54°33′13″N7°49′04″W / 54.553549°N 7.817717°W /54.553549; -7.817717Tullyhommon orTullyhomman (fromIrishTulaigh Uí Thiomáin, meaning 'Ó Tiomáin'shillock')[1][2] is a townland inCounty Fermanagh, which forms part of the village ofPettigo. The village of Pettigo is primarily withinCounty Donegal in theRepublic of Ireland, however one street, High Street, is on the Fermanagh side. Pettigo is divided by theRiver Termon, which forms part of the boundary between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. In the2011 census, Tullyhommon townland had a population of 63 people.[3] The combined population of the whole village, including the portions in County Donegal and County Fermanagh is approximately 450.
On 4 June 1922, Pettigo village was occupied by members of theIrish Republican Army (IRA), part ofMichael Collins campaign against Northern Ireland, during the Battle of Pettigo and Belleek. The village ofBelleek, 12 miles (19 km) from Tullyhomon, became part of the new Northern Ireland andPettigo was retained by theIrish Free State. Soldiers from theBritish Army crossedLough Erne in order to fight the IRA and the estimated casualties were three IRA men killed, six wounded and four captured, the British lost one soldier while two civilians who were killed in the fighting. There is a memorial on the Belleek Road to those who "died fighting against British forces in Pettigo 4-6-1922", while a mere few metres from it is a memorial to those "who gave their lives in the Great War 1914–1918".[3]
On 30 August 1973, British Army non commissioned officer S/Sgt Ronald Beckett (aged 36) was killed while trying to defuse a bomb planted by theProvisional IRA at Tullyhommon Post Office.[4]
On 8 November 1987, a Provisional IRA bombexploded at a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in nearbyEnniskillen, killing 11 people and injuring 63. A few hours after the blast, the IRA called a radio station and said it had abandoned a 150-pound (68 kg) bomb in Tullyhommon after it failed to detonate.[5][6] That morning, a Remembrance Sunday parade (which included many members of theBoys' andGirls' Brigades) had unwittingly gathered near the bomb, which was larger and had the capacity to inflict more casualties than those at Enniskillen.[6] British soldiers andRUC officers had also been there,[6] and the IRA said it triggered the bomb when soldiers were standing beside it. It was defused by security forces and was found to have a command wire leading to a "firing point" across the border.[5][6]