BELFAST MAGAZINE
ISSUE
70
BRUTAL IRISH
MURDERS SEPT 1977
BELFAST IN THE 1950’s
Old Belfast EXPLORING Police Reports IRELAND
TULLY CASTLE OLD BELFAST ADVERTISEMENTS, MAPS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND MUCH MORE ...
Page 2
Belfast Magazine
BELFAST MAGAZINE
COVER PICTURE
5 Churchill Street, Belfast BT15 2BP Tel: 9031 0859 Fax 9035 1326 E-Mail:
glenravel@ashtoncentre.com Web Page:
www.glenravel.com The Belfast Magazine is a bi-monthly publication compiled by the Glenravel Local History Project. It is just one of several Glenravel titles which aims to promote an interest in the subject of local history. It has always been claimed that history belongs of the higher classes and looking at the way it has been presented for decades then this would seem to be the case. Glenravel are not interested in the history of lords and earls, their estates and titles, instead we are interested in the history of working class life. We are not interested in politics either and we must stress that if an article appears in the magazine which appears to be a bit one sided then this is due to the simple fact that it is taken from a Nationalist or Unionist newspaper. We use both to try and balance things out. The Glenravel Local History Project is a local historical scheme based in the North Belfast area. It’s activities are centred around the educational promotion and restoration of the areas historic burying ground at Clifton Street and is named after the nearby Glenravel Street which was destroyed to make way for the disastrous Westlink road system.
Looking down High Street in the mid 1780’s showing the old Market House at its junction with Cornmarket. It was from here that the United Irishman Henry Joy McCracken was hanged with several of his colleagues in 1798
The same view today (January 2011)
The Belfast Magazine is not funded by any grant making body and is entirely funded by you - the reader. It’s profits are not used for personal gain but for the continuing work of the overall scheme. If you would like to support our work and advertise your business at the same time then feel free to contact our team at the above.
The hanging of Henry Joy McCracken, 1798
Belfast Magazine
Page 3
BILLY GRAHAM COMES TO BELFAST AND OUR LAST HANGING Over the past few issues we have been looking at events in Belfast during major world ones with the current one being April 1961 when the first man was put in space by the Soviet Union. As that was going on the Cavehill branch of the Newtownabbey Ratepayers’ Association had a meeting at which a resolution was passed by a majority vote which instructed the committee to ensure that the desire of
the ratepayers of the area to be incorporated within the County Borough of Belfast be brought to the notice of the appropriate authorities. The resolution was proposed by Mr S Kirker. The petition which had been organised by the Newtownabbey branch had collected 700 signatures and of the people approached only seven had refused to sign. There were 1012 electors in the area. The reasons for the petition were that the area
was geographically a part of Belfast and the people living in the area used Belfast transport, Belfast lighting, gas electricity and water. The people in the area regarded themselves as Belfast people and due to their location were made to pay more for these services. The branch were keen that all of the Cavehill area would be included in the plan as the residents of Bellevue and Hazelwood were particularly keen to be included in the Belfast area.
Large crowds expected for American evangelist Over 50,000 people were expected to attend a meeting with the much t r a v e l l e d A m e r i c a n evangelist Dr Billy Graham. Dr Graham was touring the UK and was based in Manchester during his European visit.
Dr Graham would address a rally at the Windsor Park football stadium and then address an invited meeting of the city’s clergy in the Wellington Hall before returning to the USA. It was to be one of the largest r e l i g i o u s meetings held in
Ireland. The All Ulster Crusade organisation was organising events in Ulster before the visit by Dr Graham. It consisted of visits to many town including an eight day stay at Ballymena, a series of rallies in the Kings Hall, and tow open air
meetings in the Botanic Gardens. A special mission to the Crumlin Road Jail was also organised.
Page 4
Belfast Magazine
Flax Company Closing The York Street Flax Spinning Company based in north Belfast, regarded as one of the world’s largest linen manufacturing concerns, was to be voluntarily wound up with the loss of over 1600 jobs. The company had factories at Muckamore and Lurgan and was closing due to a decline in orders worldwide for linen products.
York Street Mill pictured shortly before it closed
Appeal leave is refused The Court of Criminal Appeal in Belfast refused the Attorney General Mr Brian Maginness leave to appeal to the House of Lords against the court’s decision quashing the conviction of Patrick
Gallagher on a charge of murdering his 38 year old wife, Rose. The three judges constituting the court, Lord Justice Black, Lord Justice Curran and Mr. Justice Sheil, granted Mr. Maginness a certificate
enabling him to make a further application to the House of Lords for leave to appeal, The judges stated that they were prepared to certify that a point of law of general public importance
Belfast Magazine
was involved in their judgement on the appeal This was as to whether a person on a psychopathic condition, which was quiescent, might become insane within the McNaghten Rules as a result of the voluntary consumption of intoxicating liquor, if the effect of the liquor was to bring about an episode in the course of a mental disease, although the disease was no itself caused by intoxicating liquor. Gallagher a 40 year old ex soldier and father of four children was sentenced to death at the Northern Ireland Winter Assizes after a jury found him guilty of murdering his wife with intent at their home. A member of the band which played at the dance attended by Pearl Gamble on the night before her wounded and almost naked body was discovered told the special court in Newry that the man accused of her murder, Robert Andrew McGladdery, had requested him to play the tune, “Its now or never�. An application to have this part of the evidence banned
from publication was reused by the RM who said he did not think it would prejudice the trial. McGladdery had made several successful applications to have parts of evidence excluded from publication, and had felt that this evidence would give a significance which was not there to the words of the song. A considerable portion of the evidence given on the first day of the trial was banned from publication under Clause 42. The witness stated that after McGladdery had made the request for the song to be played he did not dance to the song but just stood at the entrance to the dance hall. Earlier McGladdery had danced with Pearl Gamble.
Page 5
Robert McGladdery who became the last person to be hanged in the Crumlin Road Prison
Page 6
Belfast Magazine
Children enjoying games on the Cavehill Road in 1916
Opening of the new Woolworth store in High Street in June 1930
Belfast Magazine
The Sydenham by-pass shortly before it opened
William Hill, the founder of Britain’s niggest bookmakers, served as a Black and Tan in Ireland The world’s oldest daily newspaper is the Belfast News Letter which was founded in 1737
Page 7
Page 8
Belfast Magazine
Horrible case of cruelty In late November of 1924 George Trimble from the Donegall Road and Samuel Harrison of Tate’s Avenue, both in Belfast, were brought before the Belfast Summons Court and charged with cruelty to a horse on the 10th November 1924. Head Constable Campbell prosecuted and Mr W Anderson, solicitor, defended.
the horse in the yard stable. The horse was exhausted, so weak that it was unable to feed and it was sweating freely.
