On This Day / March 12, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
19210312
Reference Date
19210312
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 12th March 1921, two Black & Tans were shot dead in Belfast’s Victoria Square while police gunfire wounded civilians in Newry after confrontations with crowds. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Tans’ Killed in Belfast | On This Day – 12th March 1921
A STARTLING shooting incident occurred in the heart of Belfast last night resulting in the deaths of [two Black and Tans] R E Crooks and John McIntosh and the wounding of W H Cooper.
The men were police motor drivers attached to the Gormanstown Camp in Belfast on duty. A civilian named Alexander Allen was also wounded.
A sensation was created by a burst of firing in Victoria Square and it subsequently transpired that two men belonging to the Crown Forces were fatally shot and one seriously wounded while a civilian sustained grave injuries.
It was learnt that three men attached to Gormanstown Camp [Co Meath] were in the city on duty and were due to leave today.
They were seen shortly after eight o’clock in conversation with some civilians in Victoria Square.
Four or five men in civilian clothes are described as having produced revolvers and fired point blank at the three uniformed men.
All three were hit as was also a civilian. One of the wounded men started to run but collapsed.
Police Fire on Newry Crowds
A SERIES of exciting and dangerous incidents marked the closing hours of Tuesday night in Newry.
It appears that at about 9.40 p.m. three men who were in a hilarious [intoxicated] condition, passed up Hill Street singing The Soldier’s Song’. In the vicinity of the Town Hall they were challenged by an RIC and Special Constabulary patrol.
Instead of halting, the men ran away and as further challenges were ignored, two shots were fired but the men succeeded in disappearing in the darkness.
Shortly afterwards another police patrol observed two bodies of civilians congregated in Margaret Street.
The police challenged them but the crowds made off into the side streets.
A revolver shot, it is alleged, was fired from one of the crowd and an officer in charge of the patrol was slightly wounded in the thigh. The police opened fire as the order to halt was ignored.
Immediately afterwards three civilians were found wounded – John McConville, John Kearns and James Carr.
The three men were removed to the Newry General Hospital where it was found necessary to amputate Kearns’s hand.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: AS A rule, the Black and Tans – ex-soldiers sent to Ireland as reinforcements for the RIC – were not deployed in the North.
IRA accounts describe a fist-fight in King Street between several Volunteers and a party of Tans, followed by the IRA attack in Victoria Square. The wounded ‘Tan’ and a passing civilian died next day.
Meanwhile the Specials’ gung-ho tactics were evident in Newry where the fair-minded DI Barrington had been removed.)
On This Day – 12th March 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210312
Reference Date
19210312
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Listen Along in Éamons Voice
Summary: On This Day – 12th March 1921, two Black & Tans were shot dead in Belfast’s Victoria Square while police gunfire wounded civilians in Newry after confrontations with crowds. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Tans’ Killed in Belfast | On This Day – 12th March 1921
A STARTLING shooting incident occurred in the heart of Belfast last night resulting in the deaths of [two Black and Tans] R E Crooks and John McIntosh and the wounding of W H Cooper.
The men were police motor drivers attached to the Gormanstown Camp in Belfast on duty. A civilian named Alexander Allen was also wounded.
A sensation was created by a burst of firing in Victoria Square and it subsequently transpired that two men belonging to the Crown Forces were fatally shot and one seriously wounded while a civilian sustained grave injuries.
It was learnt that three men attached to Gormanstown Camp [Co Meath] were in the city on duty and were due to leave today.
They were seen shortly after eight o’clock in conversation with some civilians in Victoria Square.
Four or five men in civilian clothes are described as having produced revolvers and fired point blank at the three uniformed men.
All three were hit as was also a civilian. One of the wounded men started to run but collapsed.
Police Fire on Newry Crowds
A SERIES of exciting and dangerous incidents marked the closing hours of Tuesday night in Newry.
It appears that at about 9.40 p.m. three men who were in a hilarious [intoxicated] condition, passed up Hill Street singing The Soldier’s Song’. In the vicinity of the Town Hall they were challenged by an RIC and Special Constabulary patrol.
