Annette McGavigan

Shooting of Annette McGavigan
Part of The Troubles
Location Derry, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Coordinates 54°59′47″N 7°19′48″W / 54.996522222222225°N 7.329972222222222°W / 54.996522222222225; -7.329972222222222Coordinates: 54°59′47″N 7°19′48″W / 54.996522222222225°N 7.329972222222222°W / 54.996522222222225; -7.329972222222222
Date 6 September 1971
18:00
Weapons L1A1 SLR rifle

Annette McGavigan (1957 – 6 September 1971) was a 14-year-old girl fatally wounded by a gunshot in crossfire between British soldiers and the IRA on 6 September 1971. After three years of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, Annette was the 100th civilian and the first child to be killed.

Early life

Death of Innocence Mural by Bogside Artists Original 1999 mural

Annette lived with her parents, four brothers and two sisters, in Drumcliffe Avenue in the Bogside and was pupil at St. Cecilia's College in Derry.

Death

On the evening of 6 September rioting was going on in and around the Little Diamond area on the edge of the Bogside. British soldiers were in position in the grounds of the old post office between the Little Diamond and Frederick Street, confronting a number of local youths in the Little Diamond, Fahan Street and Eglinton Place area. After the rioting had ceased at around 18:00, Annette, still wearing her school uniform, had gone with friends to collect the rubber bullets that littered the ground. She was shot in the back of the head while standing at the corner of Blucher Street and Westland Street. No one was charged with her death and no investigation carried out. [1]

After repainting in 2006

Legacy

Annette is the subject of a Bogside murals entitled "The Death of Innocence", located on the gable wall of maisonnette on the junction of Lecky Road and Westland Street close to Free Derry Corner, and unveiled Wednesday 1 September 1999. Above and to the left of her head is an unfinished butterfly and at her right side a rifle. In June 2006 the mural was repainted with the butterfly coloured in and the rifle redrawn broken, reflecting the lack of progress of the peace process. [2]

References

  1. ↑ Death Of A Derry Schoolgirl - The Irish Archives
  2. ↑ Death Of Innocence - The Annette McGavigan Mural

External links

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