A BRIDGE CLOSE to Croke Park has been renamed to commemorate Bloody Sunday in 1920, when 14 people were killed by British soldiers during a Gaelic Football match.
On the morning of 21 November, 1920, an assassination unit led by Micheal Collins and known as ‘The Squad’ mounted an operation which resulted in the deaths of 14 people suspected of being British intelligence officers.
Later that afternoon, Dublin played Tipperary in a challenge match at Croke Park, with the proceeds to be given to the Republican Prisoners Dependents Fund.
Shortly after the game started, the Royal Irish Constabulary stormed into Croke Park and opened fire on the crowd.
Fourteen people died in the shooting, including three children and Tipperary player Michael Hogan – in 1925, the GAA renamed a stand in Croke Park after Michael Hogan.
Around 100 others were also injured in the 1920 shooting in Croke Park.
Later in the same day, IRA officers Dick McKee and Peadar Clancy were killed in Dublin Castle.
The bridge on Russell Street in the shadow of Croke Park was today renamed Bloody Sunday Bridge.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste also unveiled a commemorative plaque outside 69 Blessington Street, the home of ten-year-old Jerome O’Leary, the youngest of the three children killed in the shooting.
Jerome was sitting on the wall at the canal end, lifted up by his father to watch the match, when he was shot from the bridge.
Speaking at the unveiling of the plaque, de Róiste said: “We stand here within easy reach of the spot where ten-year-old Jerome O’Leary was sitting when he was shot from this bridge on 21 November 1920.
“Another 13 civilians were killed here on that horrific afternoon, and in naming this bridge we are honouring those innocent victims, all of whom deserve to be remembered.”
He added: “It was the release of papers by the British authorities, put into storage in London but released early in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement, that enabled the record to be put straight about Bloody Sunday.
“They showed even the British army’s command chain knew they had gone too far, and that the Dublin Metropolitan Police contradicted the propaganda being put out by Dublin Castle.”
The Lord Mayor of Dublin said “there is a lesson there that the truth will win out eventually”.
“It is a lesson from our conflict of a century ago that could be learned by parties in all conflicts, then and now,” said de Róiste.
“Sadly, tonight’s headlines will once again be about the death of non-combatants, children like Jerome O’Leary, in other conflicts in other lands far away from Croke Park.”
The decision to name Bloody Sunday Bridge and to erect the plaque in Blessington Street was made by the Dublin City Council Commemorations & Naming Committee.
Its chair, Councillor Vincent Jackson, said: “The Commemorative Plaques Scheme allows the City to formally commemorate people who have made a significant contribution to the life of Dublin.
“We welcome suggestions from the public for people and events to be commemorated and full details are on the Council website.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say