On This Day / June 12, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
June 12, 2021
Publication Date
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Summary: On This Day – 12th June 1921, three Belfast men were abducted and murdered in brutal reprisals following an IRA attack on RIC officers. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Reprisals Horror after RIC men shot | On This Day – 12th June 1921
AFTER a period of comparative quietude, Belfast was startled on Friday by the news that an attack had been made on three RIC men, one of whom was fatally shot.
Following this incident, three of the most shocking crimes ever recorded in Belfast were perpetrated in the early hours of yesterday.
The names of the victims are: Alexander McBride, publican (30) of Cardigan Drive; Malachy Halfpenny, postman (22) of Herbert Street, and William Kerr, hairdresser (26) of Old Lodge Road.
The incidents preceding the tragic occurrences go to show that the deeds must have been carried out in a most callous and brutal fashion.
Mr McBride was a well-known publican and carried on business in Church Street.
The second victim, Mr Halfpenny, an ex-soldier, resided near Ardoyne Church.
Relatives gave details of a horrifying nature and in each instance were similar in so far as the invasion of the dwellings by the slayers and their disgusting and brutal treatment not alone of the victim but of other residents.
It appears that a few minutes after 1am, both Mr and Mrs McBride were awakened by a sharp knock at the door. The raiders said that they were police.
Mr McBride went down and opened the door when the leader of the gang ordered him to go up and dress.
The lorry [carrying him] came to a sudden stop near Ballysillan.
The victim was taken to a lane and done to death. Seven shots were fired at him.
Mr McBride’s body bore marks as if he had also been maltreated. A pair of Rosary beads were entwined in his hands.
He was a native of Carey, Ballycastle and engaged in the licensing trade. He was not associated with any political organisations.
The murder of the young man, William Kerr was of equally atrocious.
His sister, Alice, [said] her brother was dragged onto the street and put on the lorry.
‘You will not see your brother again,’ they told her. His remains were later found opposite Dan O’Neill’s Loaning.
The deceased was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Foresters.
The third victim was Malachy Halfpenny (22) of Herbert Street, Ardoyne. He served for three and a half years in the Royal Field Artillery.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: As on previous occasions, IRA attacks on police in Belfast provoked brutal reprisals against – often innocent – Catholics.
A Free State intelligence report from 1924 lists the names of an RIC ‘murder gang’, allegedly led by two men, County Inspector Richard Harrison and District Inspector J W Nixon.
USC commander Col. Fred Crawford actively encouraged such reprisals.)
On This Day – 12th June 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.