Ireland celebrates the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Ireland has marked the centenary of Bloody Sunday with a moving commemoration in Dublin.

President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin were among those who attended the event in Croke Park.

One hundred years earlier, 14 people were killed or mortally wounded by British forces during a Gaelic football match. Dozens more were injured in the 1920 murders that occurred during the Irish War of Independence.

Speaking before the event during which he placed a wreath, Higgins said that many lives were irrevocably changed as a result of the events of that day.

People of different origins on the island can reflect on Bloody Sunday in different ways.

“Today we remember the lost and those who suffered with a sense of deep sadness and even outrage, but also as a reminder of the fragility of the hard-won peace we have grown accustomed to and the consequences that stem from the abuse of power. and the failure of diplomacy and politics, ”he said.

“That the events that occurred can, in their brutality and disregard for death, still shock and challenge us all, is something that must be understood.

“People of different backgrounds on the island can reflect on Bloody Sunday in different ways.

“We must respect this and be open to different perspectives, and encourage hospitality for these different narratives of the events of that day.

“For all of us, to avoid being captive to any frozen version of the events of our past, we must find the courage to remember painful events honestly.

“Doing this can only help us take responsibility for the present and for our shared and peaceful future together.”

Bloody Sunday 1920 is remembered as one of the most poignant days in Ireland’s struggle for independence. The violence of what happened in Croke Park still has the ability to move us and move us. 100 years later, we remember the 14 people who lost their lives that day # B100dySunday

– Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) November 21, 2020

Martin described Bloody Sunday as “one of the most moving days in Ireland’s struggle for independence.”

“The violence of what happened in Croke Park still has the ability to move us and move us,” he said.

“100 years later, we remember the 14 people who lost their lives that day.”

Due to coronavirus regulations, only a limited number of people were able to attend the commemoration in Croke Park. GAA encouraged those who stayed home to light a candle.

The lives of the 14 victims were remembered in a ceremony that coincided with the lighting of 14 flames in a dedicated area of ​​Cerro 16 and a corresponding pillar of light dedicated to each of the deceased.

There was also a performance of a specially commissioned piece of music by Colm Mac Con Iomaire.

It preceded a Leinster senior soccer final between Dublin and Meath.

On that day in 1920, 14 civilians attended a GAA game in Croke Park and, tragically, never returned home. On the darkest day in GAA and Croke Park history, we celebrate the centennial of Bloody Sunday by remembering those victims; Jane Boyle, James Burke, pic.twitter.com/u9d3hFmvZw

– Croke Park (@CrokePark) November 21, 2020

Earlier, outside the main gates of the stadium, an unofficial commemoration took place.

There was a short procession led by a flute player before the images of the 14 dead and the flowers were placed as several people watched each name clap as it was read.

Bloody Sunday has been singled out as one of the darkest chapters in the violent birth of the Republic of Ireland.

On the morning of November 21, 1920, revolutionary leader Michael Collins led an assassination unit known as “The Squad” to eliminate the core of the British government’s intelligence operations in Ireland.

The shooting took place in the city center south of Dublin and resulted in 14 deaths, including six intelligence agents and two members of the British Auxiliary Force, or Black and Tans, as they were known.

Some of the dead were shot in front of their wives and children.

Later, a crowd of 10,000 gathered to watch a Gaelic football challenge match between Tipperary and Dublin at Croke Park, the home of the GAA.

British forces, believing the IRA men to be underground, established a cordon and planned a stop-and-search operation.

When the game started, the police trucks crossed the bridge over the canal and headed towards the ground.

Five minutes after the match began, with the match still scoreless, shots began to sound in the stadium. The 90 seconds of shooting claimed 14 victims: Tipperary footballer Michael Hogan and 13 spectators.