Events during the year 1976 in Northern Ireland.
Incumbents
Events
- 5 January - Kingsmill massacre: ten Protestant men killed in South Armagh, Northern Ireland, by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), using the cover name "South Armagh Republican Action Force".
- 1 March - Merlyn Rees ends Special Category Status for those sentenced for crimes relating to the civil violence in Northern Ireland.
- 4 March - The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention is formally dissolved in Northern Ireland resulting in direct rule from London via the British parliament.
- 12 March - Lenny Murphy, leader of the Shankill Butchers, is arrested, but his gang continue to murder.
- 17 March - Hillcrest Bar bombing: 4 Catholics are killed and a further 50 injured in Hillcrest, Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland when a car bomb by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) goes off outside a crowded pub on Saint Patrick's Day. The attack is one of the many attributed to the Glenanne gang.
- 15 July - Four prisoners escape when bombs explode in the Special Criminal Court, Dublin.
- 21 July - Christopher Ewart-Biggs, UK ambassador, and a civil servant, Judith Cooke, are killed by a landmine at Sandyford, County Dublin.
- 10 August - Andersonstown incident: Three children Andrew, Joanne and John Maguire die when they are hit by a car whose driver, an IRA fugitive named Danny Lennon, is fatally shot by British troops. A witness, Betty Williams, is inspired to set up Women for Peace.
- 14 August - 10,000 Protestant and Catholic women demonstrate for peace in Northern Ireland.
- 14 August - A 12-year-old girl named Majella O'Hare is fatally shot by Pvt. Michael Williams.
- 14 September - Kieran Nugent is first IRA man to be admitted to the Maze Prison without Special Category Status. He becomes the first blanketman.
- November - The Provisional Irish Republican Army restructures on cellular lines.
- 10 December - Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan win the Nobel Peace Prize.
- Ruth Patterson becomes the first woman to be ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Arts and literature
Sport
Football
:Winners: Crusaders
:Winners: Carrick Rangers 2 - 1 Linfield
Births
Deaths
See also
References