At 2.15pm on Saturday, 17th July 1976, two IRA Volunteers on active service - Patrick Cannon from Dublin and Peter McElchar from Donegal - set out in a car in which they were transporting an explosive device. They crossed the border from Donegal into Tyrone and were approaching the town of Castlederg when the device exploded prematurely. Peter McElchar was killed instantly. Patrick Cannon was gravely injured and was taken to Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh. He was being transferred to hospital in Belfast when he died.
Born in Dublin on November 28th 1955 - one of a family of seven (three girls and four boys)- Pat Cannon and his family lived in Edenmore, on the northside of the city. He was a fitter/welder by trade, and was only 20 years of age when he died. A wreath will be laid to mark the 41st anniversary of the death of this young Irish soldier on Wednesday 19th July 2017 at 6.30pm in Old Balgriffin Cemetery, off the Malahide Road, in Dublin (the number 42 bus from Talbot Street in Dublin city centre will leave you at Campion's Pub, right beside the graveyard). Organised by Republican Sinn Féin Poblachtach : ALL WELCOME!
Thanks for reading, Sharon.