He asked Harrison to bring the horse into the open yard so that he could have a look at it and in the clear light of day he found wounds and blisters all along the horses’ flanks, some of which were the thickness of a finger, The main witness for the apparently caused by the prosecution was Constable whip. Forbes who had been on duty on the Donegall Road in the There was a fresh disc like city. He was walking along wound on the foreleg; the girth the Donegall Road, close to had worked into the wound where what was then known causing the girth to become as the Cripples’ Institute, splattered with blood. when he noticed Samuel Harrison told the constable, "I Harrison, who was a driver never noticed the wound working for George Trimble. before; it is only freshly done Harrison was coming along today." Another man who was the road with the horse and also in the yard told the cart approaching the part of constable that the wound had the road where there was a been on the horse since considerable hill and he saw Trimble had bought it. He Harrison whip the horse from subsequently added when Mr the bottom of the hill to the Trimble walked into the yard, top, with a great deal of force, "That man is not fit to be in and when the horse reached charge of a horse. Just give the top of the hill he pulled the him a summons, and it will horse severely on the bit in its teach the others a lesson." The mouth. Constable Forbes constable then had a look at followed the driver, Harrison, the load that the horse was and a short time later he saw expected to pull and found that
the cart was full with grain and the load was very heavy and had shifted to the back of the cart making the horses’ job even more difficult. When Harrison was questioned both at the scene and then later in court he told the police and magistrate that he thought that the horse was being badly treated. He stated that he had been off work for quite some time before the incident, had asked for light work on his return, and he had got the job of working on the horse and cart. He thought that Mr Trimble probably did not know that much about how the horses were being treated but he did confirm that the wound on the horses’ side was an old one which had opened up again. He thought it could quite easily have been fixed if the girth had been adjusted. When Constable Forbes came to give evidence he was closely questioned as to why he did not stop the driver, Harrison, while he was on the hill, when the constable had noticed that the horse was in trouble. He explained that he felt that was best to let the
Belfast Magazine
Page 9
Samuel Harrison was called to give more evidence and he denied using a whip on the horse on that day, in fact he denied even having a whip with him that day. He also denied sawing with the reins and causing the horse pain with the snaffle bit. When asked by the prosecution if he was saying that the police man was lying he stated, "Yes, I had no whip, there could not have been blisters".
horse continue rather than stopping it half way up the hill, He felt it would have caused the horse more pain and discomfort to stop it and then get it start again. George Trimble, the owner, was then examined and said he had been working with horses for over thirty years and had never had a complaint before. He knew nothing about what happened to the mare in question. The animal had a sore when he
bought her, around seven months before, but he did not make her work when the sore was open. On the day of the incident on the Donegall Road hill he noted that he had sent out the mare with the sore a bit red and rough, but it was not bleeding and he saw no marks of a whip on the horses flanks. He had had the horse trimmed the day after the incident and he objected to the evidence given by Constable Forbes to the court that he had found wounds on the horse.
Mr Moriarty, the magistrate, considered the case very carefully and was of the opinion that there was a gross case of deliberate cruelty. He said "it is an offence that must excite the horror and disgust of every decent minded person." There was no evidence that he could find that would confirm what Harrison the driver had said and in his own experience made him believe in fact that Harrison was guilty of perjury. He decided that there were no grounds for any consideration for Harrison at all and in his opinion the only proper punishment in such a case was one of imprisonment. Harrison was sent to jail for 14 days and Trimble was find 40s and had to pay the legal costs.
Page 10
Belfast Magazine
Rosemary Street in the early 1790’s showing the family home of Dr. William Drennan, the founder of the United Irishmen (Below - the same view today, January 2011)
Belfast Magazine
Page 11
Page 12
Belfast Magazine
Old Belfast Police Reports A prosperous chimney sweep n January 1876 John Donoghue was brought up before the Belfast Police Courts and charged by Acting Constable Hurley with having a valuable gold chain in his possession on the 3rd of January of the same year, supposed to have been stolen. The case had been before the court on the 8th January and on that occasion the constable gave evidence that he had been sent for by Mr Oyles who was a pawnbroker with premises in York Street in the city and to whom Donoghue had offered the chain in pawn. On that day Mr Donoghue had told the court that he had purchased the chain in Melbourne,
I
Australia and that he had paid ÂŁ20 for it. One week later Donoghue was again in court and he stated that he was a chimney sweep by trade and that he had arrived in Belfast from Australia via London and Liverpool. He had paperwork which would prove that he had come by the chain honestly and he had got it made to order by a jeweller in Melbourne. He produced the paper guarantee and the police handed back the chain to him. There was a great deal of laughter in the court when the prosecutor told Donoghue that the chimney sweeping trade in Australia must have been very
good and Donoghue agreed. The prosecutor compared the chain to that worn by a mayor, and suggested that the Mayor of Melbourne could have worn it! The chain appeared very heavy with each linked stamped to indicate that it was good quality gold. Mr Donoghue was described at the time as being of an e c c e n t r i c appearance and that he was poorly clad. He told the court that he had not eaten meat for some time but that when he was in possession of his chain he never wanted for anything. He stated that on route to Belfast he had been arrested in Liverpool on a
similar charge, no one there believed that he could own such a valuable chain there either but that when he had produced his guarantee he had been released. He told the judge that as soon as he left court he was going to celebrate with some beef and plum pudding followed by meat pies. He was followed out of the court by many of the spectators who had watched with amusement in the court but he managed to lose most of them by darting down side streets. He told the police that he feared that he would be taken advantage of by the locals when they found out that he owned so much gold. He was released by the court without charge.
Belfast Magazine
Threatening Letter In March 1876 James Hopkins was charged for having sent a threatening letter to James Magill, threatening to kill and murder him. He pleaded not guilty but this was what was included in the letter. "James Magill, Twould have yon for to be aware that before you pass many yeare you will get as good a pounded hyde as ever you any of your connections got in their life you may depend
upon it they are very near you at present." The letter continued that there was a coffin waiting for Magill and that he, Hopkins, was giving Magill due notice of the threat and that no matter how long it would take him to get revenge that at the end of time the revenge would come. Hopkins drew a heavily outlined coffin on the letter with a line down the centre of the coffin, to represent a body. Over it was written, "This is
Page 13
not very well done". Another larger coffin was drawn at the bottom of the piece of paper along with a head with a goatee on the chin and a threat that the person who wrote the letter would give ÂŁ20 to get Magill in place by himself. The magistrates believed that the letter was so badly written that it was unclear as to the actual threats made against Magill, and that they did not believe that Hopkins had made any real threats. The jury concurred with the magistrate and Hopkins was acquitted.
A Boisterous Pauper John McDonnell, a resident of the workhouse, was charged with having assaulted a fellow pauper named James Murray and he was prosecuted on behalf of the Belfast Poor law Guardians. James Murray gave evidence in court that he saw McDonnell dragging a woman in one of the corridors of the the workhouse and when he approached him to stop him McDonnell struck him with his clenched hand on the face, knocking out some of his teeth. Murray complained to the master of the workhouse about the assault and when the investigations began McDonnell again assaulted Murray by hitting him again in the face. McDonnell was sent to jail for a month.
Assault Jane Devlin who was well known to the court was charged in March 1876 with assaulting a man in Belfast. She claimed in court that the man had knocked down her child and that he had done nothing to help her child. She had assaulted him in return for his assault on her child. She claimed that the man lived in a brothel in Academy Street and although the court did not condone her vengeful actions and despite her having seventeen other convictions Jane Devlin was released without charge, the decision was not prevented by the local police who had some sympathy for the poor woman’s plight.
