A BRIDGE close to Dublin's Croke Park has been named in recognition of the city's own 'Bloody Sunday' in 1920 in which 14 people were massacred by British soldiers during a GAA match.
The bridge joining Russell Street to Jones' Road, a stone's throw from the stadium, was officially named Bloody Sunday Bridge during a ceremony on Monday.
The naming is in commemoration of November 21, 1920, which would go down in history as one of the darkest days of the War of Independence.
On that morning, IRA assassins under the command of Michael Collins launched an operation to kill a group of British military intelligence agents in Dublin.
Fourteen people were killed in the operation, including six intelligence agents, which sparked panic among British officers in the city.
In retaliation, Crown forces including Black-and-Tan RIC officers and soldiers raided Croke Park during a Gaelic football match between Dublin and Tipperary, which was held to raise money for republican prisoners.
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Officers opened fire on the crowd of around 10,000 spectators, killing 14 people, including Tipperary player Michael Hogan and three children. Around 60 people were also injured during the shooting.
The day ended with the killing of two republican prisoners at Dublin Castle, with the British claiming the pair died during an escape attempt.
Croke Park's Hogan's Stand, built four years after the massacre, was named after Michael Hogan.
Plans to rename the bridge sparked controversy earlier this year, with just over half of respondents to a public consultation opposing it.
Dublin Social Democrat councillor Mary Callaghan was among those against the plan, claiming the new name evoked "violent memories and connotations".
Ahead of Monday's ceremony at the newly named bridge, Dublin mayor Daithí de Róiste also unveiled a plaque at 69 Blessington Street, the home of the youngest victim of the Croke massacre, 10-year-old Jerome O’Leary.
Speaking at the bridge, he said: “We stand here within easy reach of the spot where Jerome O'Leary was sitting, on the wall at the canal end, when he was shot from this bridge."
"Another 13 civilians were killed here on that horrific afternoon, and in naming this bridge we are honouring those innocent victims, all of whom deserve to be remembered.”
Mr de Róiste said the release of papers that had been stored by the British, but released in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement, "enabled the record to be put straight about Bloody Sunday".
"They showed even the British army’s command chain knew they had gone too far, and that the Dublin Metropolitan Police contradicted the propaganda being put out by Dublin Castle," he said.
“There is a lesson there. That the truth will win out, eventually, even from darkest hours of a conflict situation."
