Commemorations to mark the centenary of the Sack of Balbriggan

COMMEMORATIONS ARE BEING TAKEN to mark the centenary of the Balbriggan Sack, a night 100 years ago that saw houses and businesses burned down and two men in the city beaten to death.

On the night of September 20, 1920, between 100 and 150 Black and Tans sacked the town of Balbriggan in revenge for the murder of RIC Chief of Police Peter Burke and the shooting of his brother, Sergeant Michael Burke, which resulted seriously injured.

The IRA had shot the two men while they were at Smyth’s pub in Ballbriggan earlier that day.

In retaliation, a factory, 49 houses and four pubs were burned down and there was widespread looting in Balbriggan. Two men, Seán Gibbons and Séamus Lawles, were also beaten to death.

The event subsequently led to a debate in the British Parliament, with SS Asquith, then leader of the opposition, comparing the looting of Balbriggan to the actions of the Imperial German Army during the Rape of Belgium.

A subsequent investigation blamed the British forces for loss of life, destruction of property and livelihoods. It awarded compensation to the Lawless and Gibbons families of £ 1,750 each. Damages were also awarded to the owners of the burned factory and many other claims were settled for destroyed businesses and homes.

The main commemoration event, which was to take place this afternoon at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul with the assistance of President Michael D Higgins, has been postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions in Dublin.

President Higgins today described the incident as “an act of collective punishment, a retaliation, a term that would become the mark of a policy of subjugation, installation of fear in a public that had those who sought independence in its midst.”

That September night in Balbriggan, on which we reflect today, was a day of rampant violence and carnage which, along with other key acts of retaliation during the Irish War of Independence, its ferocity and reports of it resulted in the galvanizing support for the military. struggle that would ultimately lead to the establishment of our independent state.

“The atrocity that was the Balbriggan sack has characteristics that are similar in many respects to so many other acts of reprisal, violence and collective punishment that were administered by the British armed forces during the War of Independence,” he said.

“They marked an escalation in terms of their ferocity and it was calculated that they had a strategic impact on the local community, which Dublin Castle was eager to claim was having an effect.”

Although some planned events have had to be scaled down due to Covid-19 restrictions in Dublin, many of those organized by local groups and the council are still taking place.

These include exhibitions, talks, and mural painting in the city.

The Sack of Balbriggan was the main theme of the fourth annual Fingal Festival of History which took place online between September 12 and 19. All talks and presentations associated with the Festival are available online on the Fingal Libraries YouTube channel and social media platforms.

An exhibit of the Sack of Balbriggan is ready for display at The Atrium at County Hall, Swords, and a virtual exhibit can be viewed on the council’s website.

The Fingal County Council Office of the Arts commissioned a mural commemorating the Sack of Balbriggan and the work is nearing completion on Bridge Street.

The city council is also making a documentary to commemorate the Centennial of the Balbriggan Sack.

Fingal Mayor Alderman David Healy said it is important to commemorate the centenary of this event.

“In recalling the collective punishment inflicted on the civilian population of Balbriggan by blacks and tans, we also express our solidarity with civilian populations in other parts of the world who, in modern times, continue to face such punishment,” he said.