Northern Ireland

40th anniversary of death of young Co Fermanagh woman shot by British soldier

Angela D'Arcy was just 24 when she was shot dead in Enniskillen
Angela D'Arcy was just 24 when she was shot dead in Enniskillen Angela D'Arcy was just 24 when she was shot dead in Enniskillen

TODAY marks the 40th anniversary of the death of a young Co Fermanagh woman shot by an off-duty British soldier.

Angela D'Arcy was 24 when she was killed in Enniskillen as she visited a woman about an altar cloth.

The youngest of a family of five, she had lived with her mother and brother in the Fairview Avenue area of the town.

Described as a "very religious and virtuous woman", she had spent much of her time volunteering with the Red Cross and Apostolic Workers.

On November 25 1981, her life was cut short when she killed by an off-duty British soldier.

Reports from the time said she had been standing at the door of a house on Middletown Street talking to a woman when a man approached.

He was alleged to have produced a gun and demanded money. When Ms D'Arcy refused, he shot her in the head and she died almost immediately.

The next day a British soldier was charged with murder.

In a book by two priests, Fr Raymond Murray and Fr Denis Faul, they report a statement from Ms D'Arcy's mother Josephine, who described the moment she heard about her daughter's death.

"Angela said she was going to see a lady about an altar cloth," she said.

"I was in bed at 1.45am and heard noises in the house, I stayed in bed. I heard a footstep on the stairs, I heard someone going into Phillip's room and I heard him say, 'I have bad news for you...your sister was shot'.

"The RUC man came in and stood at my bedside and told me what had happened."

She later said that a local priest visited her and "said he had given Angela the last rites at Tully's Corner".

"He was very shocked about it and could not believe it had happened," she said.

"Nobody had told me by morning that a British soldier was involved."

At the trial of the soldier, the court heard claims that he was drunk. The charge was reduced to manslaughter and he was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Mrs D'Arcy later said: "I want the world to know the truth about my daughter's death and about how badly we feel about the trial.

"We feel the soldier should have been convicted of murder."

A death notice for the young woman was placed in the Impartial Reporter newspaper on the 30th anniversary of her passing and stated that she "died tragically".

It said she was "fondly remembered by her sister Ann, brother-in-law Brendan and nieces Fiona, Caroline, Jacqueline and Angela".

"Time and years go quickly by, But loving memories never die," it added.