Page 14
Belfast Magazine
EARNING AN HONEST PENNY (WELL ALMOST!) am well aware that this is not going to refer to everyone reading this but one thing I want people from working class communities around my age to admit is how many were involved in the nicking of copper and lead from old derelict buildings? If you have answered honestly then I’m sure the figure is pretty high. The reason I know this is I was one such person and during the 1970’s it seemed to me as though everyone was at it. Being from the Barrack area at that time a lot of buildings were being vacated for the construction of the Westlink Motorway and a lot of derelict buildings meant a lot of lead and copper. It was a thriving business and what it involved was securing a building and stripping as much lead and copper in the shortest possible time before word got around that there was a way in. Looking back there is no doubt that this was extremely dangerous as you were not quite sure if the electric was switched off when ripping out copper wire and as for climbing on to roofs to strip off the lead - well that speaks for itself. The way the lead market worked was quite simple. You got the lead, bunged it into an old pram or trolly of some sort and took it to the nearest scrapyard. Here it was weighed and you were given money for it. Copper was slightly different. It was worth more and if you got copper water pipes you were OK but if it was copper wire then you had to burn off the rubber coating on a fire in waste ground which caused a lot of black smoke and therefore the attention of the Peelers. We had two nearby scrapyards and both were in Great George’s Street. One was at the corner of
I
Taken from Joe Baker’s book Hooligan to Historian which can be downloaded completely free of charge at www.joebaker.ie Thomas Street and the other, known as Cookes, was further down. We were always asked where we got the stuff from and they always received the bog standard answer found it! We lived in Churchill Flats which is now directly next to the Westlink and in those days we had the perfect view of the buildings being vacated. When the removal lorries moved in we were quite often watching them and when they moved off we were straight down and in behind them. One such case was an old warehouse in Great George’s Street. Inside there was a massive slide from the top of the building to the bottom which was used for sliding down sacks of grain and as we were still kids a lot of fun was had on that. One day, when the Peelers came, it proved useful for a quick getaway but unfortunately for us it also led to a quick capture as it brought us straight into the arms of the cops waiting at the bottom of it. We were never scooped but instead you got a quick size ten in the arse department and a good old fashioned slap across the head. The parting comments from the Peelers were along the lines of if we came back we would be arrested but as soon as they went we were straight in behind them - although not using the slide for future getaways! Back to the business side of things and the copper and lead. These old warehouses were
Belfast Magazine
Page 15
Glenravel Street Peeler Barrack coming down with the stuff. The most prized it. I remember one member of our lead gang items were the lead sheeting off the flat roofs. getting a massive nail straight through his If you got this then it meant that you could foot. It must have been extremely painful wrap it around ‘bessy bars and bring it to the because his lead collecting days and scrapyard for weighing. OK, this might be messing about in old buildings ceased from wiping their eye but do you really think they that day on. My own brother Liam was were giving us kids the full price of the another major causality. He was up stripping material? Now I know many people are a roof when he slid, fell off and went straight wondering what a ‘bessy bar’ is. Well they through another roof a few floors down. were the iron weights used in the old sash Covered in blood he managed to stagger up windows and which were quite heavy. In to our flat from where our Da took him up to addition to copper piping there was also the the Mater Hospital. It’s a miracle he did not old lead piping to be got. This was a real bleed to death because my Da (being my Da) dirty job as it often meant digging it out of decided to stop and talk to everyone he met on the way up. Needless to say my Da told walls and getting soaked into the bargain. One thing I do remember from all this was Liam in no uncertain terms that if he ever someone seemed to have ended up in hospital caught him at any ‘oul’ buildings he would almost everyday. The most common injury get much worse. was the nail in the foot and almost all of us This brings me to another old building which have the scars on the soles of our feet to prove came onto the lead market - Glenravel Street
Page 16
Belfast Magazine
Barracks. The Peelers moved out of this in 1971 and moved into the recently constructed North Queen Street. The lead on this barrack roof was tremendous and because it was overlooked by our flats then we were the first on the scene. We went straight for the roof and the lead gang consisted of me, my brother Liam and Henry ‘Hen’ Brady. Looking back I have no idea why I ever went along with them because all I seemed to end up with was a bottle of Coke and bag of crisps. Anyway, we went straight for the roof and were working away getting the lead off when shouts of "Liam, Liam" were heard coming from the street below. One extremely careful look over at the side of a downpipe revealed it to be our Da. At this exact moment we did not know it but one of the rival lead gangs went and told our Dad that were were there so that they could muscle in behind us - it was a cut throat market. This was a major problem and if you think Hen was okay then you would be wrong. Hen had two brothers and one sister and lived with his mum and dad in a two bedroom flat in number 11 Churchill Flats. Because he was never out of our house (and this included sleeping there) then my Dad would have had no hesitation in giving him the same
treatment as me and Liam. We were in trouble and it seemed to be getting worse with the shouts became threats to come up. Suddenly Liam turned to me and said for me to go down and pretend that I was on my own. "No bloody way" was my instant reply which I thought was reasonable, sensible and less painful for me. "You’re the smallest and there is no way Da will give you a kicking" was Liam’s reasoning. After a short time I was left with no choice and on the promise of some money for the lead instead of the sweets I went down. I came out of the building and I can honestly state that I was convinced I was not going to get touched. I was grabbed by the hair with my Da screaming into my face "where’s Liam?" "He’s not in there" was my reply "I’m just playing on my own." For someone convinced by his older and more sensible brother that I would not be touched I can clearly state that a painful lesson was learned that day. I can truthfully say that my feet did not touch the ground between the Peeler barrack and our flat. Later on Liam and Hen came in stuffing their faces with all sorts of sweets and lemonade. "Where’s mine" I asked. "Sorry kid, you weren't there," was the simple reply. Well I did say it was a cut throat market!
A newspaper picture from 1974 showing our block of flats from York Street
Belfast Magazine
Belfast map of 1954 showing the Ardoyne and Woodvale areas
Page 17
Page 18
Belfast Magazine
EXPLORING IRELAND Every week members of the Glenravel Project visit different sites of historical interest throughout the country. For up to date information on all the latest trips visit the Facebook page of the Glenravel Local History Project
TULLY CASTLE County Fermanagh
Following the Flight of the Earls in 1607, the crown seized Irish land in Ulster and granted it out in large parcels to English and Scottish ‘planters’ on condition that they build settlements and provide strongholds loyal to the king. Sir John Hume of Polwarth in Berwickshire was granted 2000 acres at Tully, known as ‘Carrynroe’, in 1610, and had built a castle on Tully Point by 1613. The life of the castle was brief. Sir John Hume died in 1639 and was succeeded by his son, Sir George. In 1641, Rory Maguire set out to recapture his family’s lands. He arrived with a large following on Christmas Eve, and found the
castle full of women and children, but most of the men were away. Lady Mary Hume surrendered, believing that she had assured a safe conduct for all in her care, but on Christmas Day the Maguires killed 60 women and children and 15 men, sparing only the Humes. The castle was burnt and the Humes never went back. Castle Hume, a classical house, was built by Sir Gustavus Hume in 1728-9, on a different site, and this in turn was replaced by Ely Lodge. The castle stands at the top of a south-facing slope on Tully Point on the west shore of Lower Lough Erne. Today
most people come from the north, the landward side, but originally the approach was through a gate in the centre of the south bawn wall, either from a boat at Sand Bay or by a footpath that curves off to the west, perhaps from the village of 24 families that we are told the Humes built at the same time as the castle. From the outside the castle was well protected. When you walk round the perimeter of the castle and bawn you see that the castle is three storeys high, with tapering stone walls. On the north side, projecting turrets at the top of the tower protected vulnerable corners, and four flanker towers at the corners of the bawn had small musket loops which allowed all the walls to be covered. The east side of the bawn is the best preserved and gives the best idea of the defences. If you walk first round the north and east sides of the castle, looking at the strength of the defences, you can approach the inside of the castle, as all visitors did originally, from the south. Inside the bawn the castle
