#OTD 1970 – The Battle of St. Matthew’s
The following piece has been provided by Lasair Dhearg’s Pádraic MacCoitir.
“Growing up in Belfast in the late 60s and early 70s I was hearing a lot of shooting and bombing and as a young lad I was very excited. Of course I wasn’t too much aware of the politics but knew enough about the sectarian state and the rising tensions in Republican areas. My mother and father were active republicans and on many occasions strangers would call to the house and I’d pick up snippets about such and such an area being attacked by unionist gangs supported by the hated RUC. Living in Lenadoon we were relatively safe but thousands of nationalists living in places like Ardoyne, Cupar Street and Bombay Street were forced out of their homes and many moved to our area.
The IRA had very few weapons to protect people but with a small number of committed men and women they stopped things from getting far worse and this in turn led to many joining their ranks. Within a year or two we were hearing the names of some of those people and when we saw them walking our streets we would nudge each other and hope they’d nod over to us.
One of the events that went down in Republican folklore was ‘The Battle of St Matthews’ when IRA volunteers from the Short Strand went on to the streets to defend the people from a unionist gang that was coming back from the city centre after one of their sectarian marches.
It was 27th June 1970 and such was the onslaught locals called on other IRA volunteers for help. This came about when senior figures such as Billy McKee and Billy Kelly arrived. McKee had been to the fore of the defence of Bombay Street the previous August and there’s a famous photo of him and others trying to save the life of Fian Gerard McAuley who was fatally wounded at the back of Clonard monastery.
In more recent years I got to know Billy McKee and he would tell me of a lot of events that took place in the early days of the conflict and one of those events I was very interested in was the night of June 27th. He wasn’t playing his role down and said there was more than him and Billy Kelly present but what he told me and my friend, Colum, was fascinating.
McKee was O/C of Belfast and Kelly O/C of North Belfast and when they heard what was happening in the Short Strand they made their way with others. Billy told us he was armed with a parabellum and although well known by the RUC it didn’t deter him from carrying it. The area was surrounded by British soldiers and cops but local IRA volunteers and members of the Citizens Defence Committee (CDC) showed them how to get through. When they reached St Matthew’s church it, and surrounding houses, were coming under sustained attack with gangs throwing petrol bombs, bottles and bricks. There was a small number of them firing shots so when the IRA volunteers and others took up position they repelled the mob.
Word came to Billy Kelly that there was serious trouble in North Belfast so he had to make his way there. Many more shots were fired into the church grounds but Billy and others fired back and during this exchange of fire he was shot a number of times.
Local man Henry McIlhone was also shot close to him and when St John’s ambulance volunteers reached them Billy told them to take Henry first because he looked more seriously injured. Unfortunately Henry died days later in the Mater hospital. Billy told the ambulance crew to take him to a safe house despite his injuries. After a few days lying low he was moved to a hospital in the Free State and as soon as he recovered he went back to Belfast where he played an active role in building the IRA.
Colum and I spoke with Billy for a long time and he told us some things which he asked us not to repeat and although he died last year we have to respect his wishes.
One of the things that struck us was that he was very humble when we told him that not only the people of Short Strand but others in the city were very praiseworthy of him and his comrades for the part they played in defending the area on a night that will never be forgotten.
