Bombing in Dundalk and a gun and explosive device used in attack at Silverbridge, near Crossmaglen.
At 6:20 pm on 19 December 1975, a no-warning car bomb exploded outside Kay's Tavern in Dundalk, County Louth. The blast killed 60-year-old tailor Hugh Watters. Dozens of people are injured.
At first, it seemed as if all of Crowe Street was alight, then as the flames were brought under control it became clear that Kay's Tavern, obviously the target, had been demolished.
Red Cross volunteers were quickly on the scene. Catherine Lamb describes the casualties she and another encountered at Dundalk Town Hall and Market Square.
Publican Kay McErlean was upstairs from the bar when the bomb went off. She was blown off her feet and was fortunate to escape serious injury. She and her two daughters managed to leave the building, which was on fire. She has no idea who is responsible for the bomb.
Dundalk has lived with the dangers of terrorism since the Troubles began. The first target on the road south for Loyalist bombers, the town has been a convenient base for Provisionals operating north of the border.
Shortly after the Dundalk bomb went off, a second terrorist attack took place. Gunmen opened fire outside and then inside a busy Donnelly’s Bar in Silverbridge, near Crossmaglen in County Armagh.
People as they tried to escape were shot down, a bomb was then thrown inside the door, those people trapped inside had no chance of escape.
Three people died in the incident, with many more injured.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 20 December 1975. The reporter is Rowan Hand.
