'They were so much more than their murders': Service marks 50 years since three family members killed in IRA atrocity
This weekend sees a poignant service remembering the lives of three members of the same family killed in a single IRA atrocity, 50 years ago this week.
The Herron family owned a drapery shop in Dromore that was bombed by paramilitaries on April 7, 1976. William Herron, aged 64, his 58-year-old wife Elizabeth and their youngest daughter, 26-year-old Noeline, were in their home above the store at the time of the early hours blast.
The Co Down town came to a standstill on Tuesday evening to remember them with a solemn commemoration; this Sunday afternoon at 3pm, Banbridge Road Presbyterian Church hosts a service of remembrance, thanksgiving and reflection for the family.
Victim support group SEFF are organising the service in conjunction with the family and the church. Its director, Kenny Donaldson, said the event will allow their Herrons’ family members and neighbours, as well as the broader community in Dromore, a chance to come together and mark the impact the family’s appalling deaths continues to have today.
“The Herrons were a deeply respected family in 1976, and this continues to be the case in 2026,” he said. “This was most evident on Tuesday evening, when over 700 people gathered in the town for a parade and poignant act of remembrance.
“Sunday will be another difficult and challenging day for the family, particularly given the fact that so many members of the family circle will be involved in the content of the service. Footage will also be shown connected with the events back in 1976, which relays the gravity of this appalling tragedy.
“We encourage the community to get behind Sunday’s service and come along to show solidarity with the Herron family; to come along and remember three innocents, who were so much more than the way in which they were murdered.”
Among those marking the solemn anniversary on Tuesday was Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly, who at the time stated she believed it was important to remember “three people filled with love and humanity”.
She stated the event was “a poignant evening of remembrance” to mark “a horrible and horrifying terrorist attack that took the lives of three people who loved each other and who were much loved”.
Before Tuesday night’s commemoration, grieving members of the surviving Herron family said the murders “sent shockwaves across a community which had been relatively unscathed" by the Troubles until then.
The drapery shop, they said, did a roaring trade, leading William to move to larger premises on the corner of Bridge Street and the Square in Dromore. Among their lines, the store manufactured marching band uniforms and regalia, doing business with Orange and Black lodges across the province.
The family said: “Herrons was a name that was respected and William was also a proud member of the loyal orders himself.
“Meanwhile Elizabeth had many interests outside her role as a homemaker, from Meals On Wheels to the PWA and Artana WI. Noeline was the youngest sibling of five and was very much involved in the family business; she worked in the Dromore shop which sold household goods, curtain material, fabrics and so on.
“All three members of our family had a strong Christian faith; they were committed to supporting each other, at home, in business, through church and via social activities.”