Republican News · Thursday 29 January 1998

[An Phoblacht]

Lagan enclave

A History of Conflict in the Short Strand
1886 - 1997
Published by The Ballymacarrett Research Group

Over the past two years The Ballymacarrett Research Group (BRG) has been engaged in extensive research which has resulted in a book on the history of the Short Strand area of Belfast. Set in Ballymacarrett, just east of the Lagan, the district has been to the fore in the bitter legacy of conflict that has besieged Belfast since 1886.

The book is an invaluable record of an area that has both contributed and suffered in conflict since it became established as St Matthew's parish in 1872.

During the period of 1920-1922 the area was often described in the press as `the most dangerous in Belfast', a comment borne out by the fact that seventy-six men, women and children from both communities died in this two year period in Ballymacarrett, thirty-two of whom were parishioners of St Matthew's.

The BRG has for the first time documented the daily onslaught through which people had to live. These chapters alone provide an invaluable base of research for any person interested in Irish history. Also covered is the 1922 IRA offensive carried out by the `regular' IRA forces in the North with the full backing of the provisional government in Dublin.

The 1930s covers the reorganisation of the IRA in Belfast, and the part played by IRA Volunteers from the Short Strand. Once again BRG has made the effort to record the overall situation in the 1930s in relation to socialism, and have included the role played by men in Belfast, and especially Ballymacarrett, in the Spanish Civil War; another aspect of history unfortunately overlooked.

From internment in the 1930s and 1940s to the all-out conflict in the 1970s, the Short Strand has been to the fore. It was the ``Battle of St. Matthew's' in June 1970 that saw the `Provisional' IRA on the streets of Belfast for the first time. Even this now famous all-night gun battle is being covered in detail for the first time. It was to lead to the ``Falls Road Curfew' of July 1970.

Throughout the seventies, which the book covers in detail, the Short Strand witnessed many gun and bomb attacks, and unfortunately many deaths. In 1972 alone, 18 people were killed around the district, including 8 IRA volunteers. Up unto the ceasefire period of 1994 Mountpottinger RUC Barracks was one of the most attacked RUC stations in Belfast. The area's closely knit community also suffered from sectarian killings, yet it has endured rebuilding and growth. It is worth noting that the first Belfast IRA Volunteer to die, which was in 1916 in Kerry, was born in the Short Strand district. The social factor is entwined throughout, making the book appealing to anyone with an interest in Irish history.


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