During the Troubles, the 1970s were, by far, the deadliest years of the conflict. Over 2,000 of the more than 3,500 people killed during the Troubles died in the 1970s, with 480 deaths (over 13 percent of the total) coming in 1972 alone. The death toll fell from the mid-1970s onward as paramilitaries began losing the support of some of their local communities, and tactics changed to favor bombings and guerilla tactics over more direct engagements. Over 3,000 of the killings during the troubles have been attributed to paramilitary groups, with the IRA responsible for over half of these.

As of October 31, 2021, COVID-19 was involved in the deaths of 1,448 people in Northern Ireland between 80 and 89 years of age. In that age group, there were 771 male deaths and 677 female deaths. A further 886 deaths involving COVID-19 were recorded among 70 to 79 year olds. In England, the age group 80 to 89 years also had the highest number of deaths involving COVID-19, the case was also the same in Scotland. For further information about the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Approximately 44 percent of the more than 3,500 people who were killed as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland were killed in Belfast. The predominantly Catholic West Belfast had more deaths during the Troubles than any other division of Northern Ireland. In addition to the deaths in Northern Ireland, over 250 people were killed in Britain, the Republic of Ireland, or elsewhere in Europe.

More than 3,500 people were killed as a result of the Troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1998. Of these, over 1,500 were from Northern Ireland's Catholic community, while just under 1,300 were from the Protestant community. Of the 722 people not from Northern Ireland who were killed in the conflict, over 500 were killed in Northern Ireland, while 120 were killed in Britain, 83 were killed in the Republic of Ireland, and 14 were killed elsewhere in Europe.

Context

A dataset of information on deaths related to the Northern Ireland conflict (1969-2005).

Content

• Fatalities: A list of deaths related to the Northern Ireland conflict (Fact table)
• Location: A list of locations where the fatalities took place including GPS coordinates
• Agency: This refers to groups responsible for fatal incidents including agency groups
• Status: This refers to the role of fatality victims including status groups

Dimension Remarks

• Name: Spellings might vary from other sources
• Year: Relates to year of death rather than fatal incident
• Religion: Only that of Northern Ireland residents is listed
• Agency: This refers to groups responsible for fatal incidents
• Status: This refers to the role of fatality victims
• Location: Westminster electoral areas are employed for Northern Ireland fatalities
• Rationale: This refers to the inferred purpose underlying the fatal act
• Causality: This probes the degree of inferred purposiveness of a fatal event
• Context: This distinguishes between incidents such as gun fire, explosions, beatings
• New Incident: This offers a count of discrete fatal incidents
• 1st Fatality: This distinguishes multiple fatality incidents

Acknowledgements

The information was compiled by Michael McKeown and was contributed by him to the CAIN Web site. Michael McKeown has taken the decision (June 2009) to make the dataset freely available via the CAIN site. While users are free to download the dataset for research purposes, the database remains copyright © of Michael McKeown.

Inspiration

"The following study represents both the revisiting and continuation of a task which had occupied me for over twenty years. The concluded work highlights complexities and ambiguities in the patterns of the violence in Northern Ireland over the past three decades which are often obscured by the polar interpretations offered by partizan commentaries. For that reason I believe it should be inserted into the public arena for further consideration and possibly as a methodological model for further enquiry." Michael McKeown (2001).

Over 3,500 people were killed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland between 1969 and 2001 - of these, over 2,000 have been attributed to republican paramilitaries, and over 1,000 were attributed to loyalist paramilitaries. Almost half of all killings during the Troubles have been attributed to the Irish Republican Army alone (also known as the Provisional IRA), while a much smaller number was attributed to British security forces. These figures are in stark contrast to those regarding death by organization or affiliation, where over 50 percent of all deaths were of civilians, one third was of British security forces, and just 16 percent of deaths were recorded as paramilitary deaths from either side.

The peak years of the Northern Ireland Conflict were between 1971 and 1976, where there were over 100 conflict-related deaths each year, exceeding 450 deaths in 1972 alone. The vast majority of these deaths were of civilians (including paramilitaries), and over 50 percent of deaths were of civilians not recorded as being involved in paramilitary activity. British security forces were the primary target of republican paramilitaries during the Troubles, and these made up over half of all casualties in some years, such as 1979 - this was the year of the Warrenpoint Ambush, where 18 soldiers were killed by two roadside bombs during what was the deadliest attack on British security during the conflict. While the Troubles is widely considered to have ended in 1998, ongoing paramilitary activity activities, such as organized crime, retaliatory attacks, and vigilantism, saw the deaths of many more people in the decades that followed.

There were ** homicides recorded in Northern Ireland in 2023/24, compared with 24 in the previous reporting year. In 2002/03, there were ** homicides in Northern Ireland, which was the most in the provided time period.

