Pub bombing

A pub bombing or a public house bombing is an attack on a pub or public house using explosives and other bombing making material like nails, bolts, screws and similar objects which can cause horrific injuries when the bomb detonates. The Provisional IRA's Balcombe Street Gang used bolts and screws in many of their bomb attacks in the mid-1970s. Neo-nazi David Copeland used nails in his bombs.

Types

There are several ways of delivering the bomb to its intended target. Some of these methods include, the bombers hide a time bomb in something like a bag or holdall, walk into a pub and blend in with the crowd and draw as little attention to themselves as possible and will place the bomb in an unnoticeable spot, the bombers will usually leave at least 10 minutes before the bomb detonates so they are safe away from the blast and can give themselves time to get away. If the intention was causing harm to people then the bomb is usually laden with shrapnel to cause maximum casualties, if the intention is just to cause destruction then the bombers will usually leave between 45 minutes–1 hour before the bomb detonates so they can give the police a warning so that the building has enough time to be evacuated.

Early Loyalist bombs were quite crude and usually they would involve just lighting a fuse on a bomb, and either opening the door of a pub and simply throwing the bomb in and running away, or leaving the bomb at the front door, or sometimes the side of the building, then light the fuse and run away. Or by building a fragmentation grenade which is small but heavy enough to throw through a public house window, this method was usually favoured by the Balcombe Street Gang who carried out several pub bombings in England in the mid-1970s.

History

The vast majority of pub bombings were carried out during Northern Ireland's "Troubles" conflict. The attacks were carried out by Irish republican and Ulster loyalist paramilitary groups, such as the Republican Provisional IRA (PIRA), Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and the Loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force UVF and Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF). There were some pub bombings carried out by other European urban guerrilla movements around the same period.

One of the first pub bombings of the Troubles in Northern Ireland was the PIRA bombing of the Bluebell Bar in the Sandy Row area of Belfast a staunchly loyalist, Protestant area of Belfast. Almost 30 people were injured in this bombing which occurred on the 20 September 1971. A few weeks later the Loyalists carried out their first pub bombing when the UVF bombed what they believed to be a Republican owned pub called the Fiddler's House Bar on the 9 October 1971, to were hoping to hurt Catholics but instead killed a middle aged Protestant women & injured several others.

The worst pub bombing in Northern Ireland happened early on in the conflict. The McGurk's Bar bombing which was carried out by the UVF claimed the lives of 15 civilians and 17 others were badly injured. At the time it was the highest death toll from any attack in the North, until the PIRA's Warrenpoint ambush which killed 18 people in August 1979.

The worst pub bombing in the UK was the Birmingham pub bombings of the 21 November 1974. 21 people were killed and 182 others were injured many of the seriously. It was the PIRA's worst attack of the conflict in terms of civilian deaths and it was the highest death toll from a pub bombing during the conflict.

The worst pub bombing attack in the Republic of Ireland during the conflict was the bombing at Kay's Tavern which occurred in Dundalk in County Louth. Two people were killed in this attack and 20 more injured. The Red Hand Commando (RHC) a UVF link group claimed they carried out the attack, it is believed the UVF linked group carried out the attack.

During the 1970s, loyalists stepped up their bombing campaign against pubs and it was said they were helped allegedly by the security forces, in an alliance of UVF, UDR, UDA, RUC, RUC Special Branch, RUC Special Patrol Group and a small number of British soldiers. Between 1973 and 1977 they bombed a long list of pubs and other places.

Journalist Anne Cadwallader described some of the attacks in the 1974–75 period as being "the height of their campaign" which also included not just bomb attacks but shootings as well, known as "spray jobs" in Northern Ireland. The group these people belonged to was the infamous Glenanne gang.

