Draft:Murder of Eileen Doherty
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Comment: I believe the subject matter is notable, however the way the article is written requires minor copyediting. This is a promising draft! 11WB (talk) 21:29, 21 August 2025 (UTC)
| Murder of Eileen Doherty | |
|---|---|
| Location | Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Date | 30 September 1973 |
Attack type | Murder by gunshot |
| Victims | Eileen Doherty, John Sherry |
| Perpetrator | Robert "Bobby" Rodgers, unidentified male |
Eileen Doherty | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1954 Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 1 October 1973 (aged 19) Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland |
| Cause of death | Cerebral laceration |
| Partner | Alec McManus |
Eileen Doherty (c. 1954 – 1 October 1973) was a catholic stitcher who was fatally wounded in a sectarian attack by Bobby Rodgers (born 18 October 1953) who was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force in September 1973.[1]
Background
[edit]Eileen Doherty was born in c. 1954, in Belfast. She grew up in a catholic household in the Andersonstown area.[1]
Doherty was engaged to her long time boyfriend Alexander 'Alec' McManus.[2]
Murder
[edit]On 30 September 1973, Doherty spent the day with her fiancé Alec McManus in the Lower Ormeau Road area. After a while she spent a while at his house. At around 10:45 p.m. after Doherty left McManus' house she got in a Atlas Taxi driven by a man named John Sherry on the corner of Cooke Street and Ormeau Road. After she got in the passenger seat Sherry then picked up Robert James Shaw "Bobby" Rodgers (19) and a unidentified man in his 20's, both men were members of the Ulster Volunteer Force and both men appeared to be intoxicated.[1][3][4]
As Sherry was about to turn on Governor's Bridge, Rodgers pressed a .45 caliber revolver against Sherry's head and told him and Doherty to get into the back seat, as the two got out they made a run for, running across King's Bridge and onto the Annadale Embankment. Sherry and Doherty stopped running but when Sherry saw the taxi he told Doherty to run, Doherty attempted to escape by climbing over a wire fence, but ended up getting stuck. The taxi stopped and Rodgers got out of the passenger seat and grabbed Doherty by the arm and shot her twice in the body and once in the head. Rodgers and the other man then drove off in the taxi.[1][5]
A nearby bystander named McDonald who happened to have just cycled past the taxi as Rodgers shot Doherty. McDonald saw Doherty lying on her side in the grass motionless and went to her aide attempting to tend to her head wound, while Sherry called an ambulance at a nearby telephone kiosk.
Doherty was rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital, but ultimately succumbed to her wounds the next morning at 1.05am. Sherry's blue Chrysler was later found later that day abandoned at Fountainville Avenue in the Lisburn Road area.[1][6]
Aftermath
[edit]In May 1974 Alec McManus' sister Joan's husband Billy lost his arm in the Rose & Crown Bar bombing. His brother Jim McManus was also reportedly critically injured in a separate sectarian attack.[2]
On 25 September 1975, Bobby Rodgers shot 18-year-old electrical wholesaler, Kieran William McIlroy (born c. 1954) several times as he was returning home from work, on Park End Street.[7][8]
Rodgers and another UVF member Alan Gibson, who accompanied Rodgers during the murder, were both arrested for McIlroy's murder after someone who had witnessed the shooting pointed him out to a nearby military patrol. Rodgers would receive a life sentence for McIlroy's murder, but was released in July 1990 after around 16 years.[7]
Alec McManus' 54-year-old brother William "Willie" McManus Sr. was killed in the Sean Graham bookmakers' shooting in February 1992.[9][10]
In late September 2010 the Police Service of Northern Ireland reopened Doherty's murder case after 37 years.[11][12][13] Later that year in December two men, Bobby Rodgers and another man both aged 57 were arrested for their involvement in Doherty's murder.[5][14][15] Rodgers was then subsequently charged with Doherty's murder.[16]
In February 2013 Rodgers would be brought to court in the trial the Queen v. Robert James Shaw Rodgers. After around 45 minutes Justice Mark Horner sentenced Rodgers to life imprisonment for the murder of Eileen Doherty.[17] During the trial Rodgers pleaded to have a royal pardon by Queen Elizabeth II which was ignored.[18] Rodgers was found to have committed the murder after palm prints matched those found at the scene of the murder.[15][19][20] It was found that Rodgers' motive for the murder was purely sectarian.[1][8][21][22]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Queen v Robert James Shaw Rodgers" (PDF). judicaryni.uk. 2013. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ a b McIntyre, Anthony (1992-02-13). "A journal of protest and dissent - The Blanket". The Blanket. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Eileen Doherty". The Pensive Quill. 2013-10-01. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "LOYALIST KILLER JAILED FOR LIFE FOR 1970S TEEN MURDER | Belfast Daily". Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ a b Wade, Jennifer (2010-12-14). "Two arrested over 1973 Belfast murder". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ "PSNI reopen 1973 sectarian murder case". Irish Examiner. 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ a b "Rodger's (Robert James Shaw) Application [2014] NIQB 79" (PDF). judiciaryni.uk. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ a b "Robert Rodgers: Palm prints link accused to Eileen Doherty murder". BBC News. 2013-01-15. Retrieved 2024-10-30.
- ^ "Ormeau Road attack: 'Why are the killers still walking the streets?'". BBC. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ O'Neill, Julian (2022-02-08). "Ormeau Road attack: Police 'collusive behaviour' in murders". BBC. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "1973 sectarian murder case reopened". Irish Independent. 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Northern Ireland police reopen 1973 sectarian murder case". IrishCentral.com. 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Fresh probe into 1973 murder of Eileen Doherty". BBC News. 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Two held over 1973 teenager killing". Irish Independent. 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ a b "Robert Rodgers accused of 1973 murder of Eileen Doherty". BBC News. 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Man charged with murder of Eileen Doherty". RTE. 2010-12-15. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Justice for Eileen Doherty after 40 years". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 2013-02-16. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "He begged for a Queen's pardon, but sectarian killer Rodgers showed no mercy when he shot teenager Eileen Doherty in the back..." BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 2014-06-19. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Loyalist gets life term for teenager's murder in 1973". BBC News. 2013-02-14. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Judgement reserved on Robert Rodgers over 1973 murder". BBC News. 2013-01-17. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Robert Rodgers jailed over Eileen Doherty murder in Belfast". BBC News. 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
- ^ "Justice for family of Eileen Doherty". republican-news.org. Retrieved 2025-08-11.