bond, were shot dead by a military patrol at Carrick Hill. An off-duty ‘B’ Special, Hector Steward (21) was shot by an IRA sniper as he passed the New Lodge Road. (Abbott says 16th Feb.) A Protestant shopkeeper, Hugh French (39) was hit by a police bullet in his shop on the Old Lodge Rd and later died in hospital. Another Protestant, Thomas Neil, was shot dead by police allegedly while sniping from a rooftop on York St. Two more Catholics were shot. Charles John McMullan (29), a Catholic, was shot in his home in Woodstock and 5-year-old John Devlin was shot by a sniper while playing near his home in Seaforde St.