On Friday 24th
May 1974, Day 10 of the UWC strike we went, as usual, to evening Mass
in Tannaghmore chapel. As always we were in good time and there was
the regular group of men standing chatting at the chapel door. This
had recently become an ordeal for me, passing those men, neighbours
and family members, for I was 20 years old, six months pregnant and
unmarried. Forty years ago this was no light matter. John Heffron and
Uncle Sean smiled and nodded at me but Uncle Brendan was not on
speaking terms with me and made no acknowledgement. This was hurtful
but understandable. I'm sure, that if given the chance, once my daughter was born, he would have
come round. Brendan had a great fondness for
children and was a very well-loved uncle.
After Mass my parents
went to visit Mum's family in Randalstown. The first hint of
something wrong was a series of strange phone calls. My younger
sister took the first call that alerted us to something badly wrong. A shooting at the pub. A neighbour called to the door and took my
brother down to Randalstown to inform my parents. I took a call from
a woman who did not identify herself.
“Is that Byrne's?”
“It is.”
“Tell Sean we'll be over for a carry-out.”
There was laughter in
the background. It sounded like they were having a party. I took it to be
a malicious call.
The younger children
were hysterical with fear. They thought that maybe the gunmen were
coming to our house too. I tried to reassure them. By the time the
tragic news came to us the gang had left the Wayside Halt and were
already in police custody.
The thing is, the RUC
were well aware of the gangs' activity. They were a ramshackle band
of UVF, UDA and other loyalists who had come down to our area to
reinforce the strike. Around thirty in number, they were armed with
cudgels and sticks and at least one carried a loaded firearm. A
neighbour of ours saw them at their work in the Harryville area of
Ballymena where they smashed up pubs that were open in defiance of
the strike. Their way back to Belfast took them past the Wayside Halt
public house and it was there that a gun was used to shoot my uncles.
That is when the police went in pursuit. That neighbour reported
their activities in Harryville at the time. Had the RUC moved in
Ballymena my uncles would not have died that night.
So there it was. Two
devastated widows, eight fatherless children, a community torn apart,
a loss felt as keenly today as on that terrible evening 40 years ago.
That link above is well
worth reading as it is my sister's account of the events of that night
and there are details that I have not included here.
11 comments:
Thanks for the post - I can remember so few details of that evening, just a sense of dread. London Sister
I am so very sorry.
It was Joseph who suggested we should all try and write down what we can remember - it's amazing what comes back to you once you start. Lately I have been feeling more angry about it all. So many people damaged by it.
I'm angrier too and think it might be because we have a safer place to be angry in.
I am so sorry. Thank you for writing this post.
They were my Dad Malachy's cousins
Daddy always spoke fondly of His Cormican cousins.
My father spoke more than once of this.
As a doctor, the police asked him to attend.
On arrival, the senior officer asked: “have you Wellingtons in the boot?
Answering in the affirmative, he was told to “put them on” before entering the pub.
He and the officer were “walking through the blood”.
Appalling conduct by drunken thugs.
I just discovered this article now. I worked on the pub the following year with O'Neill bros, as a student, when an extension was being built out the back. I think it was Breda, who was running the bar, sorry if I got the name wrong. She took the rise out of me because I was the young lad on the job. I called in many years later on my way from the airport to The Glens and had a beer and a chat. I think one of the younger family members was in the same class as my brother Tommy at Garron Tower. Such tragic and inhumane acts committed, no excuses for any of it. The trauma left behind gets filtered down through generations. I always think about it all as I pass by. The outside of the pub has changed little over the years, as tribute? The Ramble Inn massacre occurred in 76 I think. Such loss of life.
I am returning to this post after eight years. To Anon, such harrowing details yet there have been an enormous number of killings in this small place. Thank you for commenting.
To Joe, thank you too for your comment. The Ramble was two years later. Another horrible night. Thank you both for remembering.
Joe, I'm guessing the person in your brother's class was another cousin from a different family.
Anon, as Nelly said that is so harrowing. I often think how every single death impacted on many people.
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