Belfast Magazine
looks more domestic. The two flankers on the east side were small houses, with stone floors and good fireplaces, but the south east flanker also has a first-floor door that led out to a small timber platform for defence. Stone paving governed the routes you could take within the courtyard, either to flankers or to the castle, and the rest of the ground may have been planted: a formal garden to left and right of the central path and herbs in the areas close to the castle. The first-floor windows of the castle are bigger on the south side than in other directions, both to enjoy sun and the garden and because it was the safest side, protected by the bawn. As you can see from the reconstruction drawing, the castle roof was thatched. Its turrets may have been roofed with stone or wood shingles. The flankers would have been
roofed with stone. The quarterround turret projecting from a corner of the castle between the entrance block and the main wing is a circular stair leading from the first floor to the attic. Inside the castle you come first into a stair hall. In the early 17th century large staircases were still something of a novelty, but Tully had one. We can reconstruct its lines from impressions left on the wall. It started off straight, but then curved a little before reaching the first floor. Access to the
Page 19
second floor was by the more old-fashioned projecting circular stair. The large room to the north of the stair hall must once have been subdivided into two or more rooms. A big barrel vault covers the whole area. To the east is the arch of a big kitchen fireplace with recesses at both ends for ovens. In the centre of the room is a square hole in the vault. Its purpose is a puzzle: superficially it looks like a murder hole, but its placing is strange. The west end of the room may have been for storage, arms, food and drink and perhaps servants’ accommodation. Drains lead out from this end of the castle and run out through the north bawn wall. On the first floor, the partition dividing the area into two rooms must be a second thought since it cuts into a window. The room to the east has a small corner fireplace
Page 20
Belfast Magazine
tucked in beside the kitchen chimney stack, and its main window facing south was enlarged at some stage. The room to the west would have been the chief room for entertaining in the castle. It had a good fireplace in the west wall and plenty of windows. The stone details of the windows are all missing but the reconstruction gives an idea of their original appearance. A window near the south west corner was blocked up, but in the blocking is a stone with a circular hole. Perhaps the Humes built up the window in 1641 as part of their preparations for the attack of the Maguires, leaving a hole for musket fire. The several changes in windows and the partition wall may have been made when Sir George Hume inherited from his father. Another (undocumented) possibility is that the Maguires took over the castle and made use of it for a time, after the Humes had abandoned it. The floor at the level above is missing, but we can imagine sleeping quarters under the thatch. There was also a room over the stair hall at this level, and we can still see its fireplace and two- light window. The general design of this plantation castle was brought by Sir John Hume from the
lowlands of Scotland, but certain features of it have clearly been created by Irish builders. The walls are battered, thicker at the bottom that the top, a sensible way to build that gives a striking skirtlike shape to the corners. The ground-floor vault was constructed on wicker centering, in the Irish tradition. And the castle’s projecting turrets, a characteristic
Scottish feature, were modified by the Irish builders so that instead of being supported on cut-stone corbels (as at Monea and Castle Balfour) they are carried on rubble cones smoothed over with render. The use of thatch on a three-storey castle would not have been common in Scotland, but Irish houses were usually thatched in the early 17th century.
Belfast Magazine
Page 21
SEPTEMBER 1977
Page 22
Belfast Magazine
Thursday 1st September 1977 An RUC officer was injured in a sniper attack when the bullet smashed the windscreen of his land rover. His face was cut by glass when
the shot was fired at the vehicle as it travelled along Thorndale Avenue off the Antrim Road in north Belfast.
Friday 2nd September 1977 A number of firebombs were planted in Antrim town centre. A cautious shop assistant found an incendiary device planted in a shop and businesses were alerted to search their premises and eight more devices, all timed to go off at
midnight, were discovered. Two of the bombs were found in the Spinning Mill, four in Antrim Bargain Store and three in Harman’s carpet and furniture store. The alarm was raised soon after closing time and the army dealt with the devices.
Saturday 3rd September 1977 Shop staff in Derry cleared up debris after firebombs exploded in two of the city’s stores. Wellworths store in Waterloo Place was closed as workers cleared up
the damage. Fire broke out in the store on the first floor but was brought under control by the Fire Brigade. At Woolworth’s in Ferryquay Street two
incendiary bombs went off at counters and there was smoke and water damage. The third incendiary attack set ablaze a hut owned by the Foyle F i s h e r i e s Commission in Prehan Road. A
rowing boat and fish boxes were damaged. Shots were fired at Coalisland RUC station. The RUC stated that they did not return fire and no one was injured in the attack.
Monday 5th September 1977 A parcel bomb posted in Belfast was sent to the Dublin home of the publicity officer of Sinn Fein, Mr Sean Brady. The parcel, which contained a hollowed out book into which about 6oz of explosives had been packed was found by Mr Rory Brady, president of Sinn Fein, when he went to his brothers home at Glenageary to check the post. The parcel bore a label marked "Hibernia Review" which was intended to give the
impression that it contained a book. Two men were questioned in Belfast after a hijacking incident in west Belfast. An RUC officer stated that a car was hijacked at the junction of Cavendish Street and Oakland Street in the Falls Road area. A 22-year-old man was found with a gunshot wound in his thigh after three men burst into his home in Beechmount, west Belfast.
Keep up to date with all our publications and events by visiting the Facebook page of the Glenravel Local History Project
Belfast Magazine
Page 23
Tuesday 6th September 1977 Soldiers came under fire in west Belfast. But there were no reports of any injuries. The shooting happened near the Henry Taggart Army base on the Springfield Road. Shots were fired at an army vehicle as it passed the base. An army foot patrol came under fire in Derry. A gunman fired one shot at a patrol operating in the Moss Park area of Shantallow, but no one was hurt. Fire was not returned. Cassette type incendiary devices were planted in Belfast city centre shops and they all exploded in shops inside the security zone. The fire alert started when a device exploded in McCann’s Boutique in Cornmarket. It was extensively damaged. Minutes later firemen were called to the Gatsby Boutique in
Ann Street but the building was gutted. Three other premises in Ann Street were also attacked but a sprinkler system prevented serious damage at the NPO bookshop and stationers when a device exploded on a bookshelf on the first floor. There was extensive fire and water damage to the KS furniture store on the first and second floors and the Wizard boutique was only slightly damaged. The sixth device exploded in the Stone Dry Boutique in Castle Lane causing extensive damage. Fourteen fire engines were used in the attacks. In Newcastle, Co Down, part of Wa d s w o r t h department store in Main Street, was damaged by an incendiary device. Another device found in an electrical shop also in Main Street
IRA firebomb attack on the ABC Cinema in Belfast’s Royal Avenue
was dealt with in a wall of a house at controlled explosion. Cliftonville Road in north Belfast and A petrol bomb was although it smashed it thrown over the back did not explode.
Wednesday 7th September 1977 John William Lawlor from Ballymoreustace, Co Kildare was shot dead by the IRA in a Dublin city centre pub. Mr Lawlor had been drinking in Timmons Bar with the man who shot him. They talked for 15 minutes and then
moved towards the door, but before reaching it the gunman drew a pistol and fired three shots. The gunman made off on a motor bicycle driven by an accomplice. The IRA issued a statement stating that `Mr Lawlor had been
Page 24
Belfast Magazine
minor injuries in the attack. Two gunmen were involved, hiding in gardens on Springfield Road, and fired 20 shots into the rear of the armoured vehicle as it passed the junction with Divismore Way. A soldier in the vehicle fired one shot back at the attackers but did not hit them. Shortly afterwards a foot patrol in the area saw two men, one carrying an armalite rifle and the other a pistol, jump into a black taxi on Whiterock Road. The patrol fired seven shots at the taxi, and claimed to hit the vehicle with each bullet, but the vehicle did not stop.
honorary consul in Mr Rogers had just got into a car in his Northern Ireland. driveway and his wife Hugh Rogers, aged heard breaking glass 50, and a member of and went out to find the UDR was shot him lying across the dead as he left home seat of the car. Mr at Orchardville Rogers died within a Crescent in south couple of minutes. Belfast. Mr Rogers, He was a member of a married man with 5 the UDR but had not children worked at been on duty for more the Autolite factory in than a year and had west Belfast. He was applied to resign. He also a going to work the was nightshift less than scoutmaster and a half a mile away member of parochial when he was shot organisations at St three times in the Brigids Church on the head and shoulder. Malone Road.
