The Troubles in Ballykinler

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

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

1974

• 28 October 1974 - Michael Swanick (20) and Alan Coughlan (22), both members of the British Army, were killed in a Provisional Irish Republican Army van bomb attack outside Abercorn Barracks.[1] The 300lb[2] bomb, concealed in a delivery van parked on the opposite side of the road from the Sandes home at the base, exploded without warning causing the building to catch fire and collapse. It was completely gutted within minutes. Two soldiers died in the explosion, and 33 others, mainly soldiers but including two civilians, were injured in the attack.[3] Private Swanick was a member of the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment and Corporal Coughlan also a member of the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment.[4]

In 1986 a memorial stone to the two soldiers who died was unveiled outside a new Sandes home built on the site of the one destroyed.[3]

See also

• Ballykinler

References

1. "Sutton Index of Deaths, 1974". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN). Retrieved 31 August 2006.
2. "Abercorn Barracks, Ballykinlar". Sandes Soldier's and Airmen's Centres. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
3. "The bombing of Sandes Soldiers Home, Ballykinler". 1st Bn Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
4. "Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment". Palace Barracks Memorial Garden. Retrieved 25 January 2010.