Meet the brave West Belfast women who broke the Falls Curfew of 1970.

Posted by Jim on March 6, 2026

By Roisin McManus

Andersonstown News

This year sees the 40th anniversary of the Falls Curfew.

Four people were killed as a result of the curfew in the lower Falls area which occurred in July 1970. The curfew started on Friday, July 3 1970 when thousands of heavily armed British troops took over the Falls.

It was only broken on Sunday, July 5 when courageous local women organised a march and broke through the shocked line of British soldiers after two days of gun battles.

The Andersonstown News met up with some of the women who were involved in those historic events.

Rosemary Lawlor was a 19-year-old who took part in the march that broke the Falls Curfew. She is now a grandmother with vivid memories of taking part in the march.

At the time of the curfew her husband and baby were were staying in her mother’s house in Ballymurphy after they were burned out of their home in Donegall Pass.

She says on the Friday news first came that there was trouble on the Falls.

“We heard that there was trouble on the Falls and we heard that people weren’t allowed out of their houses,” recalled Rosemary.

On Saturday the women tried to march down the Falls, determined to break the curfew, but were prevented from going past a line of British steel and guns at the Children’s Hospital.

“On the Sunday, though, we organised ourselves much better. Maire Drumm was the main woman and we all had messages to bring in like bread and food for the kids,” said Rosemary.

“Instead of going down into Leeson Street we went down the Grosvenor Road because it was locked off from across the Dunville Park.

“We went down the Grosvenor Road, we were all linking arms and singing. There were hundreds of women with children in prams and all the way down the road people fell in and joined the march.

“We turned into Cullingtree Road and the first street on the left was Slate Street and the soldiers were billeted in Slate Street school and my memory is they came rushing out to us.

“Now I had an aunt who lived on the corner and I remember thinking to myself if anything happens I will run into my aunt Mary’s house.

“We pushed forward and the Brits all came running out, we took them by surprise, some of them were half dressed. We were pushing and they were pushing us back. It was very very scary, they were prepared to hurt us. There was all kinds of fisticuffs going on and this soldier came out and he was obviously an officer because he restored calm. He was half-shaven and he had no shirt on.

“A lot of people were hurt and were lying on the side of the road.

“I had clumps of hair pulled out. But the women forced forward and we won and we got through.”

Rosemary said that the people who had being living under military rule had their spirits lifted tremendously by the breaking of the curfew.

“We defeated the British army and that’s the truth of it, the women defeated the Brits and we got in.”

Rosemary recalled returning home later and how she hadn’t told her mother that she would be attending the daring march.

“At that time my mother didn’t know where I was,” she said. “I had told her that I was just going up to the shop and asked her to mind the child because I didn’t want to take him with me.

“I had told my mummy that I wouldn’t be long, but then she saw me on the TV and when I got back she went ballistic, she called me everything.

“That was my first introduction to protest, and that was me hooked,” she added.