19/03/2026
✒️Lyra McKee: the last victim of the Northern Irish conflict.
Lyra McKee was a journalist and writer from Belfast who died on 18 April 2019 during unrest in the Creggan area.
Her death shocked people across Northern Ireland. More than 20 years had passed since the official end of the conflict, which is why many consider her the last fatal victim connected to The Troubles.
Who was she?
Born in 1990 in Belfast, McKee was a journalist and researcher known for writing about the legacy of the conflict, identity, and LGBT rights.
She contributed to outlets such as BBC and BuzzFeed News, and at the time was researching unsolved cases from the era of The Troubles for a book.
One of her most widely read essays, “The Ceasefire Babies,” explored the generation that grew up after the ceasefire but still lives with the consequences of the conflict.
The night of her death
On 18 April 2019, the Police Service of Northern Ireland was carrying out searches in Creggan for weapons.
Unrest broke out, with some young people throwing stones and petrol bombs. During the confrontation, a member of the dissident republican group New IRA fired towards the police.
One of the bullets struck Lyra McKee, who was standing near a police vehicle observing the unrest.
She died shortly afterwards in hospital.
A death that resonated across Ireland
Her killing was condemned by political leaders from across the spectrum, both nationalist and unionist.
Vigils and tributes were held throughout the island.
Her funeral at St Anne's Cathedral brought together leaders from different communities, something rarely seen.
More than twenty years after the peace agreement, Lyra McKee’s death reminded Northern Ireland that the legacy of The Troubles is still part of the present, not only the past.
Shortly before her death, Lyra had posted a tweet from the scene of the unrest: "Derry tonight. Absolute madness."
She wrote it just minutes before the shots were fired.
