On This Day / July 6, 1971
Go BackReproduced with permission from The Irish News.
July 6, 2021
Publication Date
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Summary: On This Day – 6th July 1971, a machine-gun attack wounded soldiers and civilians in Belfast, while Ardoyne and Lisburn faced escalating violence. Edited by Éamon Phoenix.
Machine-Gun attack | On This Day – 6th July 1971
A MACHINE-GUN attack on an Army Land Rover in Leeson Street, Belfast yesterday, when two soldiers and two civilians were wounded and several others, including three young children, had narrow escapes, was condemned last night by Lower Falls Citizens’ Defence Committee.
The body accused those responsible of having ‘a callous disregard for human life’.
The statement, issued with the full support of Fr Padraig Murphy, Administrator at St Peter’s Pro-Cathedral and other priests of the parish, deplored ‘the senseless violence that keeps recurring in our parish’.
The names of the two soldiers were being withheld.
The civilians are Mr William McCleave of Hardinge Street, who suffered a gunshot wound to the head as he threw himself down to shield his three young children, and Mr James Shannon, Gortn Street.
Several hours later, a number of explosions rocked the Lower and Upper Falls area.
Ardoyne Protest over Orange March
THREE hundred women have protested against the imposition of a ‘mini-curfew’ in Ardoyne when Orange bands broke an Army ban on playing as they marched along the Crumlin Road last Friday night.
Before the parade, Army officers gave Ardoyne Citizens’ Defence Committee a written assurance that the bands would not play after leaving Cambrai Street.
But they did play and this resulted in a stone-throwing incident during which troops fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of youths.
Fifteen Arrested in Mob Rule in Lisburn
FIFTEEN arrests were made by police in Lisburn when a Protestant extremist mob stormed Chapel Hill, the town’s Catholic quarter, and petrol bombs were thrown and property damaged before they were driven from the area.
After a weekend of violence in the town, the mob finally dispersed in the early hours of yesterday when rain fell.
It was a nightmare weekend for the Catholic population of the Chapel Hill area.
And last night the committee of St Patrick’s parish, Lisburn, angrily repudiated press reports that a flag was flown from parochial property or that any provocation whatever was offered.
Of the fifteen persons arrested, thirteen were later released to appear in court on summons.
Two men were charged with a petrol bomb attack on the local AOH Hall.
(Éamon Phoenix editor’s note: The approach to the 1971 Twelfth saw an escalation of violence in Belfast, Derry, Lisburn, Lurgan and other towns.
This included rioting at Orange marches, a Loyalist assault on Lisburn’s Catholic district and IRA gun and bomb attacks on troops.
The use of a machine-gun in an attempt to kill soldiers in West Belfast marked a serious escalation of the IRA campaign.)
On This Day – 6th July 1971
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.