Garda retires after 26 years in Ardnacrusha

AN Ardnacrusha-based Garda, who displayed great courage by taking a sawn-off rifle from an armed gunman in Westbury following a shooting incident, has hung up his boots after policing communities in South-East Clare for the last 26 years.

Garda John Kelleher got a phone call to attend what he believed was a domestic dispute in the Westbury Housing Estate at 1am in September 2007. However, when Garda Kelleher arrived on the scene and got close to the man, he discovered that he was armed.
In an interview with The Clare Champion, Garda Kelleher joked that at his age, he felt he wouldn’t have been quick enough to get away from the assailant’s firing range, so he went for him.
“I had concerns for my own safety at the time. Another man had already been left injured following a discharge of a weapon. I went for the man with the gun, a struggle ensued and I disarmed and arrested him. He was convicted and sent to prison for a few years,” he said.
Tributes were paid to Garda Kelleher by Limerick Chief Superintendent Gerry Mahon and Superintendent Frank O’Brien at a low-key retirement function in Kennedy O’Brien’s premises on Friday night.
Fr Brendan Cleary chronicled the impact that Garda Kelleher had made in communities in South-East Clare for the attendance of over 50 people, including family and friends.
A number of presentations were made to Garda Kelleher by the GRA, local gardaí and the Irish Policeman’s Association and to his wife, Alba.
The 57-year-old father-of-four has no immediate plans and simply wants to see what next year will bring.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Garda Eugene Long, described his colleague as a very efficient, honest and hard-working member of the force, who always carried out his work quietly without any fuss.
“John often got things resolved before you knew what had happened. He was very diligent, would be always at work a minute or so before he was due to start and wouldn’t leave until after finishing time.
“He was very active in the local courts, such as Shannon District Court and Limerick District Court. He was involved in a wide range of policing matters, burglaries, road traffic accidents and took a proactive role in the investigation of four murders in the area since 2001.
“He was very active in the School Warden Programme. He taught pupils at Clonlara National School how to implement the programme and they went on to win a number of awards,” he said.
A native of Macroom, County Cork, Garda Kelleher graduated from Templemore Training College, where he was judged the best new recruit, a week before Christmas in 1973.
His first posting in William Street, Limerick was relatively short, as it was closed down, and he moved to the neighbouring Henry Street in 1976. He was transferred to Killaloe Garda Station in 1980 for about two and a half years and then came to Ardnacrusha Garda Station in January 1983, where he remained until last week.
“Twenty-six years is a long time but it didn’t feel that long. I was always living in the area where I served. I lived in Shannon Banks until 1990, when we moved to Ardnacrusha.
“The people in South-East Clare are the salt of the earth and they made it easy to work here. However, we always had a spillover of crime from Limerick City because Ardnacrusha is only a short distance from a large residential area.
“The population in South-East Clare has exploded over the last 10 years. The Westbury Housing Estate wasn’t even built when I first came to the area. A lot of new housing estates have been built in Parteen, Meelick and Westbury.
“I would not change one thing, I enjoyed every single minute of my time in Ardnacrusha Garda Station. I couldn’t ask for better people,” he said.