Bombing of Dublin in World War II The first bombing of neutral Republic of Ireland , during World War II took place on 26 August 1940 , when the German Air Force ( " Luftwaffe " ) dropped bombs at Campile , County Wexford killing three people . The first bombing of the city of Dublin occurred early on the morning of 2 January 1941 when German bombs were dropped in the Terenure area of south Dublin . This was followed the next night by further German bombing of houses in Donore Terrace in the South Circular Road area of south Dublin in the early morning of 3 January 1941 . Although a number of people were injured , no one was killed in these bombings . Later the same year , on 31 May 1941 , four German bombs fell in north Dublin , with the greatest damage in the North Strand area , killing 28 people . Background . At the beginning of the Second World War , Ireland declared its neutrality and proclaimed " The Emergency " . By July 1940 Britain stood alone with her Commonwealth and Empire against Germany , after Germany ' s military conquests of Poland , Denmark and Norway ( Operation Weserübung ) , France and the Netherlands ( Battle of France ) , most of which had been neutral . By May 1941 the German Air Force had bombed numerous British cities , including Belfast in Northern Ireland in " The Blitz " . Northern Ireland as part of the United Kingdom was at war , but the independent state of Ireland was neutral . German area bombings aimed in the direction of the British Isles were reduced after the launch of Operation Barbarossa in late June 1941 . Timeline of German bombings of the Irish state . Despite its neutrality , Ireland experienced a number of bombing raids : The Terenure Bombing . Around 6am on 2 January 1941 , two bombs were dropped in Rathdown Park , Terenure . The first bomb , which dropped behind the houses at the corner of Rathdown Park and Rathfarnham , road landed in soft ground and created a large crater but caused little other damage . The second landed behind the houses at 25 and 27 Rathdown Park , destroying both and damaging many neighbouring houses . Two other bombs were dropped on the corner of Lavarna Grove and Fortfield Road , close to the Kimmage Crossroads ( KCR ) . Lavarna Grove was still under construction at this time and the bomb fell on undeveloped ground with the nearby houses at nos . 10 Lavarna Grove suffering the worst damage . Only one person was slightly injured , and there was no loss of life . The Donore Bombing . Just before 4am on the morning of 3 January 1941 , a bomb fell at the rear of the houses at 91 and 93 Donore Terrace in the South Circular Road area of Dublin . Three houses were destroyed and about fifty houses damaged . Donore Presbyterian Church , the attached school and the Jewish Synagogue in Donore were also damaged . 20 people were injured , but there was no loss of life . The North Strand Bombing . Around 2am on 31 May 1941 four German bombs dropped on north Dublin . One bomb fell in the Ballybough area , demolishing two houses at 43 and 44 Summerhill Park , injuring many but with no loss of life . A second fell at the Dog Pond pumping works near the Zoo in Phoenix Park , with no casualties but damaging Áras an Uachtaráin , the official residence of the Irish President ( Douglas Hyde at the time ) . A third made a large crater in the North Circular Road near Summerhill , causing no injuries . A fourth , which was apparently a landmine , fell in North Strand destroying 17 houses and severely damaging about 50 others , with the worst damage in the area between Seville Place and Newcomen Bridge . The raid claimed the lives of 28 people , injured 90 , destroyed or damaged approximately 300 houses , and left 400 people homeless . On 5 June , a mass funeral was held for 12 of the victims ; Éamon de Valera , the Taoiseach , and other government officials attended . De Valera made a speech in the Dáil Éireann ( the lower house of the Irish Parliament ) on the same day : The then - West Germany later accepted responsibility for the raid , and by 1958 it paid compensation of £327 , 000 . Over 2 , 000 claims for compensation were processed by the Irish government , eventually costing £344 , 000 . East Germany and Austria , which were both part of Germany in 1941 , made no contribution . The amounts were fixed after the 1953 Agreement on German External Debts , allowing maximum compensation . Cause of the North Strand Raid . Several reasons for the raid have been asserted over time . Among the most discussed are : a navigational error ; a deliberate attack in retaliation for Irish assistance to the victims of the Luftwaffe ’ s bombings of Belfast ; a warning to Ireland not to assist Britain during the war or a deflection of radio beams on which the Luftwaffe relied . Unlike British cities Dublin was not subject to full blackout regulations , so the city would have been visible from the air , unlike Belfast . A limited blackout had been ordered as from 15 April . An Irish Department of Defence report dated 16 July 1941 noted that un - blacked - out Irish lights were often used by the Luftwaffe as an " aid to navigation " towards Northern Ireland , and that : " . . . the lights on the south coast and Dublin were used as points of arrival and departure in synchronized timing . " German Radio , operated by the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda , broadcast that – " it is impossible that the Germans bombed Dublin intentionally " . Irish airspace had been violated repeatedly , and both Allied and German airmen were being interned at the Curragh . A possible cause was a navigational error and mistaken target . Numerous large cities in the United Kingdom were targeted for bombing , including Belfast , which like Dublin is across the Irish Sea from Great Britain . Navigational error , equipment malfunction , or weather may also have played a role . A pilot who was one of the pathfinders on the raid later recounted this as the cause of the raid . War - time Germany ' s acceptance of responsibility and post - war Germany ' s payment of compensation are cited as further indications that the causation was error on the part of the Luftwaffe pilots . Irish neutrality in the Second World War was stretched . In April 1941 , Germany had launched the Belfast blitz . Belfast , in Northern Ireland and therefore part of the United Kingdom was bombed severely during April . In response , Ireland had sent rescue , fire , and emergency personnel to Belfast to assist the city , and De Valera formally protested the bombing to the German government and made his famous " they are our people " speech . Ireland ' s response must have seemed unexpected from a neutral state , and some have contended that the raid served as a warning to Ireland to keep out of the war . This contention was expanded upon by Colonel Edward Flynn , second cousin of Ireland ' s Minister for Coordination of Defensive Measures , who recalled to the press that Lord Haw Haw warned Ireland that Dublin ' s Amiens Street Railway Station , where a stream of refugees from Belfast was arriving , would be bombed . The station , now called Connolly Station , stands a few hundred metres from North Strand Road , where the bombing damage was heaviest . He similarly contended that the German bombing of Dundalk on 4 July was pre - warned by Lord Haw Haw as a punishment for Dundalk being the point of shipment of Irish cattle sold to the United Kingdom . After the war , Winston Churchill said that the British could interfere with direction finding radio signals that the Luftwaffe used to guide bombers to their targets " The bombing of Dublin on the night of May 30 , 1941 , may well have been an unforeseen and unintended result of our interference with " Y " . " He was referring to the Battle of the Beams . Some intelligence officials claimed that such interference caused the planes to hit Dublin . The technology , however , was not sufficiently well - developed by mid - 1941 to have deflected planes from one target to another specific target , and could only limit the ability of bombers to receive the signals .