Major General John Fitzgerald Gallagher was laid to rest in Balgriffin Cemetery, Fingal, Co Dublin on July 12th. A nationalist from Belfast, the irony of being buried on the glorious twelfth would not have been missed by his puckish though well-cloaked sense of humour. Known variously as John by his family, Antrim Jack in the Defence Forces, Sean by the GAA and Gildy by those he trained and who were victim to his tender mercies, these sobriquets revealed a man of many parts: soldier, sportsman, scholar and family man. He was born at St James Park, Belfast and subsequently lived in Divis Drive, whilst receiving his education at St Mary's CBS. On leaving school in 1940 he applied for a cadetship in the Defence Forces and was successful; thus joining a significant minority of northerners who have served in the forces of the south since the foundation of the State. He was commissioned into the Infantry Corps in May 1943 and served initially in the Western Command.
It was as an instructor at the Military College, particularly in the Cadet School, that he first came to prominence in his military career. In the 17 years that he spent there, his most cherished appointment was the training of cadet classes over a 10-year period. He was indeed a hard taskmaster who didn't suffer fools gladly. He could be tough on those who had difficulty in assimilating the vicissitudes of Army life. He was a dedicated and committed soldier who had difficulty in understanding those who struggled to attain his own fine standards. Yet all of those that he trained to be officers in the Defence Forces would say without hesitation that although he was a very tough taskmaster, he was scrupulously fair and honest in his dealings with those in his charge. When the situation in Northern Ireland boiled over in 1969-70 the Defence Forces were far from prepared. Suffering from two decades of neglect, the Army was woefully under strength, ill equipped and consequently, poorly trained. No permanent military post existed north of a line from Dublin to Galway. John Gallagher was appointed as Officer Commanding the 1st Infantry Group. This was one of several ad hoc units hastily formed and deployed to the Border. The fact that these units knitted together and functioned adequately is down to commanders like John Gallagher.
He served with three UN peacekeeping missions overseas. He was Operations Officer with the 37th Infantry Battalion in the Congo in 1962. Subsequently, he served with the UN Truce Supervision Organisation in the Middle East, based in Cairo and operating in the Sinai Desert. He returned to the Sinai in 1974 as Senior Operations Officer with the Second UN Emergency Force which was deployed between the Israeli and Egyptian forces towards the end of the Yom Kippur War. This force successfully kept the peace until it was withdrawn following the signing of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in 1979.
His later military career saw his zeal and enthusiasm rewarded. He became Director of Training in 1979 and on promotion to Brigadier General in 1980 he was appointed General Officer Commanding the Southern Command. Finally, he was appointed Quartermaster General in 1981 and promoted to Major General, the second highest rank in the Defence Forces. He retired in 1984.
Sport formed another facet of his life. His first appearance in Croke Park was as an Antrim Minor hurler in an All-Ireland semi-final against Cork. However his main achievements were in Gaelic football as, what would be called in another code of football, Antrim's midfield general. The great Antrim team emerged in 1946 to challenge the hegemony in Ulster, of the equally gifted Cavan. That Antrim team won just two Ulster finals, in 1946 and 1951. They never won an All-Ireland, yet they are still remembered within the GAA as contributing significantly to the development of Gaelic football as we know it today. They are unique in that they brought a new dimension to a game that at the time had as its main skill "catch and kick".
A summary of his football career which appeared in the Irish News after his death encapsulates the man and the new football he inspired. "Sean Gallagher was a midfielder apart. Blessed with a great pair of hands he fielded with grace and ease, laying off passes and giving the leadership he gained in his professional life. By his displays, his forceful play and intelligent reading of the game, he helped change Gaelic football from the traditional catch and kick to the intelligent, inter-passing, free-flowing style of today."
He also starred many times for Ulster. He was an international basketball player and was a member of the Irish team at the Olympics in London in 1948. In later years he enjoyed a game of golf but it was the GAA which paid him his final sporting farewell. At Casement Park on the occasion of this year's Ulster Hurling Final and on the following day at the football semi-final the flags flew at half-mast in memory of an Antrim legend.
Yet another facet of John F. Gallagher's life was his pursuit of academic excellence. Throughout his career in the Defence Forces he had a special interest in history, particularly military history. He had a lifelong interest in languages and studied Irish, French, German and Russian. Last year, at the age of 75, he was conferred at Queen's University with a BSc (Hons) in mathematics and he received a Master's in mathematics shortly before his death.
He is survived by his wife Betty, his children Martin, Brian and Nancy and his grandchildren, brother and sisters.
Major General John F Gallagher: born 1923; died July, 1999