Period life expectancy by age and sex for Northern Ireland. Each national life table is based on population estimates, births and deaths for a period of three consecutive years. Tables are published annually.

Throughout the Northern Ireland Conflict, colloquially known as the Troubles, a total of 3,532 people were killed as a result of violence. Of these, 3,210 (or 91 percent) of the victims were men.

Number of deaths registered in Northern Ireland where MRSA was mentioned on the death certificate.

Source agency: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Deaths Registered with MRSA mentioned on the death certificate (Northern Ireland)

During the Troubles, the 1970s were, by far, the deadliest years of the conflict. Over 2,000 of the more than 3,500 people killed during the Troubles died in the 1970s, with 480 deaths (over 13 percent of the total) coming in 1972 alone. The heavy casualties and violence of the Troubles' early years saw both sides lose some support within their respective communities by the late 1970s, at which point there was something of a de-escalation of attacks, although death tolls were steady at around 100 deaths per year until the IRA ceasefire in 1994. Roughly double the number of deaths have been attributed to republican paramilitaries in comparison to loyalist paramilitaries, although there were some periods in the 1970s and 1990s where both sides had comparable figures. The spike in killings in 1998, the year of the Good Friday Agreement, was due to the Omagh bombing, which resulted in the deaths of 29 people.

Over 1,800 of all killings committed during the Troubles have been attributed to the Irish Republican Army (IRA). While the Troubles is often described as a "Catholic versus Protestant" or "republican versus loyalist" conflict, the number of loyalist paramilitaries killed by the IRA was just 45 people in total, or 2.5 percent of total IRA killings. In fact, it was British security forces, such as army personnel or the police force (Royal Ulster Constabulary), who suffered the largest number of killings by the IRA, with over 1,000 deaths, or over 55 percent of the IRA's total.

Since 1970, the worst terrorist attack in the United Kingdom was the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988 above Lockerbie, Scotland, which caused 270 fatalities. Of the ten attacks worst terrorist attacks in the UK, seven were related to the troubles in Northern Ireland, while two were related to Islamic extremism. The London 7/7 bombings in 2005, which caused the deaths of 56 people, and the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, which claimed the lives of 23 people. Are terrorist attacks in the UK on the rise? When compared with earlier decades, the number of terrorist attacks in the UK has declined considerably. Throughout the 1970s, there were approximately 1,644 terrorist attacks, 1,315 in the 1980s, and 1,214 in the 1990s, compared with just 325 in the 2000s, and 925 in the 2010s. During this period, the year with the highest number of attacks was 1972 when there were 292. Although the period between 2013 and 2018 saw a high volume of terrorist attacks, this has started to decline in more recent years. In 2021, for example there were 40 terrorist attacks, the fewest since 2009. A global threat In 2023, 21,596 people lost their lives due to terrorism, with Syria suffering the highest number of attacks at 1,405. The UK was not alone in seeing the intensity of terror attacks increase in the mid-2010s, either. The Paris Attacks of November 2015 caused 130 fatalities, while the Nice attacks in 2016 led to 86 deaths, some of the worst terrorist incidents to have ever taken place in Europe. Due to these attacks, the number of deaths caused by terrorism was significantly higher in 2015 and 2016 than in other years, at 152, and 142 respectively.

The Northern Ireland Troubles is considered a low-intensity conflict, but was notable for its large number of individual attacks with high death tolls, particularly for civilians. The deadliest day of the Troubles was May 17, 1974, when separate bombings in Dublin and Monaghan (both in the Republic of Ireland) resulted in the deaths of 34 people. However, the deadliest single attack was the Omagh bombing in 1998, which killed 29 civilians. The Omagh bombing took place four months after the Good Friday Agreement, which was supposed to mark the end of the violence. Other notable attacks include Bloody Sunday in 1972, where 14 unarmed civilians were killed by the British Army - this event would effectively end the peaceful civil rights movement and see an escalation in violence (1972 was the deadliest year of the conflict). Additionally, the Warrenpoint Ambush of 1979 was the deadliest day for the British Army in Northern Ireland, where 18 soldiers were killed by the IRA. Many of the largest bombings also took place outside of Northern Ireland, such as the Birmingham pub bombings (1974) or the M62 coach bombing (1972).

Deaths registered in Northern Ireland during the registration year.

Source agency: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Deaths in Northern Ireland

The number of deaths from cancer in Northern Ireland has increased in the period under consideration, going from just over 3.5 thousand in 2000 to over 4.6 thousand in 2021. This statistic displays the number of deaths from cancer in Northern Ireland from 2000 to 2021.

Number of births and deaths registered each month.

Source agency: Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Monthly Births and Deaths (Northern Ireland)