Nationalists remember the Battle of St Matthew’s
Historic battle is remembered
by victoria mcmahon
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The sun was shining as hundreds of nationalists from the Short Strand area of east Belfast and further afield gathered to mark the 35th anniversary of the Battle of St Matthew’s yesterday, thought to be one of the most historically important battles of the recent conflict.
Green, white and orange flags fluttered in the light breeze as generations, young and old, enjoyed the heat of the sun, walking to the pace of the commemorate bands, many remembering the fateful night of June 27, 1970 when their area came under siege by loyalist mobs determined to burn St Matthew’s chapel to the ground.
Proudly watching the colour party go past, Short Strand man Jim Gibney recalled the terror of that night. As a 15-year-old boy he watched armed loyalists approach his Comber Street home firing indiscriminately.
“It was very frightening,” he recalled. “The battle raged from 11 that night right through to the early hours. We were besieged by loyalists with petrol bombs. We were under intense gunfire. Were it not for the local IRA and defence group the place would have been another Bombay Street,” said Jim, referring to an incident the year before when Catholics had been forced from their homes in the west of the city.
Even 35 years later, Jim’s memories and the terror he felt that night remain with him as vividly as if it happened only yesterday. Crouching, watching from an upstairs window, a young Jim saw the angry loyalist mob, praying they would not reach their target of St Matthew’s chapel. With only a few weapons between them, members of the newly-formed Provisional IRA and a handful of the local defence organisation defended their area against bitter attack.
Jim said, “The loyalists thought if they could burn down the chapel they would be able to drive the people out of the area. It would have been a blow for the people in the area. The chapel was the heart of the community here and that’s why they wanted to burn it down.”
However, the people of Short Strand eventually won out but the battle was not without its casualties with Henry McIlhone losing his life in St Matthew’s grounds, and veteran republican Billy McKee suffering serious injury from gunshots. Jim’s anger remains when he recalls that the community was left to the mercy of the mobs as the British army and the RUC stood by without intervening.
He said, “The British army and the RUC were in the district and did nothing. They stood by and you could easily see where the gunmen where shooting from and didn’t intervene until dawn when they knew the area would survive and raided the area for guns we had needed to defend ourselves. It is quite remarkable for people to stand up the way they did,” he remarked.
Such thoughts were echoed in a speech made to the crowd by local republican representative Deborah Devenny. She said the battle marked a watershed not just for the people of Short Strand but the republican struggle as a whole.
Ms Devenny said, “It is very important for this community to remember how we were felt under attack by loyalist mobs assisted by the British government and the RUC. After Bombay Street there was writing on a wall in the Falls – IRA: I Ran Away. After the battle of St Matthew’s, no one could say that anymore.”
