Loughinisland (/ˌlɒxɪnˈaɪlənd/ LOKH-in-EYE-lənd, from Irish Loch an Oileáin 'lake of the island')[2] is a small village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland.

However, on 18 June 1994, it was the scene of the Loughinisland massacre, when two members of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, attacked O'Toole's Pub with assault rifles, killing six Catholic civilians and wounding five.

That evening, about 24 people had gathered in the pub to watch the television broadcast of the Ireland football team playing in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

As the BBC reported on the 18th anniversary in their 2012 article Players wear black armbands in memory of Loughinisland tragedy: 'The FAI said it was "particularly poignant" because the shootings [in 1994] happened while the victims were watching Ireland vs Italy during World Cup USA.

It was upon the capstone of this monument that Thomas Russell, one of the co-founders of the Society of United Irishmen, stood to urge the people of Loughinisland to join the unsuccessful Emmett Rising of 1803.