This timeline lists known examples of paramilitary and politically motivated violence in the Troubles in Northern Ireland, between 1976 and 1979. These chronologies are regularly updated as new information becomes available. We welcome information about errors or incidents not listed here. In these timelines the term “civilian” refers to an individual with no known or established political or paramilitary affiliations.

1976
January 4th: UVF members raid two Catholic homes in Whitecross and Ballydougan, killing six people from the Reavey and O’Dowd families.
January 5th: A fringe group of the Provisional IRA stops a bus in Kingsmill, County Armagh, and guns down 11 Protestant workers, killing all but one. This attack was retaliation for the Reavey and O’Dowd murders the previous day.
February 7th: A Provisional IRA booby trap left in an abandoned car in Cookstown, County Tyrone, explodes, killing a 16-year-old Protestant boy, Robert McLernon, and his 21-year-old sister Rachel.
March 17th: The UVF detonates a car bomb outside a bar in Dungannon, killing four Catholic civilians including two 13-year-old boys.
March 27th: The IRA plants a bomb in a rubbish bin at a home show in Earl’s Court, London. The blast injuries 70 people, four of whom lose limbs.
April 5th: IRA men assassinate Robert McConnell, a prominent Loyalist, outside his home in Tullyvalen.
April 15th: Peter Cleary, a Provisional IRA commander, is shot dead by British commandos near Forkhill, County Armagh.
April 29th: An off duty UDR member and a Protestant civilian are shot dead by Provisional IRA gunmen near Dungannon.
May 2nd: Red Hand Commandos shoot dead a Catholic civilian in Thistlecross, County Louth.
May 15th: The UVF attacks two Catholic pubs in Charlemont, County Armagh, with guns and explosive devices, killing four civilians and injuring several others. In County Fermanagh, three RUC officers are killed by IRA landmines as they searched a field near Belcoo.
May 15th: In two separate attacks Provisional IRA gun down and kill three RUC officers in County Fermanagh and another RUC officer in County Down.
June 2nd: Red Hand Commandos murder a man in Comber, County Down. The victim, intended to be a Catholic man, was actually Protestant.
June 5th: A day of widespread violence in Belfast, resulting in the death of nine civilians. Five are killed when UVF members attack the Chlorane Bar on Gresham Street. Two Protestant civilians are killed in a separate pub bombing while two more are shot dead.
July 2nd: UVF gunmen kill six people at the Ramble Inn, a Catholic-owned pub near Kells, County Antrim. Five of the dead are Protestants.
July 18th: A 28-year-old Protestant civilian is killed by an IRA booby trap at his home in Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh.
July 21st:  The Provisional IRA plants a massive land mine in the driveway of the Dublin residence of Christopher Ewart Biggs, the British ambassador to the Republic of Ireland. Biggs and his young secretary, Judith Cooke, are both killed by the blast.
July 30th: Gunmen from the South Armagh Republican Action Force attack a pub in Milltown Road, Belfast, killing four Protestant civilians.
August 10th: Three children – Joanne (nine years), John (three years) and Andrew Maguire (six weeks) are killed by an out of control car in Belfast. The car’s driver, Danny Lennon, was an IRA volunteer who had been shot by British soldiers. The children’s aunt, Mairead Corrigan, immediately organises a series of peace rallies.
August 14th: A 12-year-old Catholic girl, Majella O’Hare, is shot and killed by British soldiers near her home in Whitecross, County Armagh.
August 16th: A Loyalist bomb detonates outside a Catholic pub in Keady, County Armagh, killing two civilians.
August 27th: Loyalists throw petrol bombs into a Catholic home in Belfast. Three young members of the Dempsey family are killed, including 10-month-old Brigeen.
September 18th: A RUC officer, Albert Craig, dies after being shot by IRA gunmen in Portadown, County Armagh. A second officer is also shot and wounded.
September 24th: IRA gunmen raid a Protestant bar in Belfast, shooting dead two Protestant civilians. Elsewhere in the city a Catholic civilian is shot and killed by Loyalists.
September 25th: Members of the INLA attack a Protestant home in Finaghy, Belfast, killing two members of the Kyle family.
October 6th: Loyalist paramilitaries kill two Catholic civilians in their home in Cavehill Road, Belfast.
October 13th: IRA gunmen open fire outside the Corrigan home in Portadown, County Armagh, killing two family members.
October 13th: An ex-British soldier living in Belfast is killed by Loyalists.
October 16th: A 13-year-old Catholic boy, Brian Stewart, dies six days after being hit by a rubber bullet in Belfast.
October 28th: Red Hand Commandos assassinate Maire Drumm, a former Sinn Fein vice-president, as she was being discharged from a Belfast hospital.