Thursday 8th September 1977
A 26-year-old man was kneecapped in Belfast at the junction of Whiterock and Springfield roads.
involved in recent discoveries of arms and explosives in Dublin, and that he was ‘instrumentally involved in the seizure and had gratuitously given i m p o r t a n t information to the authorities’. The Gardai confirmed that Mr Lawlor had been questioned in connection with an arms and explosives haul in Dublin and Kildare. Four soldiers were injured in an IRA ambush in west Belfast. The soldiers were escorting a Post Office van carrying social security payments. The soldiers received German industrialist, Jurgen Gradel was confronted by a gunman in his Ballymena home. A shot was fired which missed him by six inches and he lay on the floor of his home in the Galgorm area of Ballymena when
instructed by the gunmen. His wife and children were also in the house but the gunmen fled after ripping out the telephone. Mr Gradel was the managing director of the Elastic Knitting Company in Ballymena and also
Saturday 10th September 1977 A farm worker had a narrow escape when he was cutting a hedge on a farm at Anaphora, Co Fermanagh, when he accidentally severed a wire attacked to a bomb. The bomb in a parcel was later discovered hidden in the decayed trunk of
a tree. The incident happened on the Clones to Cavan concession road. The army defused the device.
Monday 12th September 1977 A 20-year-old man from Pilot Street in Belfast was arrested after the RUC found guns and ammunition at his home. He was
accused of possessing a rifle, two pistols and 51 rounds of ammunition and admitted the charges.
Belfast Magazine
A man and his twoyear-old child were taken to hospital after a stone throwing gang attacked his house in Craigavon. Every window in the house in Rathmore estate was smashed in the attack, which happened in the early hours of the morning. The man received an eye injury and severe bruising to the face and the child received severe bruising to the face. In Kilkeel an incendiary device exploded at a drapery shop in Newcastle Street. Considerable damage was caused to stock before the fire was put out. In Rathfriland two
shops were attacked by fire bombers. The first device went off in Dodd’s clothes shop but little damage was caused. After the RUC carried out a search of the area a firebomb exploded in Crorys drapery shop in Main Street. Extensive damage was caused to Kelly’s wholesale warehouse in Drumahoe when a fire broke out, thought to be started by an incendiary device. The army found a snipers rifle and 150 bullets in a derelict building at Lenadoon. Fifty more bullets were found in the Ardmonagh Gardens area of Turf Lodge.
scene. A 21-year-old passenger in the car was shot and wounded in the chest but the bullet was deflected by a Tuesday 13th September 1977 chequebook in his 25-year-old Robin clothing factory at pocket and he was not John Smyrl, a part Plumbridge. Two seriously injured. time UDR soldier, gunmen opened fire who had the rank of on his car as he drove Two pubs were lieutenant, was shot to work and when the bombed in Newry by the IRA at the car swerved out of after incendiary Drumlea crossroads control it crashed into devices exploded between Omagh and a telegraph pole. 12 causing fierce fires. Newtownstewart. Mr shots were fired at the No one was hurt as Smyrl was single and soldier from an the explosions ripped the manager of the automatic weapon through Hermitage in Northgate women’s and he died at the Calan Street and the
Page 25
Cellars in O’Hagan Street. Two policemen were injured in an ambush near Dungannon. They received superficial scalp wounds and were detained in hospital. Their patrol car was ambushed at Quarry Lane on the Donaghmore Road. Five shots hit the patrol car showering the occupants with glass. Police returned fire but no hits were claimed.
Page 26
Belfast Magazine
Wednesday 14th September 1977 Friday 16th September 1977 Soldiers who stopped a young man carrying a violin case in Belfast found an assortment of guns and bullets. The violin case was packed with three dismantled rifles, a loaded revolver, three loaded magazines, and a quantity of ammunition, plastic gloves and hoods. The find was made by soldiers from the 3rd light infantry at the
Thursday 15th Troops in Derry found a rifle, a sub machine gun and a quantity of ammunition, following a search in the Shantallow area. Three men were arrested after the finds, which were made in two houses in the Racecourse Road and Carnhill district. D o m i n i c McGlinchey of Bellaghy was charged at a court in Dublin with having firearms and resisting arrest. He was charged jointly with Brian
junction of Lucknow Street and Cupar Street in the Falls area. In a derelict house in the Alliance Road the army found a .38 revolver and five bullets. In another house in the area they found four home made submachine guns, with eight magazines, bullets and other weapon parts.
An 18-year-old man from Carlisle Parade, Belfast was accused of belonging to the IRA, but denied the charges. A complaint of assault on the accused by police at Castlereagh was denied.
Sixteen suspects were rounded up and held by the garda under the Emergency Powers Act, which enabled the farad to detain them for seven September 1977 consecutive days Boyle of Armoy with without bringing having a pistol and charges. The suspects five rounds of were held throughout ammunition with intent to endanger life and with producing a firearm to resist arrest in Co Monaghan. Mr McGlinchey was wanted by the RUC in connection with a number of shootings and Mr Boyle was also charged with escaping from Letterkenny Gardai station, being a member of the IRA and having a revolver and ammunition in Co Donegal.
the state, in Sligo, Donegal, Cavan, Dublin and Dundalk. In Belfast the army made an arms find in a derelict house in the Ardoyne area. In Berwick Road they found a shotgun, a revolver and a pistol as well as 200 cartridges and bullets. Weapon cleaning materials were also uncovered. In Derry a man in his 30s was kneecapped in the Shantallow area after three men called at his home and forced him outside.
Belfast Magazine
Page 27
Saturday 17th September 1977 Monday 19th September 1977 A 29-year-old UDR man was shot five times in the back when he was ambushed by two IRA gunmen. The injured soldier fired back after the gunmen attacked using high-powered armalite rifles. The UDR man was returning from duty and was ambushed as he drove up a laneway leading to his home near Dungannon. Five of the bullets hit him in the back but he managed to dive out of his car and return
fire. His wife ran form the house and pulled him into the car and drove to his father’s home nearby. His father then collapsed with a heart attack. An incendiary device found in a hardware shop at Market Street, Bangor, was defused by the army. No damage was caused. A blast bomb was thrown at New Barnsley RUC station on the Springfield Road. No one was injured and damage was not serious.
Two men from Sligo were charged at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin with being members of the IRA. Neither man applied for bail. Firebombs caused damage to businesses in Bangor. Two incendiaries exploded in McCrea’s furniture store in Upper Main Street but only minor damage was caused. Three others were found and an army explosives officer dealt with a fourth. Shortly afterwards a number of devices went off inside the Cavendish furniture store in Main Street, which was extensively damaged.
