The Troubles of Northern Ireland

Before the landmark 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which brought a measure of peace to Northern Ireland, "The Troubles" roiled the Emerald Isle and beyond over the course of three decades. During that time more than 3,000 people were killed by sectarian violence between the Irish Republican Army (and various splinter groups) waging a guerrilla campaign against British rule, and Protestant-aligned paramilitary groups, such as the Ulster Volunteer Force, which battled IRA targets and Catholic-owned businesses. Violence spilled beyond the borders of Northern Ireland - into Ireland, Britain and Europe - and such terror acts led to thousands of civilian deaths.

Left: Rescuers, soldiers and civilians dig with their bare hands in the still-smoking rubble of McGurk's bar on North Queen Street, Belfast, where 15 people died in a bomb blast, May 12, 1971. More than 16 others were injured in the Ulster Volunteer Force's attack on the Catholic-owned bar.

August 1971

Armed British troops patrol in the almost deserted streets of Ulster — AP Photo

Armed British troops patrol the almost-deserted streets of Ulster's capital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in one of a series of roundup operations on Aug. 11, 1971, that followed another night of violence. British troops had become the target of Irish Republican Army snipers earlier in the day.

January 1972

A member of the British Parachute Regiment clashes with a rioter during a civil rights march in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, which became known as Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972.

Thirteen Catholics were killed by the British Army that day. Almost two months later the British government dissolved the Northern Ireland parliament, and assumed direct rule from London.

February 1972

Tear gas bombs in Londonderry — AP Photo/Michel Laurent

People at a bus stop, some covering their mouths, are seen on Feb. 14, 1972, after tear gas bombs were used the previous day to break up disturbances near St. Eugene Church in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

July 1972

Rescue workers at the scene of the Oxford Street Bus Station — AP Photo/Peter Kemp

Rescue workers are seen at the Oxford Street bus station in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on July 21, 1972, when a series of terrorist explosions swept the city. The date became known as Bloody Friday.

July 1972

The main street in Claudy after one of Northern Ireland's worst terrorist atrocities, the 1972 bombing of Claudy, County Derry, July 31, 1972. The attacks were carried out by the Irish Republican Army. The bombing left nine people dead and 30 injured.

February 1974

The remains of coach torn apart by a terrorist bomb whilst on route to Catterick — Getty Images

The remains of a coach torn apart by a terrorist bomb whilst on route to Catterick Army Base along the M62, Feb. 4, 1974. The coach had been privately chartered for a group of British soldiers and their families. Eight soldiers, a woman and two children were killed in the blast.

November 1974

A general view of the Mulberry Bush public house in Birmingham, England, Nov. 21, 1974, showing the complete devastation of the interior. Twenty civilians were killed in two explosions in public houses in Birmingham. The attacks were carried out by the Irish Republican Army.

January 1976

The weeping mother of the O'Dowd brothers, who with their uncle were murdered in South Armagh, is comforted by members of her family at the funeral in January 1976. Ten Protestant civilians were killed when the minibus in which they were traveling was ambushed near Bessbrook in County Armagh.

August 1979

The remains of an Army truck which caught the full force of an IRA bomb at Warrenpoint, County Down, killing seven soldiers instantly on Aug. 28, 1979. A second booby-trap bomb killed 18 soldiers.
The attacks came hours after an IRA bomb killed Lord Louis Mountbatten (the Queen's cousin) and two others on Mountbatten's boat in Ireland.

July 1982

Horses from a detachment of the Queen's Household Cavalry and two soldiers became victims of an IRA nail bomb in Hyde Park, London, July 20, 1982. Eleven members of the British Army were killed in two remote-controlled bomb attacks in London, England. The attacks were carried out by the Irish Republican Army (IRA).

December 1982

A British soldier looks on Dec. 7, 1982 over the scene of devastation at the Droppin Well Inn in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, which was blown up the night before by an IRA splinter group, killing 17 people.

November 1987

The Cenotaph at Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, with the devastated community center in the background after it was hit by an IRA bomb, is seen in this Nov. 11, 1987. Eleven people, 10 Protestant civilians and one member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) were killed in a bomb attack in Enniskillen during the Remembrance Day Ceremony. The attack was carried out by the Irish Republican Army.

September 1989

Royal Marines' Deal barracks IRA bombing — AP Photo

An undated file photo of the Royal Marines School of Music building at the Deal Barracks at Walmer, in Kent, which was hit by an IRA bomb, killing 11 Marines, Sept. 22, 1989.

October 1993

A young man lays flowers near remains of a shop in which ten people were killed — AP Photo/Dave Caulkin

A young man lays flowers near the remains of a shop in which 10 people were killed after it was bombed by the Irish Republican Army, in Shankill Road, Belfast, Oct. 24, 1993. A further 58 people were injured in the blast.

August 1998

In early 1998 the multi-party Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday agreement) was signed by most of Northern Ireland's political parties; an international accord was also created between the U.K. and Irish governments. The Loyalist Volunteer Force, which was against the accord, declared an "unequivocal cease-fire," hoping to mute support for the agreement in a public referendum. Yet it was approved by wide margins by voters in both Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Loyalist forces continued to wage attacks, including a July 12 gas bomb attack that fatally burned three children. On August 15, 1998, a car bombing in Omagh conducted by a dissident Republican group (calling itself the Real IRA) killed 29 civilians (mostly women and children) and injured hundreds more.

Left: Royal Ulster Constabulary Police officers stand on Market Street, the scene of a car bombing in the center of Omagh, County Tyrone. The attack was the deadliest in four decades of conflict over Northern Ireland.

The outcry against the RIRA spurred the peace movement, and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) soon declared a cease-fire.