Anti-Catholicism in The United Kingdom - Beginnings - Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

See also: History of Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association

The Troubles in Northern Ireland were characterised by bitter sectarian antagonism and bloodshed between Irish Republicans who are principally Catholic, and Loyalists who are overwhelmingly Protestant. In some areas Church buildings were frequently attacked and mass-goers harassed and sometimes prevented from attending mass by Loyalist paramilitaries.

Some of the most savage attacks were perpetrated by a Protestant gang dubbed the Shankill Butchers, led by Lenny Murphy, who was described as a psychopath and a sadist. The gang gained notoriety by torturing and killing an estimated thirty Catholics, between 1972 and 1982. Most of their victims had no connection to the Provisional Irish Republican Army or any other republican groups but were killed for no other reason than their religious affiliation. Murphy's killing spree is the theme of a British film called Resurrection Man (1998).

Since the ceasefire, sectarian killings have largely ceased, though occasional sectarian murders are still reported and bad feelings between Catholics and Protestants linger.