Father Hugh Mullan

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Father Hugh Mullan, a curate from Corpus Christi chapel, was killed as he went to the aid of his neighbour Bobby Clarke. Bobby was shot in the back as he tried to help children out of Springmartin as it came under attack from loyalist mobs.

Before entering the field in an attempt to help Bobby Clarke, Father Mullan telephoned the Henry Taggart Army base to explain that he was going to help the wounded man. Father Mullan entered the field waving a white babygrow.

Father Mullan was shot in the back as he attempted to leave the field, having anointed Bobby Clarke. The fatal shot came from a soldier in the British Army’s Parachute regiment, who was situated at the top of flats in Springmartin. Eye witnesses said Father Mullan could be heard praying, as he lay dying where he had been shot, for some time after.

Father Mullan had spent most of the day leading up to his death, ensuring that the Catholic community in Springfield Park and New Barnsley did not retaliate to provocation from loyalists in the neighbouring Springmartin estate.

Both Father Mullan and Father Felix McGuckin, an other local parish priest, had been in regular contact with the army through out the day trying to cool the situation.