Eyewitness Bloody Sunday

by Don (ed) Mullan

Within days of the killing of 13 unarmed civilians and the wounding of 14 others on Bloody Sunday, more than 500 eyewitness testimonies were recorded for presentation to the Widgery Tribunal—but only 15 were considered. The first edition of Eyewitness Bloody Sunday brought to light 100 witness statements that were officially ignored for more than two decades. This book had a phenomenal and far-reaching impact, profoundly weakening the official version of the events of January 30, 1972. In addition to giving a voice to the civilian demonstrators who witnessed the events of Bloody Sunday, it exposed facts supporting the hypothesis that snipers in the vicinity of the old Derry Walls might have shot dead three of the victims. With the Saville inquiry now into its second year of investigations, this book has become a pivotal source of firsthand evidence about what really happened on that tragic day.

Genres: History, Ireland, Nonfiction, Irish Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 1997

Reviews

[Jolien · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote my thesis about these events and interviewed some people whose stories are being told in this book. 40 years after the events they still talked about it like it was yesterday. This book and those people left a great impact on me.

[Penelope Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing in history is truth unless you have video footage, but I appreciated the first-hand accounts. Well-written and very personal.

[Eamonn Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Land of my fathers.

In 2002 I watched the Peter Greengrass film starring James Nesbitt as Ivan Cooper. My son who was 15 watched it with me and as the panicked crowd ran from the British guns only to be cut off in a square by Paratroopers firing indiscriminately into the fleeing group of people Tom turned to me and said "What the fuck?"

It was the only possible response to what we were seeing. Reading Don Mullan's book and the eye-witness accounts it contains confirms that the filmmakers were not inventing or elaborating the truth. British soldiers fired on unarmed civil rights protestors, and when people tried to help the victims the helpers were shot as well.

It's a powerful book about one of the blackest moments in 20th century British history. Hopefully the Savile inquiry will finally acknowledge these eye witnesses and go a long way to the truth and reconciliation demanded by the families of the innocent victims who died that day.

[emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The importance of this book cannot be overestimated.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for class, meh. good but wish more information on context