‘War on Catholics continues’, Churchill told
London, 25 April 1922 – The Belfast Catholic Protection Committee (BCPC) has sent a telegram to Winston Churchill to inform him that the ‘war on Catholics continues’.
The telegram, sent on 21 April, stated that in the three weeks since the Craig-Collins pact which was supposed to restore peace to the city, a series of atrocities have been perpetrated against the Catholic population. Information compiled by the BCPC, whose mission is to advise, consult and provide relief to Catholics affected by the unrest, details the scale of the violence experienced since the start of the month.
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In all, the committee states that 14 men, three women and four children have been murdered. There have been 27 attempted murders. 39 people have been wounded and 75 houses have been looted and burned. A further five houses have been bombed, while 80 families have been evicted from their homes bringing the number of homeless to 357.
The committee rejects the Northern Whig’s dismissal of these of these figures as the ‘ingenious concoctions of a Sinn Féin department’.
A further telegram sent to Mr Churchill by the Reverend B.J. Laverty, chairman of the BCPC, told of an attack on St Mathew’s Catholic church:
‘War on Catholics continues. Yesterday (Sunday) bomb thrown at church filled with worshippers. Mother killed, Royal Irish Constabulary constable wounded while entering. Four children wounded yesterday. Today man of 76 assassinated.’
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
