A memorial to two members of the Irish security forces who were shot dead by an IRA gang in 1983 will be unveiled in Ballinamore, Co Leitrim on Monday.
Pte Patrick Kelly (36), a father-of-four from Moate, Co Westmeath, and Garda recruit Sheehan (23) from Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan were murdered when they came across the hideout where businessman Don Tidey had been kept for 23 days.
Mr Tidey, then the managing director and chairman of the Quinnsworth supermarket chain, was kidnapped near his home in Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham on November 24th, 1983. His kidnapping led to the largest manhunt in the history of the State with thousands of garda and army personnel involved.
The memorial, which will sit outside Ballinamore Garda station, is being unveiled on the 41st anniversary of the men’s death. It is located eight kilometres from Derrada Wood, an isolated forest, where Pte Kelly and Gda Sheehan were shot dead.
The family of Pte Kelly have long campaigned for a memorial in Co Leitrim to both men.
Speaking in advance of the ceremony, Pte Kelly’s oldest son David said a memorial in the nearest town to where his father was buried is “deeply significant”.
“Aged 36 with 14 years service in the Irish Defence Forces, he left behind a young wife, my late mother, Katherine, and four sons, all aged under ten years old. We mourn him every day,” he said.
“He was murdered in the line of duty by Provisional IRA terrorists. The sense of injustice that no one has been held accountable for his murder is still raw.
“The monument in Ballinamore means that a concrete place exists where we can remember and reflect upon the service and sacrifice of our father, a member of the Óglaigh na hÉireann, Irish Defence Forces, and Garda Gary Sheehan.”
The memorial, designed by sculptor Jackie McKenna from Co Leitrim with support from the Office of Public Works, draws inspiration from the stones of the Irish landscape, symbolising healing and endurance. It features two chambers of the same heart, one representing the gardaí and the other the Defence Forces with a void in between for the loss to both families involved.
A memorial mass at St Patrick’s Church in Ballinamore will begin at 11.30am. The Garda ceremonial unit and the Garda band will perform a ceremonial march from the front of St Patrick’s Church to the monument of remembrance which will be unveiled by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne.
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