Launch of ‘Annie’s Bar Remembered: 50th Anniversary’ booklet

The five men murdered in the Annie’s Bar Top of the Hill Massacre on December 20, 1972 are to be commemorated in a booklet produced by the Pat Finucane Centre (PFC).

Charlie McCafferty, Frank McCarron, Barney Kelly, Michael McGinley and Charles Moore were gunned down while they watched a football match on television. 

The booklet, ‘Annie’s Bar Remembered: 50th Anniversary’, will be launched in An Croi community centre in Gobnascale on Tuesday evening (December 20, 2022). 

Speaking to Derry Now, Paul O’Connor, the director of the PFC outlined some of the other memorial events which will take place in the city on the day.

“There will be an anniversary Mass at 6 o’clock in St Columba’s Church, Chapel Road. This will be followed by a candle light parade / march up to Annie’s Bar itself, where wreaths will be laid to remember the five men. 

Additional Reading:

'He was not even there for my first Christmas' - Gillian McElholm

Annie's Bar was the 'forgotten' tragedy

Remembering the Annie's Bar Massacre 50 years on

The attack took seconds but left five men dead and four injured

The Forgotten Massacre: Annie's Bar Top of the Hill

'Innocent victims of sectarian murder' - Historical Enquiries Team

“We will then go to An Croi community centre, which is further on up for the launch of the booklet. Members of the families will speak, as will a member of the PFC and we will finish with some music and light refreshments.”

According to Paul O’Connor, one of the points made by Tony Doherty, chairperson of the Bloody Sunday Trust, in a piece written for the booklet was that 1972 in Derry was bookended by two terrible events involving mass loss of life.

“The year started with Bloody Sunday and finished off with Annie’s Bar, and of course in the middle of the year we had the Claudy Bomb. It was the worst year of the Troubles in Derry. 

“For that and many other reasons what happened to the small community in Annie’s Bar Top of the Hill was in many ways forgotten. 

“This Tuesday is a good opportunity for people in the city to come along and show their support for that community, for the families, for the bereaved and the injured. 

“The PFC were privileged to be asked to help the families at this difficult time.”