On This Day / June 17, 1921
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
June 17, 2021
Publication Date
Listen Along in Éamons Voice *
Summary: On This Day – 17th June 1921, an inquest examined the street shooting death of Belfast schoolgirl Lena Kelly while preparations intensified for King George V’s historic visit to open the Northern Parliament. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Child Victim | On This Day – 17th June 1921
AN INQUEST was held by the City Coroner yesterday regarding the death of a 13- year- old girl named Lena Kelly, Kilmood Street [Belfast] who died as the result of wounds received during the disturbances in the East End recently.
She was wounded on 17th May and died on 5th June.
John Kelly, the father, said the deceased girl was only five minutes out of the house to buy some sweets when she was shot.
William Norrish said he saw a large crowd on Newtownards Road at the end of Seaforde Street.
The witness saw a motor tender pull up at the end of the street and heard shots.
He saw a policeman in the centre of Seaforde Street with a revolver pointed towards where the witness was standing.
After the third shot witness saw the deceased girl fall and he carried her into a house.
Witness saw no shots or stones from the [Sinn Fein] procession.
Mrs Catherine McDavitt asserted that when a band was dispersing she heard shots.
Police evidence produced showed that a Sinn Fein procession came up Vulcan Street to Seaforde Street, headed by a pipe band.
At the corner of Vulcan Street a riot broke out between the processionists and a crowd of Unionists. Stones were thrown and shots fired by both parties.
The police succeeded in getting the Sinn Fein procession to move on, but when it had got fully into Seaforde Street, someone in the rear fired shots back in the direction of the police who replied by firing back.
Afterwards a Crossley tender arrived and peace was restored.
The father recalled that the morning after the child was wounded he was shown a bullet at the Mater Hospital. It was a Webley bullet and had been coughed up by the child.
The jury returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence.
The Coroner remarked it was a very sad case, more especially as the deceased was an innocent victim.
Preparations for Royal Visit
AS THE day for the King’s visit to Belfast approaches, workmen are busily engaged in transforming the interior of the Council Chamber of the City Hall where the King will open the Northern Parliament.
A throne will be erected which will be replica of the throne in the House of Lords at Westminster.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: Like the majority of the 450 people killed in the Belfast sectarian disturbances of 1920-22, Lena Kelly was an innocent victim.
She was caught in a situation where shooting broke out during a Sinn Féin election parade in east Belfast. Lena appeared to be the victim of police fire.)
On This Day – 17th 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.