The 52nd anniversary of Bloody Sunday is on Thursday, January 30th. On this day, thirteen unarmed civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march in Derry, Northern Ireland. The Troubles podcast does an excellent job of summarizing the conflict in Northern Ireland and describing what happened on Bloody Sunday. I highly recommend listening to their episode to learn more about what happened on this tragic day.
At the beginning of the podcast episode, you are given a summary of the conflict in Northern Ireland. Generally speaking, Protestants in Northern Ireland were in favor of remaining part of the United Kingdom and Catholics wanted Northern Ireland to reunite with Ireland. The Unionist Party, a political party that was pro-United Kingdom, held political power in Northern Ireland and Catholics were generally excluded from governance. This resulted in political violence between the communities and the beginning of a time period in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles. English troops were called into Northern Ireland to restore order. To fight terrorism, they implemented an internment without trial policy that was a discriminatory practice against Catholics.
On January 30, 1972, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association organized a march against the internment policy in Derry. During the march, rioting occurred- rocks were thrown at soldiers and tear gas and water cannons were fired at protestors. A couple of hours into the march, British paratroopers descended on the crowd and began opening fire indiscriminately. They killed thirteen people and wounded seventeen people. One person who was wounded died four months later. A majority of those who were killed were teenagers.
Following Bloody Sunday, the English government launched an investigation into what happened. False narratives were believed and it was determined the paratroopers acted in self-defense. A second investigation, called the Saville Injury, began in 1998. The results were published in 2010. It was found the actions of the paratroopers were unjustified and prime minister David Cameron apologized to the victims of Bloody Sunday on behalf of the British government.
The Troubles podcast does a thorough examination of what happened on Bloody Sunday. Events on that day are broken down on a micro level. The details are disturbing but it is important to hear them to learn what happened. I highly recommend this podcast to anyone interested in learning about Bloody Sunday and The Troubles.
Books and Movie about Bloody Sunday
Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story by Bono
Setting the Truth Free: The Inside Story of the Bloody Sunday Justice Campaign by Julianne Campbell
Bloody Sunday: Massacre in Northern Ireland: The Eyewitness Accounts by Don Mullan and John Scally
Those are Real Bullets: Bloody Sunday, Derry, 1972 by Peter Pringle
Michael Walsh is an Adult Services Librarian at the Will Library. He is currently reading The March by E.L. Doctorow.