Gerald (or Gerard) V. Donaghy (20 February, 1954 – 30 January, 1972) was a native of the Bogside, Derry who was killed by the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday in Derry, Northern Ireland.
Contents |
Both of Donaghy's parents had died by 1966, when he was 12 years old, and he was raised by his elder siblings, Paddy and Mary. At the age of 15, he moved to Meenan Square and obtained a job with Carlin's as a delivery hand on a beer lorry.
On 30 January, 1972, 27 civil rights protesters were shot by members of the 1st Battalion of the British Parachute Regiment during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march in the Bogside area of the city. Thirteen people, six of whom were minors, died immediately.
Donaghy was shot in the stomach while running to safety between Glenfada Park and Abbey Park, and was brought to a nearby house by bystanders where he was examined by a doctor. His pockets were turned out in an effort to identify him. A police photograph of Donaghy's corpse showed nail bombs in his pockets. Neither those who searched his pockets in the house nor the British army medical officer (Soldier 138) who pronounced his death shortly afterwards say they saw any bombs. Donaghy had been a member of Fianna Éireann, a youth section of the Provisional IRA, sometimes referred to as the "Junior IRA".[1]
Paddy Ward, who gave evidence at the Saville Inquiry, claimed that he had given two nail bombs to Donaghy several hours before he was shot dead.[2]
The circumstances surrounding Donaghy's death were among the most hotly contested following Bloody Sunday. The British Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary stated that nail bombs had been found beside him after he was shot. The first inquiry into Bloody Sunday, the since discredited Widgery Tribunal, chaired by Lord Widgery, agreed with the military.[3]
However, Donaghy's family and other campaigners for the Bloody Sunday victims claimed that the nail bombs were planted by troops in order to blacken Donaghy's name and provide an excuse for the killings.
In his closing statement during the Saville Inquiry, Christopher Clarke, QC, counsel to the inquiry, told the tribunal judges that they must decide if Donaghy had had nail bombs in his possession when he was shot dead. Donaghy was photographed at an army post with four nail bombs in his pockets but a number of civilians who tried to take him to hospital told the tribunal he was unarmed.[4]
After a lengthy examination of the evidence in the Inquiry's Report, Lord Saville concludes "in our view Gerald Donaghy was probably in possession of the nail bombs when he was shot", but also notes "It remains to say, for reasons given elsewhere in this report, that Gerald Donaghy was not shot because of his possession of nail bombs".[5]