• 1 – 17 January 1974: Daniel Hughes was shot dead in a UVF gun attack on Boyle's Bar, Cappagh.
• 2 – 14 February 1974: The Glenanne Gang attack Traynors bar.
• 3 – 29 November 1974 – A loyalist bomb explodes at a bar called Hughe's Bar in Newry, fatally injuring John Mallon, and in another bomb attack on McArdles Bar, near Crossmaglen injuring Thomas McNamme who died less than a year later.
• 4 – 10 February 1975 – The UVF attack Haydebs Bar and they killed Eugene Doyle and Arthur Mullholland.
• 5 – 27 April 1975 – a loyalist gang attacked Bleary Dart's club and kill three people, Joe Toman, Brendan O'Hara and John Feeney were all killed playing a game of darts.
• 6 – 4 September 1975 – The UVF attacked McCann's bar near Ballyagan killing Margaret Hale in the attack.
• 7 – 22 August 1975 – The UVF destroys the "McGleenan's Bar". Many were injured and some lost legs and limbs in the attack, John McGleenan, Patrick Hughes and Thomas Morris were all murdered.
• 8 – 19 December 1976 – The UVF planted a car bomb outside a pub in Dundalk and it exploded killing 2 people and injured 22 others.
• 9 – 17 March 1976 – The UVF planted a large car bomb outside a bar called the Hillcrest Bar, on St. Patrick's Day. The UVF car bomb explodes, and killed Andrew Small, Patrick Baranard, Joe Kelly, James McChauey. Many more were injured.
• 10 – 16 August 1976 – The Step Inn pub in Keady, Armagh is bombed by members of the Glenanne gang, killing Betty McDonald and Gerard McGleenan.

The reason pub bombings were so common during the Troubles was because pubs were a regular place for people to gather socially in Ireland and Britain and they were easy targets to injure or kill a large number of people in one go. In other European countries a cafe or nightclub would have been more of a target for guerrillas rather than a public house.

Notable pub bombings

Year	Event	Location	Perpetrator(s)	Deaths	Injuries	Comments
1971	Red Lion Pub bombing	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Provisional IRA	3	30	Part of IRA campaign
1971	McGurk's Bar bombing	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	15	17	Part of UVF campaign
1972	Benny's Bar bombing	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Freedom Fighters	2	12	Part of UFF/UDA campaign
1972	Capitol Bar in Belfast bombing	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Freedom Fighters	1	12	Part of UFF campaign.
1972	Hole In The Wall pub attack	County Donegal, Republic of Ireland	Ulster Freedom Fighters	0	0	Part of UFF/UDA campaign. UDA members ordered everybody out of the pub & then badly damaged it with a grenade
1973	Stage Door public house bomb	London, England	Provisional IRA	0	1	Part of IRA England campaign
1973	North Star public house bomb	London, England	Provisional IRA	0	6	Part of IRA England campaign
1973	Cloughfin car bomb	County Donegal, Republic of Ireland	Ulster Freedom Fighters	1	0	Part of UFF/UDA campaign. A UFF member died when the bomb he was priming exploded prematurely outside Kirk's Bar in Cloughfin, Donegal.
1974	Rose & Crown Bar bombing	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	6	18	Part of UVF campaign
1974	Guildford pub bombings	Surrey, England	Provisional IRA	5	65	Part of IRA England campaign. First attack carried out by the IRA's Balcombe Street Gang between October 1974 - December 1975
1974	Woolwich pub bombing	London, England	Provisional IRA	2	40	Part of IRA England campaign
1974	Talbot Arms pub bombing	London, England	Provisional IRA	0	8	Part of IRA England campaign
1974	Birmingham pub bombings	Birmingham, England	Provisional IRA	21	182	Part of IRA England campaign
1975	Mountainview Tavern bombing 1975	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Provisional IRA	5	50 - 60	Part of IRA campaign
1975	1975 Conway's Bar attack	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	2	15	Part of UVF campaign
1975	Bayardo Bar attack	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Provisional IRA	5	50 - 60	Part of IRA campaign
1975	Strand Bar bombing	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	6	50	Part of UVF campaign
1975	Caterham Arms pub bombing	Surrey, England	Provisional IRA	0	33	Part of IRA England campaign
1975	Hare & Hounds pub bombing	Kent, England	Provisional IRA	0	2	Part of IRA England campaign
1975	Biddy Mulligan's pub bombing	London, England	Ulster Freedom Fighters	0	5	Part of UDA/UFF campaign
1975	Donnelly's Bar and Kay's Tavern attacks	Dundalk, Republic of Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	2	21	Part of UVF campaign (1st part of double attack)
1975	1975 Central Bar bombing	County Down, Northern Ireland	Irish National Liberation Army INLA	3	30	Carried out by INLA members using the covername "People's Republican Army"
1976	1976 Step Inn pub bombing	County Armagh, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	2	20	Part of UVF campaign. One of a number attacks carried out by the Glenanne Gang around the Irish border between 1972 - 1977
1976	Hillcrest Bar bombing	County Tyrone, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	4	50	Part of UVF campaign
1976	Castleblayney bombing	County Monaghan, Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	1	17	A car bomb exploded outside the Three Star Inn pub, Part UVF campaign
1979	Glasgow pub bombings	Glasgow, Scotland	Ulster Volunteer Force	0	8	Part of UVF campaign
1982	Droppin Well bombing	Ballykelly, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland	Irish National Liberation Army INLA	17	30	Bombing against British soldiers
1982	Pub Saint-Germain bombing	Paris, France	The Orly Group	0	2	Campaign by ASALA to "compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian Genocide in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian homeland"
1992	Sussex Arms pub bombing	London, England	Provisional IRA	1	7	Part of IRA England campaign
1999	Admiral Duncan (pub) nail bombing	Soho, London, England	Neo-Nazi David Copeland	3	70	Neo-Nazi terrorist hate campaign, many people injured badly from shrapnel & nails, some lost limbs.
2003	Mike's Place suicide bombing	Tel Aviv, Israel	Hamas and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades affiliated British citizens	3	50	Part of Second Intifada

