6.
When General Freeland’s men
descended on the Lower Falls, the first
thing the neighbors did was run to St.
Peter’s Cathedral, the local Catholic
church just a few blocks away. The
defining feature of the Lower Falls, like
so many of the other Catholic
neighborhoods of West Belfast, was its
religiosity. St. Peter’s was the heart of
the neighborhood. Four hundred people
would attend mass at St. Peter’s on a
typical weekday. The most important
man in the community was the local
priest. He came running. He went up to
the soldiers. The raid must be done