Downpatrick landmine attack

1990 roadside bombing in County Down, Northern Ireland by the IRA

Downpatrick landmine attack
Part of the Troubles
Downpatrick landmine attack (Northern Ireland)
Location	Ballydugan Road, Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland
Coordinates	54°19′19.2″N 5°42′10.8″W / 54.322000°N 5.703000°W / 54.322000; -5.703000
Date	9 April 1990
Target	Ulster Defence Regiment
Attack type	Improvised land mine
Deaths	4 soldiers
Injured	4 soldiers, 1 civilian
Perpetrator	Provisional IRA

v t e The Troubles in Ireland
1960s and 1970s Battle of the Bogside/1969 riots RTÉ bombing Operation Banner Battle of St Matthew's Falls Curfew Crossmaglen bombing Scottish soldiers' killings Operation Demetrius Ballymurphy massacre Newry killings Red Lion Pub bombing McGurk's Bar bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Bloody Sunday Abercorn Restaurant bombing Donegall St bombing Battle at Springmartin Dungiven ambush Battle of Lenadoon Springhill massacre Bloody Friday Operation Motorman Claudy bombing Newry customs bombing Sanaghanroe attack Benny's Bar bombing Annie's Bar massacre Belturbet bombing Dublin bombings New Lodge Six shooting Coleraine bombings Rose & Crown Bar bombing Clogher barracks attack Dublin & Monaghan bombings Mountainview Tavern attack Bleary Darts Club shooting Strand Bar bombing Forkhill beer keg bomb Miami Showband killings Bayardo Bar attack Tullyvallen massacre October 1975 attacks Drummuckavall ambush Dublin Airport bombing Dundalk & Silverbridge attacks Central Bar bombing Reavey and O'Dowd killings Kingsmill massacre Castleblayney bombing Hillcrest Bar bombing Flagstaff Hill incident Charlemont pub attacks Store Bar shooting Chlorane Bar attack Ramble Inn attack Stag Inn attack Andersonstown incident Garryhinch ambush 1976 Balmoral bombing Jonesborough Gazelle shootdown La Mon restaurant bombing Warrenpoint ambush Dungannon land mine attack 1980s Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle attacks Altnaveigh landmine attack Glasdrumman ambush Divis Flats bombing Droppin Well bombing Ballygawley land mine attack Darkley killings Kesh ambush Strabane ambush Newry mortar attack Ballygawley barracks attack Birches barracks attack Clontibret invasion Loughgall ambush Remembrance Day bombing Milltown Cemetery attack Corporals killings Avenue Bar shooting Lisburn van bombing Aughanduff Lynx shootdown Ballygawley bus bombing Drumnakilly ambush Jonesborough ambush Derryard checkpoint attack 1990s Derrygorry Gazelle shootdown Downpatrick landmine attack Operation Conservation Armagh City roadside bombing Fort Victoria Proxy bombings Lough Neagh ambush Silverbridge Lynx shootdown Mullacreevie ambush Cappagh killings Craigavon mobile shop killings Glenanne barracks bombing Coagh ambush Musgrave Park Hospital bombing Craigavon Hyster killings Teebane bombing Sinn Féin Headquarters shooting Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting Clonoe ambush Cloghoge checkpoint attack Coalisland riots South Armagh sniper campaign Forensic Lab bombing James Murray's bookmakers attack Castlerock killings Cullaville occupation Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing Greysteel massacre Fivemiletown ambush Crossmaglen Lynx shootdown 1994 Shankill Road killings Loughinisland massacre Killeeshil ambush Drumcree conflict Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack 1997 riots Quinn brothers' killings Banbridge bombing Omagh bombing See also: The Troubles in Britain & Europe, Assassinations during the Troubles, and Loyalist feud

The Troubles
in Ireland

1960s and 1970s

1980s

1990s

On 9 April 1990, the South Down Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) detonated a massive improvised land mine under a British Army convoy outside Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. Four soldiers of the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) were killed, the regiment's greatest loss of life since 1983.

Background

Further information: List of chronologies of Provisional Irish Republican Army actions

The Provisional IRA had been attacking British Army patrols and convoys with landmines and roadside bombs since the beginning of its campaign in the early 1970s. The deadliest attack was the Warrenpoint ambush of August 1979, when 18 soldiers were killed by two large roadside bombs near Warrenpoint, County Down. In July 1983, four soldiers of the local Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) were killed when their vehicle struck an IRA landmine near Ballygawley, County Tyrone. It was the UDR's biggest loss of life up until then.

Attack

On the morning of 9 April 1990, two UDR armoured Land Rovers were travelling from Ballykinler Barracks to Downpatrick. An IRA unit had planted a 1,000-pound (450 kg) improvised landmine in a culvert under the Ballydugan Road, just outside the town. The unit waited in woodland overlooking the road, about 350 ft (110 m) away. As the Land Rovers drove over the culvert, the IRA detonated the bomb by command wire. The huge blast blew the vehicle into a field and gouged a large crater in the road, 50 ft (15 m) wide and 15 ft (5 m) deep. A witness described "a scene of utter carnage". Four soldiers were killed: Michael Adams (23), John Birch (28), John Bradley (25), and Steven Smart (23). It was the biggest loss of life suffered by the UDR since the 1983 Ballygawley landmine attack. The soldiers in the other Land Rover suffered severe shock and were airlifted to hospital. Police said a civilian driver also suffered shock and another received cuts and bruises.

