Member-only story

The Darkest Hour: The Tragedy of the Stardust Fire

Rorie Jane McCormack
After the Fact
Published in
14 min readApr 22, 2024
Digital collage of Stardust memorial to commemorate the 48 victims who died in the fire. This is a featured episode image for Propensity: A True Crime Anthology Podcast.
Image: Rorie Jane McCormack, Propensity: A True Crime Anthology Podcast

On Valentine’s Day 1981, several Dublin families were woken in the early hours of the morning by frantic neighbours searching for their children. They had left hours earlier on Friday evening to attend a Valentine’s Day disco at a local nightclub, the Stardust in Artane, north Dublin. Some of the parents had heard rumours of a fire or other disaster. For many of those families, they would never see their children again. By morning, 44 people would be dead, with four more dying from their injuries within several weeks, and a further 214 injured. This is the story of the Stardust Fire, the worst tragedy of its kind in Irish history.

Listen to the podcast episode on this case here:

The Valentine’s Disco

It was Friday 13th February 1981, the eve of Valentine’s Day. Throngs of young people in Dublin North-East were preparing to attend a Valentine’s Day disco at the Stardust nightclub on Kilmore Road, Artane. The Stardust was one of the most popular entertainment venues in north Dublin.

--

--

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).

No responses yet