On the night of 31 May 1941, four high-explosive bombs were dropped by German aircraft on the North Strand area of Dublin City. The casualties were many: 28 dead and 90 injured, with 300 houses damaged or destroyed. Charleville Mall Public Library was designated as the headquarters for the bombed area and City Architect Horace O’Rourke was in charge of the clearance project. The photographs which make up this exhibition were commissioned by Dublin Corporation as evidence for the assessment of insurance claims. The work was entrusted to a local photographer, H. McCrae, of 152 Clontarf Road, who began work on 4 June and the final photographs were taken on 31 October, at a total cost of £79-10s-0d. https://northstrandbombing.ie/

2. Introduction
1 The North Strand Bombing was the most serious atrocity
inflicted on neutral Eire during the Second World
War. On the night of 31 May 1941, four high-explosive
bombs were dropped by German aircraft on the North
Strand area of Dublin City. The casualties were many:
28 dead and 90 injured, with 300 houses damaged or
destroyed. The tragedy has resonated with Irish people
ever since, and especially in Dublin, where it has passed
into the collective community memory. This exhibition
commemorates this iconic event in the life of the city and
is intended as a tribute to those killed and injured on that
fateful night in 1941.
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1. 23 Rutland Place (Car ZA 7373 owned by Vincent Duffy, 8 Mount Brown, Old Kilmainham). Dublin City Library & Archive
was not e North
2. 153-164 North Strand Road. Dublin City Library & Archive father’s long after
death. I my
3. Appointment of Gerard Earley as Deputy Area Warden. Earley Family Collection, Dublin City Library & Archive mother t was in be
hat nigh d with m
4. Oral testimony about the bombing by local resident Chrissie O’Brien. North Inner City Folklore Project
planes co t w y
5. Inspecting a bomb crater. North Inner City Folklore Project ming over hen we heard th
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that wer e heard
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3. Ireland’s status in WWII
1
In 1937, the Irish Free State was re-constituted as Eire.
The country remained neutral during World War II but
a ‘national emergency’ was declared. In Ireland, the
period from 1939 to 1945 has been known ever since
as ‘The Emergency’. Nazi Germany inflicted a series
of aircraft bombings along the east coast, beginning in
county Wexford in August 1940, and ending with the
North Strand. On 19 June 1941, the Eire government
announced that the Nazis had expressed regret for the
North Strand bombing and had promised compensation.
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1. 13-16 North Strand Road. Dublin City Library & Archive
2. Local Defence Forces during The Emergency. North Inner City Folklore Project
3. Irish neutrality during Word War II. Courtesy Irish Press plc 2
4. Air Raid Warden’s Helmet. Earley Family Collection, Dublin City Library & Archive
5. Extract from Neutrality (War Damage to Property) Act, 1941.
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4. List of fatalities
1 A memorial park to the victims of the attack is now
located near the Five Lamps.
Elizabeth Behan (21), Desmond Fitzpatrick (5),
72 Shelmalier Road. 156 North Strand Road.
Mary Boyle (27), James Fitzpatrick (3 months),
157 North Strand Road. 156 North Strand Road.
Mary Browne (67), Richard Fitzpatrick (60),
25 North Strand Road. 23 North Strand Road.
Henry Browne (37), Ellen Fitzpatrick (55),
son of Mary Browne, wife of Richard Fitzpatrick,
25 North Strand Road. 29 North Strand Road.
Mary Browne (33), Margaret (Madge) Fitzpatrick (32),
wife of Henry Browne, 23 North Strand Road.
25 North Strand Road.
Noel Fitzpatrick (32),
Maureen Browne (7), 23 North Strand Road.
25 North Strand Road.
John Foran (52),
Nan Browne (5), 155 North Strand Road.
25 North Strand Road.
Mary Foran (49),
Edward Browne (4), wife of John Foran,
25 North Strand Road. 155 North Strand Road.
Angela Browne (3), Marianne Houlton (65),
1. The funeral cortege. Front page The Irish Press 6 June 1941. 25 North Strand Road. 156 North Strand.
2. 2-4 Dunne Street. Dublin City Library & Archive
3. The Irish Press, p. 3, 2 June 1941. Patrick Callely (54), Patrick McLoughlin (28),
4. Fragment of bomb which fell on North Strand Charleville Mall Public Library. 162 North Strand. 41 Summerhill Parade.
Thomas Carroll (55), William McLoughlin (2),
157 North Strand Road. 41 Summerhill Parade.
2 Elizabeth Daly (60), Annie Malone (79),
162 North Strand. 43 Summerhill Parade.
Josephine Fagan (33), John Murray (55),
157 North Strand Road. 154 North Strand Road.
Alice Fitzpatrick (38), Charles Sweeney (61),
156 North Strand Road. 11 North Strand Road.
Source: Dublin City Coroner’s Report, 1941, pp 90 – 98.
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5. Newspapers and archives
The North Strand Bombing caused shock and revulsion, 1
as revealed in contemporary newspapers and documents.
The Irish Red Cross provided emergency shelter at
the Mansion House and in parish halls throughout the
city. Charleville Mall Public Library was designated as
headquarters for the bombed area. Damaged houses
were repaired where possible, and those made homeless
by the bombing were re-located to Dublin Corporation’s
new housing estates at Cabra and Crumlin.
2
1. 12, 13 and 13a North Strand. Dublin City Library & Archive
2. Headlines from The Irish Press, 1 June 1941. Courtesy, Irish Press plc
3. Firefighting at North Strand. The Irish Press, 1 June 1941. Courtesy, Irish Press plc
4. Headlines from The Irish Press June 1941. Courtesy, Irish Press plc
5. Gas mask. Earley Family Collection, Dublin City Library & Archive
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