Pub shootings

Another attack unique to The Troubles in Ireland was paramilitaries shooting customers inside public houses. This tactic was mainly used by the Loyalist paramilitaries during the later stages of the conflict but sometimes Republicans carried them out as well. Usually the shooting would include a 3–4 member active service unit, one member acting as a getaway driver, one as a lookout and two as shooters, usually one of the shooters would use a machine gun or automatic rifle to spray the pub with gunfire, and the other shooter would use a smaller gun like a pistol or revolver to shoot any customer who tried to attack or stop the main shooter. Some instances of pub shootings include:

Year	Event	Location	Perpetrator(s)	Deaths	Injuries	Comments
1972	Top of the Hill bar shooting	Derry, Northern Ireland	Ulster Freedom Fighters	5	4	Part of UDA/UFF campaign. Also known as Annie's Bar massacre
1975	Kay's Tavern attack	Armagh, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force / Red Hand Commando	3	5	Part of UVF campaign. Second part of a double attack. Linked to Glenanne gang
1976	Eagles Bar shooting	Armagh, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	1	4	Part of UVF campaign. First part of a double attack. Linked to Glenanne gang
1976	Chlorane Bar attack	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	5	8	Part of UVF campaign.
1976	The Store Bar shooting	Antrim, Northern Ireland	Provisional IRA	3	6	Claimed as revenge by Republican Action Force for Chlorane Bar attack
1976	Ramble Inn attack	Antrim, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	5	6	Part of UVF campaign
1988	Avenue Bar shooting	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	3	6	Part of UVF campaign
1989	Orange Cross Social Club shooting	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Irish People's Liberation Organisation (IPLO)	1	5	Part of IPLO campaign. Red Hand Commando member killed
1991	1991 Cappagh killings	Tyrone, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	4	1	Part of UVF campaign. 3 IRA members killed
1991	Donegall Arms shooting	Belfast, Northern Ireland	Irish People's Liberation Organisation	2	5	Part of IPLO campaign.
1993	Greysteel massacre	Derry, Northern Ireland	Ulster Freedom Fighters	8	19	Part of UDA/UFF campaign.
1994	Loughinisland massacre	County Down, Northern Ireland	Ulster Volunteer Force	6	5	Part of UVF campaign. Also known as the World Cup massacre

See also

• Provisional IRA
• Ulster Volunteer Force
• Ulster Freedom Fighters
• Red Hand Commando
• Irish National Liberation Army
• Irish People's Liberation Organisation
• Time bomb
• Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia

Further reading

• Peter Taylor - Provo's: The IRA & Sinn Fein
• Alan F Parkinson - 1972 And The Ulster Troubles
• Aaron Edwards - UVF: Behind The Mask
• Anne Cadwallader - Lethal Allies: British Collusion In Ireland
• Ed Moloney - A Secret History of the IRA A Secret History of the IRA
• Henry McDonald & Jack Holland - INLA - Deadly Divisions
• Henry McDonald & Jim Cusack - UVF: Endgame