Monument of Remembrance unveiled in Ballinamore

Event in honour of Garda recruit Gary Sheehan and Army Private Patrick Kelly

A Monument of Remembrance has been unveiled in honour of Garda recruit Gary Sheehan and Army Private Patrick Kelly, who died while in service to the State in 1983 when shot by the Provisional IRA during the search for Quinnsworth boss Don Tidey near Ballinamore.

An Garda Síochána hosted the ceremony on date of their murders.

Mr Tidey was taking young daughter to school when abducted from outside his Rathfarnham home on November 24.

The joint operation that ensued was one of the biggest ever carried out by gardaí and Irish Defence Forces, and Mr Tidey had been held hostage for more than three weeks by the time focus of the nationwide search switched to a secluded wooded area outside the north Leitrim town.

Gda Sheenan (23), from 'Barnesmore', Kingscourt Road, Carrickmacross, was only three months into his training at Templemore when he was part of the team dispatched to Drumcornan Woods in Derrada on the Cavan-Leitrim border.

An Garda Síochána was joined by Irish Army personnel assigned to the 58th battalion based in Finner Camp out of Donegal. Deployed as part of that was 36-year-old married dad-of-four, Pte Kelly, a native of Moate, Co Westmeath.

When the authorities surrounded the IRA kidnap gang's wooded hideout location there was a brief but intense and ultimately fatal exchange of arms fire.

Tidey was subsequently found nearby and rescued, while the IRA gang fled the scene, shooting and wounding another Garda officer in the process.

No-one has ever been convicted of the killings.

In 2021 Gda Sheehan posthumously received a Scott Medal, the highest honour signifying bravery that can be bestowed on a Garda.

The memorial was one of several earmarked for various incidents that occurred during that difficult conflict period, which also included a memorial erected in honour of Inspector Samuel Donegan (61) from Longford, killed by a booby-trap bomb on a country lane in the Drumboghanagh area north of Redhills on June 8, 1972.

The blast from an abandoned tea-crate, painted with the lettering ‘Bomb!’ also badly wounded the leader of the Irish Army patrol, Lt. John Gallagher.

Following the memorial mass at St Patrick’s Church in Ballinamore last Monday morning, December 16, the Garda Ceremonial Unit and Garda Band marched to the newly erected monument located outside Ballinamore Garda Station where hundreds attended a wreath-laying ceremony.

This was unveiled by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris together with Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne, alongside Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy of the Irish Defence Forces and members of the Sheehan and Kelly families.

The memorial was designed by sculptor Jackie McKenna from nearby Dromohair, with the support of the Office of Public Works.

The design of the memorial portrays two standing stones set beside each other. The stones represent the two pillars of society- the Gardaí and Defence Forces. A circular hole in the centre represents the void left in the families’ lives following the death of their loved ones.

The concentric ripple pattern portrays the extended impact of their deaths across the Irish security forces and the broader community.

“Their sacrifice is etched in stone, just as their loss is etched in our hearts and minds,” said Comm Harris of Gda Sheehan and Pte Kelly at the memorial unveiling, adding that it will serve as a “permanent reminder” of the sacrifice they made for the people of Ireland.

“They paid an eternal price, and so it is right and just that their memories are eternally recognised here in Ballinamore.”

He went on to state that the loss of a son, brother, father is felt as deeply now and is it was in 1983.

“In memorialising Gary and Patrick here today, we hope that it provides an opportunity to commemorate their life, mourn their loss, and acknowledge the huge sacrifice they made. A burden that you carry to this day.

“On days like today we are afforded a chance to remember. To fill our hearts and minds with the joy these brave men brought to you and all those who knew them in life. It is therefore wonderful to see so many people gathered here today to honour them.”

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, James Browne, stated that the loss of a Garda or a member of our Defence Forces is a “tragic and lifelong loss” for the families closest connected, but “it is also felt painfully across both organisations and indeed by the community as a whole.”

Brigadier General Rossa Mulcahy meanwhile acknowledged that the families of Gda Sheehan and Pet Kelly have demonstrated “remarkable resilience” since 1983. “In the tradition of remembrance, we continue to honour the memories of Garda Gary Sheehan and Private Patrick Kelly.”