Belfast Shipyard Expulsions

July 19, 1920

On July 19, 1920, large-scale expulsions of Catholic workers commenced at Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyard. Protestant workers, many recently returned from World War I, forcibly removed Catholic and socialist Protestant colleagues. This period represents a dark chapter in Belfast's industrial history, impacting over 7,500 workers and their families, and significantly exacerbating sectarian tensions within the city and wider Northern Ireland.