Lessons in sacrifice

THE past belongs to our children, with an obligation to share the lessons that have been learned through the sacrifices of our war dead. That was the message of former Irish Defence Forces officer Barney Callaghan at a special commemoration service in Ennis.

 

The commemoration was held at St Peter and St Paul Cathedral, on the evening after Armistice Sunday where Mr Callaghan gave the keynote address.

Having served four tours of Lebanon, he spoke from his own raw memories of conflict and of two soldier colleagues to this day missing in action in the Congo and South Lebanon.

Trooper Patrick Mullins and Private Caoimhin Seoige made their sacrifice in the name of world peace, Mr Callaghan stated.

Adding, that sacrifice “was still alive and will remain so to their immediate families and to us as a community. They are a worthy metaphor for millions of others like them who gave their lives in conflicts across the world.”

Mr Callaghan went on to say, “Those that have served in uniform from the island of Ireland under the emblems of the Harp, the Crown, and both together, and those who have served under the emblems of many nations across the world have made and will continue to make a significant contribution to the life, history and international reputation of Ireland.

“As a community we need to reflect on the contributions and sacrifices made by the members of the Defence Forces, those who served in the British Army in two world wars and currently and in other military forces over hundreds of years.

“This reflection, this remembrance is intrinsic to our culture and an important part of our ability to function as a people and to increase the probability that we might do better in the future – as a people.”

Last month at Shanakyle Cemetery, near Kilrush, Mr Callaghan with friends paid last respects to retired Company Sergeant Senan ‘Sam’ Shannon, his former Company Sergeant in the Cadet School of the Military College in the Curragh.

“I remember Patrick, Caoimhin and Sam as symbols of all who have died as a consequence of conflict and of all who have served in uniform,” he stated.

While not wearing a poppy Mr Callaghan wore a golden blood drop as a tie pin for the occasion, to as he said “focus on the millions who have died in conflicts across the world, most of them, at first look, not of our tribe but in truth all of them of our tribe-the Human Race. I wear the blood drop symbol for all of them, the blood which enriches the earth, which makes us all the same in spite of the tribes we come from and the different banners and slogans that represent those tribes.”

Quoting the late Con Houlihan on the nature of being a citizen of these islands, “Many nations, one people”, is surely something to be applied to us as Europeans and world citizens, he suggested.
He went on to say that the real symbols of remembrance and the real assurance that we might have learned from our collective past is our young people.

“We owe them an obligation to share what we know and to acknowledge to them also that there is much that we do not know; to facilitate and encourage them to do better than we did much better than we did,” he said.

Among those Mr Callaghan had in mind were his own two adult sons Ross and Cain who attended the ceremony with their mother Ursula. Their grand uncle Paddy was involved in and injured after the D-Day landings, great grandfather Michael Devlin soldiered at the Somme and their great grand uncle Joe is buried there.

Mr Callaghan is director of the President’s Gaisce Award Scheme at Phoenix Park, Dublin.

A collection was raised at the ceremony in the pro-Cathedral towards the establishment of a memorial for the Clare dead in the Great War. Local historian Joe Power introduced the proceedings and referred to the 600-plus victims so far recorded. Tribute was paid to the late Peadar McNamara who instigated the commemoration and the idea of a memorial, the site for which has yet to be determined.

Peadar’s wife, Mary, attended the service along with three of their five children. His son, Kier, presented a wreath on behalf of the Clare Fallen and Paula, the youngest daughter, helped plan the event and sang a song, as did tenor Vincent de Placido.

Ennis Brass Band played alongside the pipes of Frank Whelan and Nigel Bridge on organ. Eleanor Feely read Wilfred Owen’s poem Requiem for Doomed Youth. Fr Tom Hogan and Canon Bob Hanna presided. Colour parties from The Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen and the Royal British Legion (Limerick Branch) attended with wreath laid by the Munster Fusiliers and Royal British Legion.
Contributions towards the Clare War Dead Memorial Appeal, c/o Allied Irish Banks, Bank Place, Ennis are welcome.