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Fifty years ago, James Kane was preparing to have his dinner when a sudden, deafening explosion shook the ground beneath him. He instantly recognized the sound as that of a bomb. Arriving at the scene of the Hillcrest Bar bombing, Kane described the aftermath as “a scene of complete chaos that I’ll never forget.” At the time, he was the owner of the bar as well as the adjoining auto-supplies shop.
The bomb, planted without warning by the UVF, detonated on St Patrick’s Day in 1976 in Dungannon, resulting in the deaths of four people, including two young boys. Thirteen-year-olds James McCaughey and Patrick Barnard were playing outside when the blast occurred. The explosion also claimed the lives of two local men, Andrew Small, aged 62, and Joseph Kelly, 57. In addition to those killed, around 40 people were injured in the attack. All four victims who lost their lives were Catholic.
Following the explosion, Kane received a phone call urging him to get to the town immediately, as his pub had been hit. When he arrived, emergency services were just beginning their response, and it was evident there were severe casualties. Kane recalled the interior of the pub being pitch dark due to the electricity being cut off, with rubble scattered everywhere. “I just remember seeing the bodies,” he said. Five years after the bombing, Garnet James Busby, a member of the Dungannon UVF, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in this and other terrorist acts. He was released on life licence in February 1997.
In recognition of the tragic event, a new memorial plaque is to be unveiled near the original site of the Hillcrest Bar ahead of the 50th anniversary of the bombing. The plaque reads: “In memory of the innocents cruelly killed and injured in a bomb explosion on 17th March 1976.” Independent Mid Ulster Councillor Barry Monteith, who helped organize the memorial alongside families of the victims, reflected on how St Patrick’s Day, generally a day of celebration, is marked by sorrow in Dungannon. He emphasized how survivors were left with injuries that changed their lives forever and that the plaque also honors those who were injured in addition to those who died.
Pat McElhetton, a porter who was working a late shift at nearby South Tyrone Hospital on the day of the bombing, described the horror
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