The Troubles in Antrim

The Troubles in Antrim recounts incidents during, and the effects of, The Troubles in Antrim, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Incidents in Antrim during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities:

1972

5 July 1972 - Malcolm Orr (20) and his brother, Peter Orr (19), both Protestant civilians, were found shot dead by a non-specific Loyalist group at Bell's Cross, off the road to Belfast International Airport, near Antrim. Their killings have always been regarded as one of the mysteries of the Troubles. Both lived in north Belfast and had Catholic girlfriends who they set out to visit on 4 July. They were found on the roadside the next day both having been shot in the head.

2 July 1976 - Frank Scott (75), Ernest Moore (40), James McCallion (35), Joseph Ellis (27) and James Francey (50), all Protestants, and Oliver Woulahan (20), Catholic, all civilians, were shot and killed during an Ulster Volunteer Force gun attack on the Catholic-owned Ramble Inn on the Antrim-Ballymena Road, near Antrim. Ellis died on 7 July and Francey on 14 July 1976. The attack came just before closing time when two gunmen opened fire indiscriminately. Nine customers were hit by gunfire, four died at the scene and two later. The Ramble Inn was Catholic owned, but with a lot of Protestant customers. It was reported that the attack was in retaliation for an attack on a Protestant bar in Templepatrick on 25 June 1976 in which three Protestants died (see The Troubles in Templepatrick).

NI Conflict Archive on the Internet
McKittrick, D, Kelters, S, Feeney, B and Thornton, C. Lost Lives. Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh, 1999, p211 (Orrs) and p659, 660 and 662 (Ramble Inn)