1977
January 1st: A Protestant civilian is killed by an IRA car bomb near his home in Glengormley, outside Belfast.
January 1st: An IRA sniper shoots dead a 23-year-old British soldier while he was on foot patrol in Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
January 9th: A British soldier is killed by an explosive booby trap placed by the IRA in a shop in Gortnacarrow, County Fermanagh.
January 11th: An 18-year-old British soldier is killed by an IRA sniper at a checkpoint in Belfast.
January 14th: An off-duty RUC officer is killed when the IRA booby trap his car in Innisrush, County Derry.
January 16th: Undercover British soldiers shoot dead an IRA volunteer in Crossmaglen, County Armagh.
January 21th: An IRA gunman shoots dead a former Sinn Fein member at his home in Corgary, County Tyrone.
January 22nd: Loyalists shoot dead a Protestant man in Belfast and leave his body in a burning car.
January 23rd: A 19-year-old British soldier is shot dead by an INLA sniper while patrolling the Markets area of Belfast.
January 27th: A off-duty RUC officer is killed by Provisional IRA gunmen outside a service station in Derry.
January 31st: A member of the UDA is found beaten to death in Belfast, probably killed as part of an internecine feud between Loyalist groups.
February 2nd: An English factor manager is killed by the IRA in Derry.
February 3rd: A Catholic civilian, Joseph Morrissey, is kidnapped by the UVF death squad, the Shankill Butchers. His mutilated body is found near a shopping centre soon after.
February 5th: A 50-year-old RUC officer is shot dead by a Provisional IRA sniper while on patrol in Gilford, County Down.
February 12th: An off duty RUC officer is gunned down and killed by the IRA outside his home in County Antrim.
February 19th: A Catholic civilian is shot dead at his home in Belfast, most likely by UDA members.
February 23rd: An off duty UDR member is shot dead outside his home in Waterside, Derry.
February 24th: A RUC officer is shot and killed by the IRA while on duty at a security post in Lurgan, County Armagh.
February 25th: A Catholic RUC officer is killed by UVF gunmen outside his base in County Antrim.
February 26th: A 68-year-old Protestant civilian and justice of the peace is assassinated at his home in Newry, County Down, probably by the Provisional IRA.
February 27th: Three men die in separate incidents in Belfast, including two Loyalists killed by a premature bomb detonation and a Catholic ex-British Army soldier, shot by the IRA in Ardoyne.
March 2nd: An English businessman is killed by the Provisional IRA in Belfast.
March 4th: The Provisional IRA assassinates Rory O’Kelly, a civil servant responsible for prosecuting cases against arrested paramilitaries. O’Kelly was Catholic.
March 13th: An 18-year-old RUC officer is shot dead by a Provisional IRA sniper in County Fermanagh.
April 5th: A 22-year-old British soldier is killed by an IRA land mine near Belleek, County Fermanagh.
June 2nd: Three RUC officers, two aged in their early 20s, are shot and killed by Provisional IRA snipers while patrolling near Ardboe, County Tyrone.
October 5th: Seamus Costello, chairman of the IRSP and an INLA commander, is gunned down in Dublin, probably by members of the Official IRA.

1978
January 17th: The Provisional IRA firebombs the La Mon House Restaurant in Gransha, County Down, while it is packed with 450 diners. The blast kills 12 people, all of them Protestants, and injures another 30.
February 17th: A Provisional IRA firebomb explodes in the La Mon restaurant in Belfast, killing 12 people and causing serious burns to dozens of others. The intended target, RUC officers, were not in the restaurant.
February 17th: A British Army helicopter crashed after being fired upon by IRA personnel in Jonesborough, County Armagh. A British lieutenant colonel was killed.
February 26th: A Provisional IRA volunteer is shot dead by British soldiers watching an IRA arms dump near Ardboe, County Tyrone.
March 8th: Red Hand Commandos gun down a member of the Irish National Liberation Army and a Catholic civilian in Portadown, County Armagh.
June 25th: A 23-year-old UDR soldier is shot dead during a Provisional IRA attack in County Fermanagh.
September 11th: An off duty RUC officer, aged 23, is killed by the Provisional IRA in Loughmacrory, County Tyrone.
October 12th: An IRA bomb explodes on the Belfast-Dublin train line, killing a 55-year-old woman.
November 26th: In Belfast the Provisional IRA assassinates the deputy governor of the Crumlin Road prison.

1979
March 22nd: IRA agents assassinate two men in The Hague, one of them Richard Sykes, London’s ambassador to the Netherlands.
March 30th: Airey Neave, the Conservative Party’s spokesperson for Northern Ireland and an advisor to Margaret Thatcher, is assassinated by an INLA bomb in London.
May 6th: A British soldier and an RUC officer are shot dead by the IRA while on a surveillance operation near Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh.
June 22nd: A Protestant civilian and reserve police officer is shot dead by the IRA as he delivered milk in Ardboe, County Tyrone.
July 12th: A 21-year-old IRA volunteer is found shot to death, possibly in retaliation for providing information to security forces.
August 27th: Lord Louis Mountbatten, his grandson and two other people are killed by a Provisional IRA bomb aboard their fishing boat in Mullaghmore, Republic of Ireland.
August 27th: Provisional IRA members ambush a British Army platoon with two roadside bombs in Warrenpoint, County Down. The explosions kill 18 soldiers, making this the deadliest IRA attack on British forces during the Troubles.
December 16th: Four British soldiers aged 19-23 are killed when the Provisional IRA detonate a land mine under their vehicle near Dungannon.