‘Raids, Reprisals and the Boundary Question: From the Clones Affray to Internment and the Battle of Pettigo, January-June 1922’ is the latest event in Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s ongoing programme of events to mark the Decade of Centenaries.

The event, which will be delivered by noted historian, journalist and broadcaster, Dr Éamon Pheonix, will take place in person in Enniskillen Castle Museum on Wednesday 25 May 2022 commencing at 7.30pm.

The talk will focus on what Winston Churchill termed ‘a return to the hideous bog of reprisals’ in Belfast and along the new Irish border in the first half of 1922. Nationalist fears of permanent partition and oppression were matched by Unionist concerns about security and the integrity of the six counties ceded to James Craig under the Government of Ireland Act 1920. In this violent and polarising year, tensions and violence across Fermanagh and Tyrone, culminated in the Battle of Pettigo between the IRA and British troops in June 1922.

The talk will be followed by a Q & A session facilitated by Mr Peter Osborne, former Chair of the Community Relations Council.

Speaking about the event, the Chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Councillor Errol Thompson, said;

“There is no doubt that the period between 1912 and 1922 featured many seminal moments in our shared history and it is right that we remember them based on historical accuracy, their impact and consequences, and through mutual understanding and respect in the context of an inclusive and accepting society.

1922 was a particularly difficult year and the Fermanagh and Omagh District did not escape the violence and bloodshed of this time. I am confident that the talk by Dr Phoenix will be thought provoking and popular.”

Due to ongoing guidance with regard to the implementation of measures to curb the spread of Covid-19, numbers are limited to a maximum of 50 attendees. Early booking is advisable.

This event has received financial support from Fermanagh and Omagh District Council’s Good Relations programme assisted by The Executive Office.