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The Darkest Hour: The Stardust Victims

Rorie Jane McCormack
After the Fact
Published in
16 min readApr 28, 2024

On Valentine’s Day 1981, a devastating fire ripped through the Stardust nightclub in Artane, North Dublin. The fire began in the roof space. Accusations of arson were levied against the victims and survivors beginning on the night of the fire, even as first responders were pulling bodies out of the charred building. These accusations followed the survivors and victim’s families for 43 years but were ultimately proven to be false.

The families of the 48 victims who died in the Stardust fire fought for recognition for more than four decades, before a coroner’s inquest was granted in 2023. Earlier this month, April 2024, a jury of thirteen members delivered a verdict of unlawful killing in all 48 deaths. They also definitively identified the cause of the blaze, not as arson, but as through an electrical fault.

You can read about the mechanics of this fire, how it happened, how it spread and some of the devastation that it caused here. This episode takes a deeper look into the human side of the tragedy and focuses on the victims.

Listen to the podcast episode on this case here:

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After the Fact
After the Fact

Published in After the Fact

After the Fact looks at true crime cases, historical crime and dark history.

Rorie Jane McCormack
Rorie Jane McCormack

Written by Rorie Jane McCormack

Lover of words. Creator of things. Curator of dark curiosities. Host of Propensity: A True Crime Anthology Podcast. Writer of Books (Coming 2024).

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