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Castleblayney bombing

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Castleblayney bombing
Part of the Troubles
Castleblayney bombing is located in Ireland
Car bomb site
Car bomb site
LocationCastleblayney, County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland
Coordinates54.120°N 6.738°W
Date7 March 1976
Attack type
Car bomb
Deaths1
Injured17
PerpetratorsUlster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defense Regiment, part of Glenanne gang

On 7 March 1976 a car bomb exploded outside the Three Star Inn pub, in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, killing one man and injuring 17 other people. The attack has been attributed to the Glenanne gang.[1]

Background

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Since at least 5 August 1969, Ulster loyalists had been planting bombs across the Irish border[2] in the Republic, most of them had been planted by the Ulster Volunteer Force, a few had been planted by the Ulster Freedom Fighters of the UDA, and at least one by the Ulster Protestant Volunteers (UPV). These early bombs were small and only did small structural damage to a certain target.[3]

The worst of these bombings happened in May 1974 when 34 people were killed and 300 injured in the Dublin and Monaghan bombings.[4]

On 14 February 1976, a month before the bomb at Castleblayney, a UVF bomb exploded in the main street of the small border town of Swanlinbar in County Cavan. There were no injuries.[5]

Bombing

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At around 8.20 pm a car bomb, for which no warning had been given, exploded outside the Three Star Inn in Castleblayney, killing 56 year-old Patrick (Packie) Mone instantly. Patrick had a wife called Anna and was a bicycle-mechanic. Despite prompt medical attention, he died on his way to hospital in the ambulance. Additionally, 17 people were injured in the blast which caused much damage in the immediate vicinity. Loyalist and Glenanne gang member John Weir claimed Mone was not the intended target, the 8.20 pm Derry-Dublin bus which usually ran like clock-work was the intended target but it was late by about two minutes. Weir also claimed that the attack was carried out by RUC officer Laurence McClure and UDR soldier Robert McConnell, using explosives provided by UDR Captain John Irwin and stored beforehand at James Mitchell's farmhouse. A memorial to Patrick Mone was erected near the site of the bombing in Castleblayney.[6][7]

After the bombing

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On the 17 March, 10 days after the Castleblaney bombing, the Glenanne gang carried out another car bomb attack in the Hillcrest Bar bombing which killed four more people (including two 13 year olds) and injured 50.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ JFF. "JFF - Bombing Incidents". Dublinmonaghanbombings.org. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  2. ^ "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1969". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  3. ^ "CAIN: Chronology of the Conflict 1969". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  4. ^ "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". Cain.ulst.ac.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  5. ^ Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights (July 2006). "Interim Report on the Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Bombing of Kay's Tavern, Dundalk" (PDF). Oireachtas – via Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Cassel Report (2006), p. 53
  7. ^ JFF. "JFF - 1975 and 1976 incidents". Dublinmonaghanbombings.org. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  8. ^ Sutton, Malcolm. "CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths". cain.ulst.ac.uk.

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