Two firebombs exploded and five others were discovered intact at Burnsides furniture store in Seacliffe Road. Five more bombs exploded at the Bel 1 furniture store on the Belfast Road and the Cavan Bar and Barry’s amusements in Quay Street also suffered slight damage when incendiaries exploded. Incendiaries exploded in two Strand Road businesses in Derry. At Frank Longs supermarket a device exploded among cereal packets, but the damage was confined
Page 28
Belfast Magazine
army and neither shop was damaged. A cassette type incendiary exploded in the Blackstaff fabric factory shop on the Springfield Road in Belfast. The sprinkler system extinguished the blaze and only minor smoke and water In Carrickfergus the damage was caused. police found u n e x p l o d e d A 23-year-old man incendiaries in two was shot in the knees shops, Gilpins in when he answered a High Street and knock at the door of a Tony’s cash and house in Thornhill carry, in Irish Quarter Court, Dunmurry. South, but they were The shooting was dealt with by the carried out by a youth to a small area, although part of the ceiling collapsed. Two other bombs exploded at Warwick’s paint and paper shop and the adjoining home improvement shop but damage was slight.
Tuesday 20th September 1977 Armed gangs caused extensive damage when they hijacked and burned four buses in the Andersonstown area. Two youths boarded a bus on eh Andersonstown Road near the junction of the Finaghy Road and set
it on fire. Another bus was snatched near the Monagh roundabout and the inside splashed with petrol before it was set on fire. A third bus burned at Glenveigh Drive after two gunmen ordered the passengers off.
The army carried out a controlled explosion on a van parked outside the Speedline garage in Kennedy Way. The vehicle turned out to be harmless. No injuries were caused.
The IRA claimed responsibility for a gun attack on an army patrol at Ballagh Cross near Newtownbutler in Co Fermanagh. They claimed that two soldiers were injured but the army denied this. Two army land rovers had been on their way to Rosslea when they stopped to investigate a milk crate in the middle of the road. They were then fired on from a nearby hill and one of the land rovers was hit several times.
Later another vehicle was destroyed after it was hijacked at the junction of the Falls and Whiterock roads and the driver was forced to take it to the peoples garage. Fire bombers were foiled in Belfast when two devices were
discovered in Leisureworld in Queen Street and dismantled by the army. Cassette type bombs ere found in the premises of the Blackstaff spinning company on the Springfield road and made safe.
with a handgun. Police made arrests following stone throwing incidents at the junction of Glenbank Park and Ligoniel. Rival factions involving 40 people clashed and a 21-year-old man received injuries to the head and body.
Belfast Magazine
Wednesday 21st September 1977 Four men were treated in hospital for gunshot wounds after a spate of kneecappings in Belfast. A driver of a car hijacked in Ardoyne was held in a house in the area for some time
before being released unharmed. The car was hijacked in Etna Drive by two armed and masked men. The driver was then hooded and held for several hours before being given his car back in Etna Drive.
Friday 23rd September 1977 Belfast’s biggest cinema, the ABC was destroyed after a firebomb attack. The 2500 seater ABC, formerly the Ritz, was an established venue for film and music. Two other city cinemas, the nearby New Vic and the Curzon on the Ormeau Road, were also damaged by fire in what was believed to be incendiary attacks. The Curzon suffered interior damage and was closed for business
but the New Vic suffered only slight damage. The Modal Furnishing Shop in Upper North Street was damaged in an incendiary attack. A policeman trapped inside the burning shop was rescued by a UDR man who smashed the front door in with a land rover. The policeman had become overcome with smoke as he investigated the bomb attack and the UDR
patrol which passed by spotted the collapsed policeman. Two leading members of the
Page 29
republican clubs were held in the lower Falls area of Belfast under the emergency provision act.
Saturday 24th September 1977 The IRA claimed that they fires shots on the ‘hidden’ army observation post at the RVH in Belfast. They alleged the post was being used to spy on nearby republican areas and threatened more action against ‘elements of the British war machine operating in the
RVH’. The army denied there were any shots. Stocks of incendiary devices were found at Divis Flats in Belfast. Children playing in the complex spotted one and when the army were called in another four of the cassette type were found in an unoccupied flat.
Monday 26th September 1977 A 63-year-old man was shot at as he walked along the Armagh to Middletown road. A car pulled up alongside him and two shots were fired. One bullet struck him in the left buttock.
A 25-year-old Coalisland man was admitted to hospital with a gunshot wound to his leg.
A Customs hut on the Clones Road near Newtownbutler was damaged by a five-
Page 30
Belfast Magazine
pound bomb. A window in the hut had been broken and the bomb planted. It went off without warning but no one was injured. Slight damage was caused to surrounding buildings.
failed. Staff found one incendiary device hidden in a suite of furniture at the North West discount store in Abercorn Road and the firebomb was defused by the army. Later a second device went off damaging five rolls of carpet An attempt to burn where the firebomb down a store in had been concealed. Derry’s city centre Key holders were
called to Belfast city centre after a fire damaged stock and fittings at Tyler’s shoe shop in Lower North Street. Two petrol bombs were thrown at oil tanks in Mackie’s Foundry but no damage was caused. The RUC found detonators and
ammunition in two derelict houses in the Donegall Road area of Belfast. Thirtyone bullets, cortex, fuses and detonators were found at Glenmachan Street and fuse wire, detonators and three rounds of ammunition were found at Lecale Street.
Tuesday 27th September 1977 Thursday 29th September 1977 A 20-year-old man appeared in court charged with possessing a petrol bomb in east Belfast. The man from Julia Street was accused of possessing the milk bottle device under
Wednesday 28th Six incendiaries went off in the Steegan Clothing Factory on the Donegall Road but only smoke damage was caused. Bombs were found at GS Holdings, toy and c l o t h i n g manufacturers in Gordon Street in the Corporation Street area. However the
s u s p i c i o u s Gunmen forced two circumstances at van drivers to take Templemore Avenue. suspect devices to the Royal Victoria The RUC introduced Hospital but they sniffer dogs in Belfast turned out to hoaxes. city centre to try to A post office van was find bombs hidden in hijacked on the business premises. Whiterock road and a September 1977 box was loaded into the van and told to four devices were take it to the RVH. found before they When the RUC went off and were investigated they made safe by the found that the box army. contained papers and stones. Two devices were pushed through the A man was arrested letterbox of by the RUC after the Colinwear men’s discovery of arms and shop in Union Street ammunition in a car in Belfast but they in the Suffolk area. caused only slight The RUC carrying damage. out a routine
checkpoint on the Stewartstown Road searched the car and found four handguns and a number of rounds of ammunition inside the door panels. Robert John Boomer from Tyrone died from shotgun injuries he received earlier in September. Mr Bloomer, a part time member of the UDR and married with 2 children was fatally injured in the IRA gun attack. He was ambushed by two IRA men using armalite rifles as he drove his car into the laneway of his home
Belfast Magazine
at Cadian Lane, in Dungannon. He was hit five times in the back but managed to return fire.
at the junction of Cliftonville Road and Oldpark Avenue and they then set it on fire. It was destroyed. They had produced Two youths sprinkled guns and ordered the petrol around a bus, driver and passengers which they hijacked off the bus.
Page 31
Friday 30th September 1977 A Derry pub was wrecked by a bomb blast but the device had been spotted and the area was cleared. The blast was in the
Gainsborough Bar in Shipquay Street and the bomb went off in the downstairs toilets. There were no injuries.
www.glenravel.com
Page 32
Belfast Magazine
BRUTAL IRISH MURDERS Cavan man tries to poison his wife n September 1882 Patrick Sorraghan, a Cavan farmer in his late thirties married a local girl named Susan. Their families had arranged the marriage and the couple were not well acquainted before their wedding day. Susan was a young girl, just 24, but she knew that Patrick was a hard working man and he had a small farm and could provide well for her. The day after their marriage the couple argued badly but they made peace with other for a few weeks. In November they argued again but this time Patrick was violent and struck Susan with a box which he broke over her head. By November of 1882, Susan was with child and she gave birth on Saturday 30th June 1883.
