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Bloody Sunday

On ‘Bloody Sunday’, 30 January 1972, 13 men were shot dead by members of the Parachute Regiment following an anti-internment march in Derry/Londonderry.

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Black and white photograph of an injured person being carried, one person is waving a white hanky
An inquiry was quickly established but Lord Chief Justice Widgery’s report exonerated the British army, blaming the organisers of the march for creating a dangerous situation. The anger and deep sense of injustice that followed hardened attitudes and increased support for the Irish Republican Army.
However, 38 years later, after a long campaign by the relatives of those murdered and wounded and a historic second judicial inquiry, all of the victims were declared innocent and the British government apologised. The then Prime Minister described the events of the day as “unjustified and unjustifiable”.
Black and white photograph of Bloody Sunday rally, young child on adults shoulders looking at the camera in the foreground
View of Bloody Sunday rally. BELUM.W2017.18.187
Black and white photograph of Bloody Sunday commemorations, large print of a person on a field, can see the back of crowds standing
View of Bloody Sunday commemorations. BELUM.W2017.18.178
Coloured photograph of ruins of the British Embassy on Merrion Square, Dublin, after it was burned dow in response to the Bloody Sunday shooting in Derry
Coloured photograph of ruins of the British Embassy on Merrion Square, Dublin, after it was burned down in response to the Bloody Sunday shooting in Derry. BELUM.W2015.408.6
Black and white photograph of Bloody Sunday rally, young child on adults shoulders looking at the camera in the foreground
View of Bloody Sunday rally. BELUM.W2017.18.187

Main Image: In one of the most iconic images of Bloody Sunday Fr Daly, waving a white handkerchief, leads the group carrying Jackie Duddy Photograph by Fulvio Grimaldi, courtesy Museum of Free Derry

Key events

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