Children of man killed 50 years ago speak out

The family of a Catholic man murdered by loyalists 50 years ago has spoken of their life-long hurt.

Patrick Falls was shot dead at his family-run bar in Aughamullan, near Coalisland, County Tyrone, on November 20, 1974.

The 45-year-old pharmacist had returned from Birmingham in England just weeks before.

In 1981 John James Somerville was convicted for his part in the murder and that of members of the Miami Showband in 1975.

His brother, locally recruited UDR British soldier Wesley Somerville, who died while carrying out the Miami Showband massacre, is also suspected of involvement.

A third man, also a member of the UDR, is thought to have played a part.

His son Brian, who was 12 when his father was shot, has vivid memories of a priest and police visiting the family home in England to tell his mother her husband has been killed.

Speaking to the Irish News newspaper, he said: “The news came through there had been a gun battle….that was British propaganda, immediately they started off ‘there’s been a gun battle’, there was no gun battle, I think this would have been to suit their own ends.”

Mr Falls said his father’s death was “devastating”.

His daughter Colette Rooney spoke of the impact on her mother Maureen.

“I think something died in her that day,” she said. “Granny Quinn lived with us and used to say she could hear mammy crying in bed at night.

“She wouldn’t cry in front of us, but granny would hear her crying herself to sleep every night. So that’s the impact. She did her best, a strong 40-year-old widow with six children.”

After getting married in 1960 Patrick and Maureen, who died in 2020, settled in Belfast. Deeply devoted to each other, their family and faith, they spent weekly date nights, a concept well ahead of its time, at Clonard Novena.

In 1971 the family left Belfast and moved to Birmingham where Patrick had found new work.

However, an opportunity to return to Ireland arose in 1974 when Patrick’s brother asked him to take over the family business, which included a farm, shop, Post Office and pub.

It was during a trip home to see if the proposal was viable that Patrick was shot dead the night before he was due to sign legal documents.

Colette recalls that early the next morning her mother told her and her sisters Carmel, Fiona, and Brenda, that their father had been killed.

“When we all heard the news our hearts were broken and we all cried the whole way to Belfast,” she said.

Ms Rooney remarked that her mother always said “the hurt and pain never gets any better, it just gets worse”.

“We all miss him every day and when our dear mum passed away in 2020 it was like losing both of them again as she was mum and dad to us for 46 years, on her own with a broken heart,” Ms Rooney added.

Colette recalls how she and her siblings avoided using the term “daddy” so as not to upset each other in the years after his brutal murder.

Brian, who was the second youngest to his brother Aidan, has no doubt there was collusion.

He said he has “no faith or confidence” in the British government’s Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) and will not engage with it.

It was introduced as part of the Legacy Act, which ended all inquests and civil cases earlier this year.

Alan Brecknell from the Pat Finucane Centre, which has supported the family, echoed the view of the Falls family about the ICRIR.

“The point is well made that this isn’t going to get the information that they as a family are looking for,” he said.

Urgent Appeal