I
Her relationship with her husband throughout her pregnancy had not been good, but there had been no violence since the previous November. Susan’s mother
came to help her out with the new baby the day after the birth and as was common at the time gave her some burnt whisky to perk her up. Patrick added some ground ginger to the drink and Susan almost immediately threw up. Susan seemed to recover from the vomiting and a few days later her mother left having cooked up some gruel to leave with her so that she would be well nourished after the recent birth. As soon as her mother left Susan noticed that her husband would sprinkle some white powder on the gruel, which he took from an umbrella tip that he kept in his pocket. Each time she ate some gruel she would vomit and so her neighbour Mary Reilly called for a nurse to find out what was wrong with Susan. The nurse had been with Susan during her confinement and was surprised that she was constantly vomiting as she had been as well during the
birth as the nurse could remember any of her patients being. The nurse made up some bread with hot milk that would be gentle on Susan’s stomach but Susan could not drink it, as it was too hot. Patrick took the cup and brought it into the kitchen to add cold water. When he returned he gave it to Susan. She gave a little to the baby and drank some herself but she threw up a short time later and then the baby was sick. The nurse asked Patrick what he had put in the milk but he
Belfast Magazine
convinced her that he had added only water to cool it down. Susan stopped eating the gruel and she was in good health for a short time but then her husband began to give her some red wine to drink. Susan didn’t like the taste of it; it reminded her of the taste of the whisky she had drunk straight after the birth of the child. Her neighbour Mary Reilly became suspicious of Susan’s illnesses and when she asked Susan about her vomiting Susan told her about the powder she had seen her husband put in her food and also about the foul tasting wine. Mary Reilly took the bottles of wine she found in the house and searching Patrick’s coat she found the umbrella tip full of white powder and brought them to her son Terence who passed the substances straight to the local Police.
even the smallest quantity would cause vomiting and in the red wine he found sulphuric acid, which would account for the bitter taste Susan had complained of and the ill health she experienced after drinking it. He discovered that the amount of acid in the drink would be enough to kill someone if they drank enough of it and there was sufficient arsenic to easily kill someone over a period of time.
Page 33
very close to murder. Several witnesses came to the court to swear to the good nature and excellent character of Patrick Sorraghan. The jury deliberated for a short time and found Patrick Sorraghan guilty. When asked if he wanted to say anything before he was sentenced Sorraghan said, "I never knew about poison. I consider she (Susan) was out of her mind and ….there was another man who would call at my house. I don’t know what they used to be up to and he said that she would banish me". This was the first reference to a motive that was heard in court as Patrick had declined to give any evidence during his trial. The judge in sentencing Patrick Sorraghan noted that he would endeavour by the sentence to send a warning to others from following in the path of the prisoner, who would be kept in penal servitude for the rest of his natural life.
Patrick Sorraghan was arrested and charged with attempting to kill his wife. Although the evidence was not conclusive, as the samples taken from the house had not been collected from the Sorraghan house by the police but through a third party, and the judge charged the jury that the prisoner was indicted for administering arsenic with intent to murder his wife. He warned them that a guilty verdict would come with a Sergeant Coyle was told of harsh punishment, as he Susan’s sickness and the fears believed that the crime was of her neighbours as to the The founder of the United Irishmen cause, and sent the samples to William Drennan lies buried in North a Dr Cameron in Dublin, Belfast's historic Clifton Street Cemetery. before questioning Patrick But did you know that the the phrase 'The about the accusations. Dr Emerald Isle' was first used in a poem Cameron found that the written by him and which appears on his powder in the metallic vial headstone. was white arsenic, which in
Page 34
Belfast Magazine
Denmark Street Tragedy illiam Hewitt, a middle aged publican from Denmark Street in the Carlisle Circus area of Belfast was accused of murdering his wife Sarah Ann Hewitt at their public house in Denmark Street on the 29th January 1911.
W
It wasn’t until April of that year that the case came to trial and there appeared to be very little evidence against the accused as no one had seen what had happened to Sarah, her husband was not present at the time of her death and so the prosecution did not bring to court any witnesses who were able to account for the movements of this husband and wife. Sarah Hewitt and her husband William ran their public house together with little outside help. They had no children and employed no servants. It was on a Sunday that the alleged assault took place and there were fewer people about the area. Sarah went out to look for a local man named Clarke who sometimes came in to help the couple to clean the bar. It was around 1.00pm when she returned with Clarke William Hewitt was arrested and charged with killing his wife who was to get the pub ready for opening at 2pm. Sarah went upstairs to their living quarters to rest in the early afternoon and she and he was arrested at the scene and charged was found by her husband at around 10pm with the murder of his wife. lying dead on the floor of her rooms. At the inquest into her death medical evidence A violent blow to her head just above her ear indicated that if she had fallen there would undoubtedly brought about her death but there have been external wounds to her head but was nothing around her to suggest that the there were none so it was recorded that she injury was caused by a fall. There was nothing had died from a blow inflicted by persons or that she could have fallen against as she was persons unknown. When her brain was lying in the middle of the room and so it was examined a large clot of blood was found that suspicion fell on her husband William, underneath the surface of the brain and there
Belfast Magazine
was signs of hemorrhaging. The doctors also reported that she had many bruises to her body, which had occurred before her death and were unconnected to the cause of death. She also had two black eyes. Sarah Hewitt had a history of alcohol abuse and had been treated many times for alcoholism, four times in the month prior to her death. William Hewitt gave evidence at his trial that his wife had been drinking on the day of her death and that he had spoken to her at around 4pm and he had not seen her between 4.15pm and when he found her dead at just after 10pm. He stated that at 3.30pm that afternoon he had heard a heavy thud from their living quarters while he was in the bar serving customers but he said he did not go upstairs until 4pm. His assistant Clarke, who declared that Hewitt had gone upstairs to check on his wife at 3.30pm after they had both heard what they both assumed was Sarah falling, contradicted this evidence.
Page 35
received by Sarah Hewitt could not have been caused by an accident. There were a number of patrons of the Hewitt’s bar called, some saying that the couple were on friendly terms although they both drank a great deal, while others stated that they remembered that the couple had been quarrelling.
Dr Thompson who had treated Sarah on a number of occasions also examined her body and believed that she had been very drunk when she received the injury and would not have been able to move once she had hit the floor. He thought it unlikely that the injury was caused simply by her falling although he did say that there was a possibility that she had fallen against the sewing machine, which was in her room and crawled a few feet and then died. The judge interrupted his evidence and asked Dr. Thompson to repeat his evidence and the doctor stated that ‘the injury Hewitt then stated that he left the bar at might have been accidental’. 8.00pm and did not return until 10.20pm when he went upstairs and found his wife dead. As soon as the judge heard his evidence he Others in the bar say that he went upstairs at pronounced to the court that there was not a 3.30pm and told them that his wife had fallen ‘particle of evidence that the prisoner caused and that he put her into bed when she refused the injury’. to come downstairs to help him in the bar. He had also told them that she was very drunk The jury, by direction of Lord Justice Cherry, and confused. Both stories were inconsistent then found the prisoner not guilty and William with the medical evidence that the injuries Hewitt was immediately discharged. Glasgow Celtic Football Club took both its name and its distinctive green and white hooped kit from Belfast Celtic, which folded in 1949 Cement was invented by Bryan Higgins of Sligo in 1779
Page 36
Belfast Magazine
The Drumaloor Murder Case
n March 1870 eight men stood charged at the Cavan Assizes with the wilful murder of Edward Morton on the 1st November 1869.
