Inishrush

{{short description|Village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}

{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = Innisrush

| official_name = Inishrush

| type = Village, townland

| image_skyline = Innishrush, Derry - Londonderry - geograph.org.uk - 582229.jpg

| pushpin_map = Northern Ireland

| coordinates = {{coord|54|52|20|N|6|31|29|W|type:city|display=ti}}

}}

Innisrush or Inishrush ({{Irish derived place name|Inis Rois|island of the woods}})[http://www.placenamesni.org/resultsdetail.phtml?entry=1683 Placenames NI] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611093446/http://www.placenamesni.org/resultsdetail.phtml?entry=1683 |date=2012-06-11 }} is a small village and townland near Glenone in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 114 people. It lies within the Mid-Ulster District area.

History

File:Innishrush Orange Hall - geograph.org.uk - 582233.jpg]]

The island referred to in the name of the village was in a small lake called Green Lough, which was located north-west of Inishrush until being drained in the 19th century.{{cite book |last1=McKay |first1=Patrick |title=A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names |date=2007 |publisher=Cló Ollscoil na Banríona |location=Belfast |isbn=0853898960 |page=80 |edition=2}}

Inishrush was a flashpoint during the Home Rule Crisis as it was a Protestant settlement that bordered territory where the Irish Volunteers and Ancient Order of Hibernians were strong.{{cite web |last1=Foy |first1=Michael Thomas |title=The Ulster Volunteer Force: its domestic development and political importance in the period 1913 to 1920 |url=https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/495878655/Volunteer_Force_its_domestic_development_and_political_importance_in_the_period_1913_to_1920.pdf |publisher=Queen's University Belfast |access-date=2 December 2024 |page=176 |date=1986}}

In 1913, Sunday school children were attacked by nationalists as they made their way to a local fete. Fears of a repeat emerged the following year after a minister received letters threatening violence if the fete were held again. In response, the Ulster Volunteers mobilized 100 armed men to escort the children the one mile from the village to the fete. This time there was no trouble – whether the threats were genuine or the work of a local 'crank' is unknown.

On 17 June 1920, Patrick Loughran, an IRA volunteer, was killed by police when he attempted to burn the village RIC station.{{cite book |last1=McDermott |first1=Jim |title=Northern Divisions The Old IRA and the Belfast Pogroms, 1920-22 |date=2001 |publisher=Beyond the Pale Publications |isbn=9781900960113 |page=28}} This was the first casualty suffered by the IRA in the six counties during the Anglo-Irish War. The police station was eventually closed in 1937.{{cite book |author1=Wallace Clark |author1-link=Wallace Clark |title=Guns in Ulster |date=1967 |publisher=Constabulary Gazette |location=Belfast |page=79}}

=The Troubles=

On 20 December 1976, 'four raiders' damaged a public house with a bomb packed into a tea chest, firing shots into the building before they made their escape. No one was hurt in this incident.{{cite journal |title=Datelines |journal=Fortnight |date=1977 |issue=140 |page=18 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25546128. |access-date=2 December 2024}} As the pub was Catholic-owned, this attack was likely carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).{{cite book |author1=Ken Wharton |author1-link=Ken Wharton (writer) |title=Wasted Years Wasted Lives, Volume 1: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1975-77 |date=2015 |publisher=Helion & Company |isbn=9781910777411 |page=44}}

On 14 January 1977, James Greer, a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officer, was killed by the IRA via a booby trap bomb attached to the car outside his parents' home in Inishrush.{{cite web |author1=Malcolm Sutton |title=Sutton Deaths Index: 1977 |url=https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/sutton/chron/1977.html |publisher=CAIN |access-date=2 December 2024}}

See also

References

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