Bombay Street remembered


The people of Clonard in west Belfast commemorated the
thirty-fifth anniversary of the burning of Bombay Street on
August 15, 1969 at the weekend.

Trouble erupted in towns and cities across the north after an
Apprentice Boys parade in Derry on August 12 1969 led to the
Battle of the Bogside.

Intense street battles in the Clonard area of west Belfast led
to the burning of homes in the Catholic Bombay Street - at the
rear of the monastery - by a mob of Protestants.

The mob, who were armed with petrol bombs and sticks, came from
the Protestant Cupar Street area.

During the disturbances homes were also set on fire in Conway
Street, Kashmir Road and Clonard Gardens.

Around 1,800 families were left homeless as a result of the
trouble.

During the trouble of August 15, 15-year-old Gerald McAuley was
shot and killed in Waterville Street, behind Clonard monastery.

Fr Reynolds described the events of August 1969 as "ethnic
cleansing".

"Remembering the burning of Bombay Street should move us to do
all we can to right that wrong. With us there should be no
acceptance of ethnic cleansing.

"Remembering the burning of Bombay Street can also make us more
caring to asylum seekers in our midst. They face the same as the
Clonard people did 35 years ago."

"Remembering the burning of Bombay Street will become a
spiritual benefit. It will open us up to receive mercy and
compassion from God and one another," Fr Reynolds said.

Rita Canavan, a Bombay Street resident of more than 50 years,
described the Mass as "very, very beautiful".

"I have seen a lot of my old neighbours and friends and I felt
sad for all my neighbours who are dead, I was representing
them," Mrs Canavan said.

Rita McAuley, a sister of Gerald McAuley, paid tribute to all
who organised the special Mass.

"It's nice to think that after all these years that he is
remembered in such a fond way," she said.

This weekend also marked the 35th anniversary of the first death
of a child in the Troubles.

Nine-year-old Patrick Rooney was lying on a bed in his family's
flat in Divis Tower in the Falls Road area of west Belfast when
he was shot by a tracer bullet fired by the RUC police.

The shot was fired from a heavy Browning machine-gun which was
mounted on an RUC armoured car. The schoolboy was taken to
hospital where he later died.

Remembering his son's death in later years, Patrick's father,
Cornelius said: "The rioting got worse and the shooting started.

"I thought of getting all the children into one room but before
we had time to get organised and lie down the room lit up with
flashes.

"I was grazed by a bullet and Patrick seemed to fall along the
wall.

"I thought he fainted from seeing me bleed, but then I saw that
the back of his head was covered with blood and I knew the
flashes had been bullets and that Patrick was shot."

In all six people died violent deaths during the August 1969
riots in Belfast. The four other people to die were: Samuel
McLarnon, Michael Lynch, John Gallagher and Hugh McCabe.