Claudy bombing memorial rededicated as families gather in remembrance 52 years on

Families and survivors of the IRA bombings, which claimed the lives of nine people and left many more wounded, were speaking as they gathered on Wednesday evening in the village to mark the 52nd anniversary of the atrocity and to rededicate the monument in Claudy.

They were joined by neighbours, friends and residents, Mayor Lilian Seenoi-Barr and several local politicians.

Fr David O’Kane and Rev. David Slater jointly officiated over a poignant, hour-long service, during which those who died were remembered, prayers and messages of hope were read out to those assembled, a floral tribute laid, and hymns sung.

The nine people who were killed in the Claudy bombing on July 31, 1972 were Joe Connolly (15), Kathryn Eakin (9), William Temple (16), Elizabeth McElhinney (59), James McClelland (65), Joe McCloskey (38), David Miller (60), Artie Hone (38) and Rose McLaughlin (51).

The morning of July 31, 1972 began much as every other Monday morning did for the people living in and around Claudy. Within hours, however lives would be forever changed when shortly before 10am, in a street bustling with shoppers, the bombs detonated outside McElhinney’s pub on Main Street, then a second nearby and a third outside a hotel. The blasts had ripped through the heart of the village, killing the nine innocent local people, wounding dozens more and leaving a trail of devastation still felt keenly by the families of the victims, the wounded and the local community 52 years on. The victims were men and women, boys and girls, Protestant and Catholic.

James Miller, whose grandfather David was among those killed, was among several relatives who spoke during the memorial service. He told those gathered that the newly redesigned and refurbished memorial, with a specially commissioned stone wall engraved with the names of the victims, paving, seating, plants and fencing, would ensure their loved ones were never forgotten.

Mr Miller described his grandfather as a “man of great courage, compassion as he died trying to help others” in the “face of unimaginable tragedy”.

"The update to this memorial is more than just a restoration of stone and inscription,” he said. “It is a commitment to preserving history.

"As a family were are comforted by the knowledge that this memorial will stand the test of time and ensure that my grandfather Davey Miller and the other victims will not be forgotten. Their stories live on, etched into the fabric of the community.”

He called on everyone to renew their resolve for, and to pursue “peace, unity and a better future”.

One of those wounded in the bombings, former Deputy Mayor Mary Hamilton said that 52 years on, the hurt was still there.

"We never got answered,” she said. “And it is sad to think… there are so many across the province in the same boat.”

Mrs. Hamilton said she was glad to see the monument had been refurbished. "We just hope the young people will respect it,” she added.

Claudy resident Mervyn Donnell was just 12 when the bomb went off.

"It was a lot smaller at that time and very much community based,” he recalled. “Everybody knew each other. The nine victims were all very well known. I knew Kathryn Aiken very well. I’d call in to Mrs. McLaughlin, she did the chips, chips from a family owned business, and into Mrs McElhinney, and Artie Hone, he lived up the brae, another nice man who used to come round with betterware, and you had the milkman, Mr Temple, who brought my mother milk.

"Everybody was well known, and it was great a shock to the community that something like that could happen in Claudy, very much a mixed community. And it is just sad to think that two weeks before the telephone exchanges were blown up and nobody could get any word through.

“The funerals were massive. You would have heard the silence, you would have heard a pin drop. Those were very sad, black days for Claudy.

"It was a tragedy that should never have happened. All those people didn’t deserve that, I think the families need an answer; an answer to what happened.”

Mr Donnell added: "You would never wish this to happen to anybody and I think the politicians should get together and move forward and stop looking back. The people of Northern Ireland want that. We want to live in peace with one another, which we have always done in Claudy.”

Davy Hallawell, SEFF’s Advocate, who has worked closely with some of the families over the last three years, said the refurbished memorial was the culmination of three year’s work alongside relatives and Derry City & Strabane District Council, which funded and carried out the works, to “create a legacy going forward”.

Mayor Seenoi-Barr paid tribute to the community in Claudy saying that despite the terrible events visited on their village, had nurtured compassion, reconciliation and helped foster the spirit of peace.

Echoing the sentiments of many others who spoke, the Mayor concluded to applause: “As we stand here let us reaffirm our commitment to peace and unity, ensuring that the memory of those we have lost inspires us to build a future free from violence and imbued with hope. Together we can honour their legacy by working together towards more compassion and a just society.”