A bridge on Dublin’s Russell Street has been officially renamed Bloody Sunday Bridge by Lord Mayor Daithí de Róiste. 

The bridge at Russell Street was named by Dublin’s Lord Mayor at a special ceremony this morning.

Cllr de Róiste said the new name would honour the innocent victims that died during Bloody Sunday 103 years ago.

On November 21st 1920, some 10,000 GAA fans poured into Croke Park to see Dublin play Tipperary, with money raised to support the Republican Prisoners Dependents Fund.

After the match began, the RIC and Army stormed into the stadium and opened fire, killing 14 people and wounding at least 60 more. 

The Bloody Sunday Bridge ceremony. 20/11/2023. Image: Newstalk. 

The youngest victim was 10-year-old Jerome O’Leary and today the Lord Mayor unveiled a commemorative plaque outside his home on nearby Blessington Street. 

“We stand here within easy reach of the spot where 10-year old Jerome O'Leary was sitting, on the wall at the canal end, when he was shot from this bridge on 21st November 1920,” Cllr de Róiste said. 

“Another 13 civilians were killed here on that horrific afternoon, and in naming this bridge we are honouring those innocent victims, all of whom deserve to be remembered.”

90 seconds of shooting altered history and changed forever our relationship with Croke Park.

14 lives were lost and countless were never the same again.

This was Bloody Sunday.#B100dySunday - today we remember. pic.twitter.com/UjMO3YB5d7

— The GAA (@officialgaa) November 21, 2020

In the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, information about the massacre was suppressed by the British Government and official records were only released in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement. 

“There is a lesson there,” Cllr de Róiste said. 

“That the truth will win out, eventually, even from darkest hours of a conflict situation. 

“It is a lesson from our conflict of a century ago that could be learned by parties in all conflicts, then and now. 

“Sadly, tonight’s headlines will once again be about the death of non-combatants, children like Jerome O’Leary, in other conflicts in other lands far away from Croke Park.”

Bloody Sunday Bridge plaque. 20/22/2023. Image: Newstalk.

The decision to rename Bloody Sunday Bridge was taken by the Dublin City Council Commemorations & Naming Committee, who are tasked with honouring people who have made a “significant contribution” to the city.

Main image: Bloody Sunday Bridge. Picture by: Alamy.com