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Innisrush or Inishrush (from Irish Inis Rois, meaning ‘island of the woods’)[1] is a village and townland near Glenone in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

History

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.[1]

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.[2]

In 1913, Sunday school children were attacked by nationalists as they made their way to a local fete.[2] Fears of a repeat emerged the following year after a minister received letters threatening violence if the fete were held again.[2] In response, the Ulster Volunteers mobilized 100 armed men to escort the children the one mile from the village to the fete.[2] This time there was no trouble – whether the threats were genuine or the work of a local ‘crank’ is unknown.[2]

On 17 June 1920, Patrick Loughran, an IRA volunteer, was killed by police when he attempted to burn the village RIC station.[3] This was the first casualty suffered by the IRA in the six counties during the Anglo-Irish War.[3] The police station was eventually closed in 1937.[4]

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.[5] As the pub was Catholic-owned, this attack was likely carried out by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).[6]

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.[7]

Demography

Inishrush recorded a population of 102 residents across 46 households in the 2021 Census.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b McKay, Patrick (2007). A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names (2 ed.). Belfast: Cló Ollscoil na Banríona. p. 80. ISBN 0853898960.
  2. ^ a b c d e Foy, Michael Thomas (1986). “The Ulster Volunteer Force: its domestic development and political importance in the period 1913 to 1920” (PDF). Queen’s University Belfast. p. 176. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b McDermott, Jim (2001). Northern Divisions The Old IRA and the Belfast Pogroms, 1920-22. Beyond the Pale Publications. p. 28. ISBN 9781900960113.
  4. ^ Wallace Clark (1967). Guns in Ulster. Belfast: Constabulary Gazette. p. 79.
  5. ^ “Datelines”. Fortnight (140): 18. 1977. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  6. ^ Ken Wharton (2015). Wasted Years Wasted Lives, Volume 1: The British Army in Northern Ireland 1975-77. Helion & Company. p. 44. ISBN 9781910777411.
  7. ^ Malcolm Sutton. “Sutton Deaths Index: 1977”. CAIN. Retrieved 2 December 2024.
  8. ^ “Census 2021 Person and Household Estimates for Settlements in Northern Ireland”. Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 18 December 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2026. Innishrush (Code: N11000473)