Burntollet Bridge incident
{{Short description|1969 attack in Derry, Northern Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Civil Conflict
| title = Burntollet Bridge ambush
| partof = the Troubles
| date = 4 January 1969
| place = Burntollet, Derry, Northern Ireland
| coordinates = {{Coord|54|56|24|N|7|12|56|W|type:event_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| map_type = Northern Ireland County Londonderry
| status =
| goals = * One man, one vote
- Repeal of the Special Powers Act
- An end to gerrymandering of electoral boundaries
- Freedom of speech and assembly
- Fair allocation of jobs and housing
| result = {{Plainlist|
- People's Democracy march ambushed by Loyalists
}}
| methods = Protesting & Marching
Mob ambush
| side1 = People's Democracy & local protesters
| side2 = Royal Ulster Constabulary, Loyalists,
| side3 =
| leadfigures1 = {{Plainlist|
}}
| leadfigures2 = Ronald Bunting
| leadfigures3 =
| howmany1 = 400+
| howmany2 = 300
100
| howmany3 =
| casualties1 = At least 100 injured
| casualties2 = small amount of injuries
| casualties3 =
| casualties_label =
| notes =
}}
{{Campaignbox Northern Ireland Troubles|state=collapsed}}
Burntollet Bridge was the setting for an attack on 4 January 1969 during the first stages of the Troubles of Northern Ireland.Rosie Cowan and Nicholas Watt, [https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/oct/27/northernireland.northernireland End in sight after long march], The Guardian, 27 October 2001[http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/downloads/DVCBHeritageTrail.pdf Derry, the Walled City] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026033045/http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/downloads/DVCBHeritageTrail.pdf |date=2007-10-26 }}, Discover Northern Ireland, p. 7 A People's Democracy march from Belfast to Derry was attacked by Ulster loyalists whilst passing through Burntollet.
The march had been called in defiance of an appeal by Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O'Neill for a temporary end to protest. The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association and some Derry nationalists had advised against it.{{cite web|last1=Melaugh|first1=Martin|title=The People's Democracy March - Chronology of Main Events|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/pdmarch/chron.htm|website=CAIN|publisher=University of Ulster|access-date=17 June 2015}} Supporters of Ian Paisley, led by Major Ronald Bunting, denounced the march as seditious and mounted counter-demonstrations along the route.{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/laweb/ll/ll_t11o.html|title=RTÉ Archives|publisher=rte.ie|access-date=2014-10-24}}
At Burntollet an Ulster loyalist crowd numbering in the region of 300, including 100 off-duty members of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC), attacked the civil rights marchers from adjacent high ground.{{cite web|url=http://www.museumoffreederry.org/history-burntollet01.html|title=History – Burntollet|author=Joe McAllister|publisher=museumoffreederry.org|access-date=2014-10-24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501165640/http://www.museumoffreederry.org/history-burntollet01.html|archive-date=2015-05-01}}Susan McKay, Northern Protestants: An Unsettled People, Blackstaff Press, 2000, p. 315{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch69.htm|last=Melaugh|first=Martin|title=A Chronology of the Conflict 1969|website=CAIN|access-date=2014-10-24}}{{cite book|title=The Politics of Northern Ireland|author=McEvoy, J.|date=2008|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=9780748625017|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHJ8xKMu3ZsC|page=34|access-date=2014-10-24}}{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/pdmarch/sum.htm|title=The People's Democracy March - Summary of Main Events|website=CAIN|access-date=2014-10-24}}{{cite book|title=Stone Cold: The True Story of Michael Stone and the Milltown Massacre|author=Dillon, M.|date=2013|publisher=Random House|isbn=9781448185139|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WBDJZ-KSrxsC|access-date=2014-10-24}} Stones transported in bulk from William Leslie's quarry at Legahurry were used in the assault,{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/pdmarch/egan7.htm|title=Burntollet: The Attack|last1=Egan|first1=Bowes|last2=McCormack|first2=Vincent|website=CAIN|access-date=2014-10-24}} as well as iron bars and sticks spiked with nails.{{cite book |last1=Coogan |first1=Tim Pat |title=The Troubles: Ireland's Ordeal 1966-1996 and the Search for Peace |date=1997 |publisher=Roberts Rinehart Publishers |isbn=9781570981449 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CahkPwAACAAJ |access-date=30 October 2023}}{{page needed|date=October 2023}} Nearby members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) did little to prevent the violence.{{cite web|url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/route-68-to-burntollet-and-back/|last=McCormack|first=Vincent|title=Route '68: to Burntollet and back|work=History Ireland|date=6 March 2013 |access-date=2015-05-01}} Many of the marchers described their assailants' lack of concern about the police presence.
The violence was followed by renewed riots in Derry City.{{cite news |author= |title=Civil Rights Rioting in Northern Ireland Leaves 117 Injured |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1969/04/20/170464012.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York |date=April 19, 1969 |access-date=June 15, 2015 }} Terence O'Neill described the march as "a foolhardy and irresponsible undertaking" and said that some of the marchers and their supporters in Derry were "mere hooligans", outraging many, especially as the attackers had evaded prosecution.{{cite web|last1=Egan|first1=Bowes|last2=McCormack|first2=Vincent|title=Burntollet: Some Consequences|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/pdmarch/egan12.htm|website=CAIN|access-date=17 June 2015}} Loyalists celebrated the attack as a victory over Catholic "rebels".{{cite book|last1=Moloney|first1=Ed|last2=Pollock|first2=Andrew|title=Paisley|date=1986|publisher=Poolbeg|location=Dublin|isbn=0905169751|page=[https://archive.org/details/paisley00molo/page/168 168]|url=https://archive.org/details/paisley00molo|url-access=registration|access-date=17 June 2015}}
The ambush at Burntollet irreparably damaged the credibility of the RUC.{{cite web|last1=Hayes|first1=Mark|last2=Norris|first2=Paul|title=Policing after the Peace Process in Northern Ireland: The Continuing Dialectics Of State Coercion And Popular Consent|url=http://thepensivequill.am/2015/04/policing-after-peace-process-in.html|website=The Pensive Quill|access-date=2 January 2016}}