Battle of St Matthew's

Battle of St Matthew's
Part of the Troubles
Date 27–28 June 1970 Location Short Strand, Belfast, Northern Ireland 54°35′57″N 5°54′22″W / 54.59917°N 5.90611°W / 54.59917; -5.90611Coordinates: 54°35′57″N 5°54′22″W / 54.59917°N 5.90611°W / 54.59917; -5.90611 Result IRA victory
Belligerents
Provisional IRA, Citizens' Defence Committee	Ulster loyalists
Commanders and leaders
Billy McKee	unknown
Strength
1 unit	unknown number of gunmen and rioters
Casualties and losses
1 dead, at least 1 wounded	2 dead, unknown wounded
The location of the battle (red dot) in Belfast (pink)

The Battle of St Matthew's or Battle of Short Strand was a gun battle that took place on the night of 27–28 June 1970 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was fought between the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Ulster loyalists in the area around St Matthew's Roman Catholic church. This lies at the edge of the Short Strand, a Catholic enclave in a mainly-Protestant part of the city. Violence had erupted there, and in other parts of Belfast, following marches by the Orange Order. The battle lasted about five hours and ended at dawn when loyalists withdrew. The British Army and police were deployed nearby but did not intervene. Three people were killed and at least 26 wounded in the fighting, while another three were killed in north Belfast.

The battle was the Provisional IRA's first major action during the Troubles and was a propaganda victory for the organization. It presented itself as having successfully defended a vulnerable Catholic enclave from armed loyalist mobs. Loyalists, however, argue that the IRA lured them into a carefully prepared trap.

The Northern Ireland riots of August 1969 marked the beginning of the Troubles. In Belfast, Catholic Irish nationalists clashed with Protestant Ulster loyalists and the mainly-Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), Northern Ireland’s police force. Catholics believed that they were about to become "victims of a Protestant pogrom" and Protestants believed they were on the "eve of an IRA insurrection". Hundreds of Catholic homes and businesses were burnt out and more than 1,000 families, mostly Catholic, were forced to flee. The Irish Republican Army (IRA) had few weapons or members and was unable to adequately defend the Catholic areas. The rioting ended with the deployment of British troops. In December 1969, the IRA split into the 'Official' IRA and 'Provisional' IRA—with the Provisionals vowing to defend Catholic areas in future.