1976 in Northern Ireland

Events during the year 1976 in Northern Ireland.

Incumbents

Secretary of State - Merlyn Rees (until 10 September), Roy Mason (from 10 September)

Events

5 January - Kingsmill massacre: ten Protestant men killed in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force".
1 March - Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.
4 March - The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule from London via the British parliament.
12 March - Lenny Murphy, leader of the Shankill Butchers, is arrested, but his gang continue to murder.
17 March - Hillcrest Bar bombing: 4 Catholics are killed and a further 50 injured in Hillcrest, Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland when a car bomb by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) goes off outside a crowded pub on Saint Patrick's Day. The attack is one of the many attributed to the Glenanne gang.
15 July - Four prisoners escape when bombs explode in the Special Criminal Court, Dublin.
21 July - Christopher Ewart-Biggs, UK ambassador, and a civil servant, Judith Cooke, are killed by a landmine at Sandyford, County Dublin.
10 August - Andersonstown incident: Three children Andrew, Joanne and John Maguire die when they are hit by a car whose driver, an IRA fugitive named Danny Lennon, is fatally shot by British troops. A witness, Betty Williams, is inspired to set up Women for Peace.{{cite web|title=Betty Williams|url=http://www.virginia.edu/nobel/laureates/bios/williams_bio.html|work=Nobel Peace Laureates Conference|accessdate=2013-04-04|date=November 1998|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110916222735/http://www.virginia.edu/nobel/laureates/bios/williams_bio.html|archive-date=2011-09-16|url-status=dead}}
14 August - 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland.
14 August - A 12-year-old girl named Majella O'Hare is fatally shot by Pvt. Michael Williams.
14 September - Kieran Nugent is first IRA man to be admitted to the Maze Prison without Special Category Status. He becomes the first blanketman.{{cite web |url=http://www.larkspirit.com/history/chronology.html |title=Larkspirit Irish History |publisher=larkspirit.com |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423022915/http://larkspirit.com/history/chronology.html |archivedate=23 April 2009}}
November - The Provisional Irish Republican Army restructures on cellular lines.{{cite book|first=Aaron|last=Edwards|title=The Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Banner 1969-2007|location=Oxford|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1-84908-525-0|page=48}}
10 December - Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan win the Nobel Peace Prize.[http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1976/ The Nobel Peace Prize 1976]
Ruth Patterson becomes the first woman to be ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.{{cite web|title=Staff Profiles|url=http://www.restorationministries.co.uk/about/staff.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112010101/http://www.restorationministries.co.uk/about/staff.htm|publisher=Restoration Ministries|location=Belfast|accessdate=2012-07-26 |url-status=dead|archivedate=12 January 2012}}

Arts and literature

16 March - Downtown Radio, an adult contemporary music station, begins broadcasting from Newtownards to the Belfast area, the first Independent Local Radio in Northern Ireland.
Ciaran Carson publishes his first book, the poetry collection The New Estate.