Instead of halting, the men ran away and as further challenges were ignored, two shots were fired but the men succeeded in disappearing in the darkness.
Shortly afterwards another police patrol observed two bodies of civilians congregated in Margaret Street.
The police challenged them but the crowds made off into the side streets.
A revolver shot, it is alleged, was fired from one of the crowd and an officer in charge of the patrol was slightly wounded in the thigh. The police opened fire as the order to halt was ignored.
Immediately afterwards three civilians were found wounded – John McConville, John Kearns and James Carr.
The three men were removed to the Newry General Hospital where it was found necessary to amputate Kearns’s hand.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: AS A rule, the Black and Tans – ex-soldiers sent to Ireland as reinforcements for the RIC – were not deployed in the North.
IRA accounts describe a fist-fight in King Street between several Volunteers and a party of Tans, followed by the IRA attack in Victoria Square. The wounded ‘Tan’ and a passing civilian died next day.
Meanwhile the Specials’ gung-ho tactics were evident in Newry where the fair-minded DI Barrington had been removed.)
On This Day – 12th March 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
19210312
Reference Date
March 12, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 12th March 1921, two Black & Tans were shot dead in Belfast’s Victoria Square while police gunfire wounded civilians in Newry after confrontations with crowds. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
‘Tans’ Killed in Belfast | On This Day – 12th March 1921
A STARTLING shooting incident occurred in the heart of Belfast last night resulting in the deaths of [two Black and Tans] R E Crooks and John McIntosh and the wounding of W H Cooper.
The men were police motor drivers attached to the Gormanstown Camp in Belfast on duty. A civilian named Alexander Allen was also wounded.
A sensation was created by a burst of firing in Victoria Square and it subsequently transpired that two men belonging to the Crown Forces were fatally shot and one seriously wounded while a civilian sustained grave injuries.
It was learnt that three men attached to Gormanstown Camp [Co Meath] were in the city on duty and were due to leave today.
They were seen shortly after eight o’clock in conversation with some civilians in Victoria Square.
Four or five men in civilian clothes are described as having produced revolvers and fired point blank at the three uniformed men.
All three were hit as was also a civilian. One of the wounded men started to run but collapsed.
Police Fire on Newry Crowds
A SERIES of exciting and dangerous incidents marked the closing hours of Tuesday night in Newry.
It appears that at about 9.40 p.m. three men who were in a hilarious [intoxicated] condition, passed up Hill Street singing The Soldier’s Song’. In the vicinity of the Town Hall they were challenged by an RIC and Special Constabulary patrol.
Instead of halting, the men ran away and as further challenges were ignored, two shots were fired but the men succeeded in disappearing in the darkness.
Shortly afterwards another police patrol observed two bodies of civilians congregated in Margaret Street.
The police challenged them but the crowds made off into the side streets.
A revolver shot, it is alleged, was fired from one of the crowd and an officer in charge of the patrol was slightly wounded in the thigh. The police opened fire as the order to halt was ignored.
Immediately afterwards three civilians were found wounded – John McConville, John Kearns and James Carr.
The three men were removed to the Newry General Hospital where it was found necessary to amputate Kearns’s hand.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: AS A rule, the Black and Tans – ex-soldiers sent to Ireland as reinforcements for the RIC – were not deployed in the North.
IRA accounts describe a fist-fight in King Street between several Volunteers and a party of Tans, followed by the IRA attack in Victoria Square. The wounded ‘Tan’ and a passing civilian died next day.
Meanwhile the Specials’ gung-ho tactics were evident in Newry where the fair-minded DI Barrington had been removed.)
On This Day – 12th March 1921
Further Reading on Irish History:
List of other On This Day columns
Other resources: National Library of Ireland Irish News CAIN Archive
On This Day is a daily column in the Irish News looking back either 50 or 100 years. The column was compiled by Dr Éamon Phoenix from the mid 1980s until autumn, 2022. The Foundation is very grateful to the Irish News for giving permission to reproduce Eamon’s columns. Funding gratefully received from Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the Magill Trust.
* The Foundation has worked hard to recreate Eamon’s distinctive voice through AI. Since this is an emerging technology, occasional imperfections may be audible.