Aftermath

The bombers escaped on a motorcycle which had been stolen in Newry a week earlier, and was later found abandoned in Downpatrick. The IRA issued a statement saying the attack was carried out by members of its South Down Brigade.

British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, said on BBC radio: You take these murders of these four people today alongside those decisions in the Supreme Court of the Republic not to extradite those accused of violent crime - and one is very, very depressed. Charles Haughey, the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland, condemned the attack as an "atrocity".

A 23 year-old man was later sentenced to 15 years in prison for the attack. He had driven a scout car for the bombers when it was planted the day before the attack.

References

"Sutton Index of Deaths from the Conflict in Ireland: 9 April 1990". Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
Moloney, Ed (2007). A Secret History of the IRA (2nd ed.). Penguin Books. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-14-102876-7.
A Chronology of the Conflict: July 1983. Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN).
^ McKittrick, David (2001). Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles. Random House. p. 1195.
^ "Four died despite bomb alert". The Herald. 10 April 1990.
^ "A Huge Bomb Kills Four British Soldiers in Ulster". The New York Times. 10 April 1990.
"Anniversary of a dark day during the Troubles". Down Recorder. 22 April 2015.

Provisional Irish Republican Army

General

Organisation

Actions

1970–1979	Battle of St Matthew's Falls Curfew 1970 Crossmaglen bombing Scottish soldiers' killings Red Lion bombing Balmoral showroom bombing Abercorn bombing Donegall Street bombing Battle at Springmartin Battle of Lenadoon Bloody Friday Claudy bombing Newry customs bombing Old Bailey bombing Honey Trap killings King's Cross & Euston bombings Coleraine bombings 1973 Westminster bombing M62 bombing Clogher attack Houses of Parliament bombing Tower of London bombing Guildford pub bombings Harrow School bombing Brooks's Club bombing Woolwich pub bombing British Airways bombing attempt Birmingham pub bombings London pillar box bombings Talbot Arms bombing Bristol bombing Telephone exchange bombings 1974 Oxford Street bombing Carlton Tower & Portman Hotel shootings Mountainview attack Bayardo Bar attack Forkhill attack Caterham Arms bombing Tullyvallen massacre London Hilton bombing Piccadilly bombing Trattoria Fiore bombing Scott's Oyster Bar bombing Walton's Restaurant bombing Drummuckavall ambush Balcombe Street siege Kingsmill massacre West Ham station attack Olympia bombing Store bar shooting Stag Inn attack Garryhinch ambush Jonesborough Gazelle downing La Mon restaurant bombing Crossmaglen ambush Warrenpoint ambush Brussels bombing Dungannon attack
1980–1989	Dunmurry train bombing Lough Foyle attacks Glasdrumman ambush 1981 Bessbrook attack Chelsea Barracks bombing Hyde Park & Regent's Park bombings Harrods bombing Royal Artillery Barracks bombing Brighton hotel bombing Ballygawley land mine attack Newry mortar attack Ballygawley attack Enniskillen mortar attack RUC Birches barracks attack Rheindahlen bombing Loughgall ambush Operation Flavius Corporals killings Lisburn bombing Aughanduff Lynx shootdown 1988 Netherlands attacks Glamorgan barracks bombing Inglis Barracks bombing Ballygawley bus bombing Jonesborough ambush Clive Barracks bombing Deal barracks bombing Mayobridge attack Derryard attack
1990–1991	Derrygorry Gazelle downing South Armagh sniper Downpatrick roadside bomb Operation Conservation 1990 Wembley bombing Carlton Club bombing London Stock Exchange bombing Honourable Artillery Company bombing Lichfield gun attack RFA Fort Victoria bombing Proxy bombings Downing Street mortar attack Paddington & Victoria station bombings Mullacreevie ambush Glenanne barracks bombing Coagh ambush Musgrave Park Hospital bombing Crumlin Road Prison bombing
1992–1997	Teebane bombing Clonoe ambush London Bridge bombing Staples Cnr bombing Baltic Exchange bombing Sussex Arms bombing Cloghoge attack Coalisland riots Forensic Science Laboratory bombing Stoke Newington Road bomb 1992 Manchester bombing Night of the Long Knives 1993 Harrods bombing Warrington bombings Cullaville occupation Camden bombing Bishopsgate bombing Finchley Road bombings Battle of Newry Road Shankill Road bombing 1993 Fivemiletown ambush Heathrow attacks Crossmaglen Lynx downing Drumcree conflict Docklands bombing Aldwych bus bombing 1996 Manchester bombing Hammersmith Bridge bombing Osnabrück mortar attack Thiepval barracks bombing Coalisland attack 1997 Northern Ireland riots

Personalities
(Volunteers)

Espionage and
Supergrasses

Eamon Collins
Denis Donaldson
Joseph Fenton
Kevin Fulton
Raymond Gilmour
Martin McGartland
Sean O'Callaghan
Freddie Scappaticci (allegedly "Stakeknife")

Associates

Derivatives

Prominent
killings

Categories:

Background

Attack

Aftermath

See also

References