I
The incident occurred during a procession following a tenant rights meeting in Cavan. A crowd of protestors had walked from Belturbet to Cavan for the meeting and as they walked early in the day there were some animosity as they waked through the small village of Drumaloor. The marchers were carrying flags bearing the mottoes, "IRELAND FOR THE IRISH", "IRELAND DEMANDS JUSTICE" "TENANT- RIGHT, FIXITY OF TENURE AND FAIR RENTS", "HAND ON DAGGER" and "THE WOLF DOG PARK, AND ROUND TOWER". The marchers lowered their flags as they approached the town but there was an exchange between the marchers and the residents of Drumaloor. The march continued on to Cavan and arrived before lunchtime.
by all accounts peaceful as the trade union council and members of Mongahan Cathedral protested on behalf of tenant rights.
Shortly after 4pm it was decided to make the return journey and, as it took an hour and a half to walk to Drumaloor from Cavan, on the way back to Belturbet, the local parish priest advised the marchers to hold down their flags as they had a long journey ahead of them and they would tire quickly if they hoisted the flags and banners.
As they approached County Armagh it became dark and as the marchers entered Drumaloor they heard a cry of " Here they are, now is your time, draw your swords and slap at them". Within minutes shots were heard and the marchers ran for cover. Some of the men scrabbled for stones to protect themselves but the priest told the men to drop the stones and to concentrate on finding somewhere safe, as their stones would be no good The meeting in Cavan went against the bullets. The first off without incident and was shots did not hit any of the
marchers but then another priest came into Drumaloor in his cart and a local man Thomas Hewitt was heard to say, "Here they are now. Lower your colours. To hell with the Pope". Thomas Hewitt went around the back of his house with a pitchfork in his hand and left other men gathered there to fire the shots. A number of shots were fired into the path of the car and the scene was very confused with cheering from both sides, stones being thrown, glass breaking and hundreds of people running through the streets of the small village. The driver of the car and the priest were uninjured and the cart continued on, trying to get out of Drumaloor, but Edward Morton, one of the marchers from Belturbet, had been standing on the cart when it came to a stop. Two shots were fired in the direction of the cart and Morton cried out that he had been shot. He remained on the cart, which moved off in the Belturbet direction but Edward Morton died a short time later from gunshot wounds
Belfast Magazine
Cavan Courthouse today
At the Cavan Assizes there was evidence heard for both parties in the dispute, and as is to be expected each account was contradictory. The marchers on their way to Belturbet stated that they had been peaceful at all times during the march and that they came under attack verbally and by gunfire and stone throwing when they entered Drumaloor. The residents of Drumaloor, eight of whom were accused of the murder of Edward Morton, stated that as the procession approached the village the
road was crowded and that there were shouts of "To hell with King William" from the marchers. They also stated that the marchers threw stones at the houses, breaking many windows and generally causing great fear in the village amongst the women and children. One man was said to have taken off his coat, challenging the best man in Drumaloor and calling the men of the village cowards.
Page 37
muddled accounts of the evening and although all eight men admitted being in the village no one was able to give conclusive evidence as to who had shot Edward Morton. Neither side in the proceedings had seen where the shot had come from or who the gunman was. The marchers were not familiar with the people of Drumaloor and it became clear after witness statements that the march had split up into two factions with one group continuing on to Belturbet without any difficulty and the remaining group becoming entangled in the events at Drumaloor. When the judge charged the jury it took almost three hours for him to go through all the evidence and direct them before they retired to deliberate. After just one hour of consideration the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
In Clones the following night the acquittal of all eight prisoners who stood charged with the wilful murder of Edward Morton was celebrated with bonfires and The difficulty for the no disturbances were prosecution lay with the reported.
Page 38
Belfast Magazine
Woman dies after argument with sister in law
he question on everyone’s lips in Newry in November 1900 was whether the death of Eliza Cunningham was accidental or whether she had in fact been murdered. Eliza was a mature woman, married to James and the husband and wife were on good terms. Their children were well cared for and Eliza came from a respected and successful extended family that was well known throughout south Down. On the evening Eliza died she had been in Newry town with her husband James having a few drinks in the local pubs after spending a day at the Newry market. Both had had four or five large drinks and were in good spirits when they returned home to their small holding in the town land of Crobane about three miles from Newry. James’ sister Alice who had lived with Eliza and James for many years had stayed at home to look after their children and she was waiting up when they got home. The atmosphere between the couple changed as soon as they crossed the threshold of their home. Eliza immediately got angry with Alice for staying up to wait for them and for putting a large stack of coal on the fire
T
to keep the room warm while she waited up for them. She shouted at Alice that she was wasting coal and that she should have gone on to bed. James tried to intervene between the two women but Alice and Eliza started to exchange insults and the mood turned very nasty. James had had enough of the arguments which according to neighbours occurred all the time between the two women and in a fit of pique, set off by the courage that the alcohol gave him, James grabbed his shotgun from above the fireplace, loaded it, and shouted to the women that he would stop the fighting for once and for all. He didn’t actually say that he would shoot the two women but he tried to frighten them. Eliza and Alice were shocked by his actions but the adrenalin was coursing through their blood and they rushed James, snatched the gun from his hands, pushing him on to the sofa in the living room. Eliza got control of the gun and ran outside with it, closely followed by Alice, where the women continued to argue. As Eliza came back through the doorway of the house, James shouted at her to be careful of the gun as it was loaded, Eliza was apparently carrying the gun
and letting it swing and bang against walls and the ground. As she entered the house the gun knocked against the doorway, causing her to momentarily lose control of it and the gun went off, the shot hitting Eliza in the stomach at close range. Eliza fell to the ground, clutching her stomach, from which blood was freely flowing from a large gaping wound. James and Alice carried her to the sofa to lay her down, perhaps not realising how seriously injured she was. Alice rushed off to get a doctor; meanwhile neighbours began to arrive at the house, awoken by the gunshot and the noise of shouting and crying coming from the Cunningham house. When they got into the house they found chaos with children crying and screaming, blood everywhere in the living room and James Cunningham distraught and mumbling that his wife had ‘gone and shot herself’. Dr Beamish arrived a short time later and as soon as he saw the size of the wound he knew that Alice would not survive, she had lost too much blood, was in great discomfort and was becoming weak. Alice struggled with the pain through the night and died in the early
Belfast Magazine
Newry at the turn of the last century
hours of the morning, a tragic and painful death. It was only when she had died that James Cunningham called the police who arrived and immediately sealed off the house and began their investigation into what had happened. Today they would have been able to collect all types of forensic evidence, blood spatter, DNA, evidence placing each person at a particular place in the room when the shooting occurred but back in 1900 their investigation was not quite so sophisticated. In this particular case they tended to take the above account, which came from Alice and James, as a truthful account of what had happened. At the inquest into Eliza’s death which was held the next day Dr Beamish told the coroner that he had his doubts as to the account of James and Alice and explained that he felt sure that the gun could not have gone off in quiet the way that was described. The wound sustained
by Eliza was sustained at close range and at an angle which would indicate that someone other than Eliza was holding the gun. The doctor who carried out the examination of Eliza after her death disagreed and the coroner instructed the jury to agree with the medical evidence
Page 39
of the doctor who had carried out the post mortem. Amazingly the jury did just that and they issued the following verdict that they agreed with the account given to the inquest by Alice and James Cunningham and that they were of the opinion that the cause of death was accidental. They were swayed by the testimony of James who was clearly fond of his wife and Alice also came across as a dedicated sister who played down the argument with Eliza when she gave her statement to the police and to the coroner. No charges were ever brought and Eliza’s death was recorded as accidental.
ISSN 1470-0417
£2.50