1920 SWANZY RIOTS: New exhibition traces the 1920 Lisburn riots

The Swanzy Riots, 1920 is a new exhibition from the Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum marking the centenary of the burning of Lisburn on August 22 1920.
Connolly's, Market Square, August 1920. Picture courtesy of Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn MuseumConnolly's, Market Square, August 1920. Picture courtesy of Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum
Connolly's, Market Square, August 1920. Picture courtesy of Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum

The display can be viewed at www.Lisburnmuseum.com/Swanzy.

Ciaran Toal, research officer, Irish Linen Centre and Lisburn Museum, explained: “While many of the stories, artefacts and details of the families affected by the Swanzy Riots have been lost, the museum, in collaboration with local First World War historian Pat Geary, has compiled a database of 300-plus compensation claims lodged by individuals and businesses in the days after the riots.

“Over £840,000, around £38m today, was claimed for, although only a third was paid out, with the authorities disputing many of the claims.

“The database accompanies a new interactive map, which provides a visual overview, for the first time, of the extent of the rioting in Lisburn in summer 1920.

“The map was developed in collaboration with Pearse Lawlor, author of ‘The Burnings 1920’ (2009, Mercier Press), the museum and Charlie Roache, a mapping expert from University College Cork and one of the cartographers behind the best-selling ‘Atlas of the Irish Revolution’ (2017, CUPress).

“As the map shows, the violence of August 1920 spread through much of the centre of Lisburn. For example, Bow Street was left smouldering, and very few businesses were unaffected.”

Ciaran added: “The exhibition marks the centenary of hugely significant, but unknown, events, and one of the most difficult episodes in Lisburn’s past.”

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