Bloody Sunday (1972)

Bloody Sunday (Irish: Domhnach na Fola)[1]—sometimes called the Bogside Massacre[2]—was

an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry,[3] Northern Ireland, in which twenty-
six unarmed civil rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army. The
incident occurred during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march; the soldiers involved
were the First Battalion of the Parachute Regiment (1 Para).[4] Thirteen males, seven of whom
were teenagers, died immediately or soon after, while the death of another man four and a half
months later has been attributed to the injuries he received on that day. Two protesters were injured
when they were run down by army vehicles.[5] Five of those wounded were shot in the back.[6]
Two investigations have been held by the British Government. The Widgery Tribunal, held in the
immediate aftermath of the event, largely cleared the soldiers and British authorities of blame—
Widgery described the soldiers' shooting as "bordering on the reckless"—but was criticised as a
"whitewash",[7][8][9] including by Jonathan Powell, chief of staff to former prime minister Tony
Blair.[10] The Saville Inquiry, chaired by Lord Saville of Newdigate, was established in 1998 to
reinvestigate the events. Following a twelve-year inquiry, Saville's report was made public on 15
June 2010, and contained findings of fault that could re-open the controversy, and potentially lead
to criminal investigations for some soldiers involved in the killings.[11] The report found that all of
those shot were unarmed, and that the killings were both "unjustified and unjustifiable." On the
publication of the Saville report the British prime minister, David Cameron, made a formal apology
on behalf of the United Kingdom.
The Provisional Irish Republican Army's (IRA) campaign against the partition of Ireland had begun
in the two years prior to Bloody Sunday, but public perceptions of the day boosted the status of, and
recruitment into, the organisation enormously.[12] Bloody Sunday remains among the most
significant events in the Troubles of Northern Ireland, chiefly because it was carried out by the
army and not paramilitaries, in full view of the public and the press

The dead
John (Jackie) Duddy (17)
Patrick Joseph Doherty (31)
Bernard McGuigan (41)
Hugh Pious Gilmour (17)
Kevin McElhinney (17)
Michael Gerald Kelly (17)
John Pius Young (17)
William Noel Nash (19)
Michael M. McDaid (20)
James Joseph Wray (22)
Gerald Donaghy (17)
Gerald (James) McKinney (34)
William Anthony McKinney (27)
John Johnston (59)