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Remembering the GAA’s darkest day: Bloody Sunday 1920 Bloody Sunday 1920 is a moment in time seared into the Irish psyche. On 21 November 1920, 90 seconds of shooting claimed the lives of 14 people and wounded 60 more, elevating Croke Park from sporting field to hallowed ground. Ciarán Galway speaks with GAA Museum Director Niamh McCoy about curating a commemorative programme to enhance understanding of the event and its victims. Amid the ongoing War of Independence, a wave of violence, culminating in the deaths of 33 people across Dublin, ensured that 21 November 1920 would be collectively remembered as one of Ireland’s Bloody Sundays. As well as being the epicentre of
Ireland’s national games and the thirdlargest stadium in Europe, Croke Park is a War of Independence lieu de mémoire. On the morning of Bloody Sunday 1920, the IRA in Dublin executed a plan to disrupt the British intelligence network in the capital. The IRA’s Chief of Intelligence, Michael Collins, tasked ‘The Twelve Apostles’ with assassinating 20 British intelligence agents across eight locations in the city. In total, 15 men were killed and one mortally wounded while an additional five survived. That afternoon, in an act of retribution, Crown Forces entered Croke Park during a challenge game between the Dublin and Tipperary footballers and opened fired on the 10,000 people gathered there.
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In the panic, 14 people were killed, including three children, while over 60 were injured. This was followed later that the evening with the execution of two high-ranking IRA officers and a civilian in Dublin Castle. To mark the centenary of Bloody Sunday, the GAA Museum, as the national custodian of the GAA’s archives and artefacts has coordinated a commemorative programme. “The GAA Museum has an educational remit and wanted to present the facts, tell the story again and bring it to new audiences. The main focus of our event programme was remembering the victims,” explains Museum Director, Niamh McCoy. From the perspective of the GAA Museum, the commemorative programme has three main objectives. The first is to
