On Thisday February 2 in 1972 The British embassy in Dublin was destroyed by a furious crowd of demonstrators protesting over the shooting dead of 13 people in Londonderry on Sunday.
The crowd was estimated at between 20,000 and 30,000 strong. It had been besieging the embassy building, in Merrion Square near the parliament building, for almost three days.
The mob threw hundreds of petrol bombs, as well as stones and other missiles. Fire engines which arrived to tackle the blaze were prevented from getting through for several hours.
All windows in the front of the building were smashed, and shutters torn from their hinges. Burning Union Jacks were hung on the front of the building above symbolic coffins, placed on the embassy steps by march leaders who were allowed through the police cordon around the building.
About 20 demonstrators and police have been injured, including one policeman seriously hurt when a gelignite bomb was used to blow out the front door of the embassy at midnight last night.
The ambassador and his staff evacuated the building earlier today, leaving a few security guards inside the stricken building.
Other buildings with British connections were also attacked. One of the worst incidents was at the port of Dun Laoghaire, just south of Dublin, where a British-owned insurance office was burned down.
THROWBACKTHISDAY; makes it 44 years and TBT Blog remembers.
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