Garda ar Lár
Encyclopedia
Garda ar Lár (ˈɡɑːɾˠd̪ˠə ɛɾʲ ˈl̪ˠɑːɾˠ; Garda Down) is an Irish
television series, the second season of which was broadcast on RTÉ One
throughout January and February 2009. It examines incidents where members of the country's Garda Síochána
(an unarmed police force) lost their lives since the foundation of the state. Over thirty members of the force have lost their lives in this time. The series is broadcast each Monday at 19:30.
19 January 2009. The murder of Morrissey was described by RTÉ's Security Correspondent at the time, Tom McCaughren, as "an execution". The sergeant was pursuing two men following the Ardee Employment Exchange robbery in 1985. Morrissey's murderers, Noel Callan and Michael McHugh, were the last two men sentenced to death in Ireland. However, their sentence was commuted to forty years incarceration, with neither qualifying for release under the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement
and both men are still in prison.
26 January 2009. Quaid, from a hurling
background in Limerick
, was a member of the Wexford
hurling team
since his arrival in the town in October 1958. He befriended the hurler Ned Wheeler
and both competed in the 1960 All Ireland Senior Hurling Final, famously winning. In January 1972, seven men, including Peter Rogers, escaped from the prison ship Maidstone
, moored in Belfast Lough
, by darkening their bodies, sawing through a ship port hole and swimming to shore. The magnificent seven, as they were later referred to, appeared at a press conference in Dublin the following morning. Rogers later moved to Wexford, marrying but still participating in republican activities. On 13 October 1980, Rogers was moving a large amount of arms and explosives via his vegetable van. Earlier that day, a bank robbery had taken place in Callan
, County Kilkenny
; Seamus Quaid and a colleague, Donal Lyttleton, were sent to monitor Rogers's movements. Unable to locate him, they set off back for Wexford that night, only to pass his van on a lonely Wexford road. Both men were familiar with Rogers and Lyttleton left his gun in the police car. But, whilst searching the van, Rogers pulled his gun on the pair. Lyttleton managed to escape, whereas Rogers was injured and made his way to a neighbour's house, the Kellys'. Seamus Quaid was left lying badly injured on the ground; he was dead within fifteen minutes. The death caused major division in the Wexford community.
2 February 2009. The case of Reynolds's murder lasted for eighteen years. Reynolds grew up in rural County Sligo, joining the Gardaí in 1978. As a young recruit he was stationed at Tallaght
, Dublin, eventually joining the motorcycle division. On 19 February 1982, he was on night duty. Dublin was having a busy weekend; a General Election
had been held that week and, in the Five Nations Championship
, the Irish rugby union team
was competing against the Scottish rugby union team
at Lansdowne Road
on the Saturday in a match Reynolds was due to attend alongside his brother, his sister and some friends. At 01:30, an anonymous phonecall came through to the station, stating that suspicious activity was taking place in a block of flats in Tallaght. Five Gardaí left to investigate and, upon their arrival at 33 Avonbeg Gardens, two of them forced their way inside, where they found a number of armed men counting the proceeds of a bank robbery. Following a struggle, two of the gunmen fled the flat, faced with an unarmed 23-year-old Reynolds, who retreated back down the stairs. However, he was shot in the back and bled to death as his killer escaped. The Irish National Liberation Army
(INLA) were the main suspects, chiefly a Belfast man, Sean "Bap" Hughes. In late 1982, his whereabouts were tracked down to France
with Gardaí who believed they saw him in Tallaght that night being sent to identify him. Extradition proceedings dragged on for a number of years, with the delay resulting in the extradition being refused by the French courts in 1987. Hughes served some time in a French jail on false passport charges, but was then deported and thought to have disappeared to Africa
. In 1997, he was back in Ireland, captured by an off-duty Garda, Michael Noel Canavan
, after he had robbed the Bank of Ireland
branch on Main Street in Foxford
, County Mayo
. Senior detectives identified him by his tattoos and he was tried for the capital murder of Reynolds in March 2000 – however, the court did not accept the prosecution case against Hughes and he was acquitted of the murder.
. The house had been booby trapped with explosives, and 24-year-old Garda Michael Clerkin, from Monaghan
and only four years in the force, was killed. Detective Tom Peters
was also seriously injured and left both deaf and blind, whilst colleagues Jim Cannon
, Ben Thornton and Gerry Bohan survived the attack unscathed. It occurred just after President
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
signed the Emergency Powers Bill into law, which during turbulent times aimed to increase the period of detention without charge from two to seven days. Gardaí in Portlaoise received an anonymous phone call stating that subversive activity was ongoing at a disused house at Garryhinch, with a plot to kill local Fine Gael
TD
Oliver J. Flanagan
. Portlaoise phoned the local Portarlington Station, just three miles from Garryhinch and Sergeant Jim Cannon was advised to go to the disused house. Cannon brought two uniformed Gardaí with him, Gerry Bohan and Michael Clerkin, and the two joined forces with Detectives Tom Peters and Ben Thornton on the way. Clerkin used an open rear window to enter the house, opening the front door from the inside to let the others in, triggering the booby trap and killing himself instantaneously. The house had to be demolished in the aftermath. The next day, the Minister for Defence
Paddy Donegan
, made what became known as his infamous "thundering disgrace" remarks, aimed at Ó Dálaigh for his actions regarding the Emergency Powers Bill. The President subsequently resigned. Despite many arrests, nobody was ever convicted of the murder. Jim Cannon, Ben Thornton and Gerry Bohan were eventually able to return to work; however, Detective Tom Peters was left deaf and blind by the blast. The survivors were presented with the Liddy Medal by the Garda Síochána Retired Members Association, a special medal for bravery awarded to retired Gardaí who have never received the more prestigious Scott Medal
.
Don Tidey was delivering his 13-year-old daughter to school when on the road outside his home in south Dublin he was stopped at what appeared to be a Garda checkpoint. However, the bogus gardaí produced guns and kidnapped the Quinnsworth
supermarket executive, holding him for three weeks. A manhunt ensued and Don Tidey became a household name. The Quinnsworth supermarket chain appealed to the public across all their stores and television appeals by Tidey's three children were even more poignant as their mother had only recently died. Intelligence led to the search returning to North Leitrim and, weeks before Christmas
, a co-ordinated search code-named Operation Santa Claus was mounted in Ballinamore
. The operation was treated so highly that the army as well as hundreds of Gardaí and even Garda Recruits, still in training, became involved. On 16 December, Inspector Séamus O'Hanlon's group recommenced their search following lunch in Drumcromin wood, near Derrada a few miles north of Ballinamore. They stumbled upon the kidnappers' hideout in a thicket with low visibility and a gunfight ensued. The kidnappers fired on the searchers and escaped, with several Gardaí and army personnel being taken hostage along the way. Don Tidey was found by Gardaí as he escaped in the gunfight. However, searches of the scene located the bodies of Garda Recruit Gary Sheehan and Private Patrick Kelly (I.D.F.), shot dead within metres of the camouflaged black plastic covered hideout. As the operation to hunt down the killers intensified around Ballinamore, the story quickly went international. The killers escaped and the case remains unsolved.
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
television series, the second season of which was broadcast on RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...
throughout January and February 2009. It examines incidents where members of the country's Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...
(an unarmed police force) lost their lives since the foundation of the state. Over thirty members of the force have lost their lives in this time. The series is broadcast each Monday at 19:30.
Programme one
The first programme of the second season examined the case of Sergeant Patrick Morrissey and was broadcast on19 January 2009. The murder of Morrissey was described by RTÉ's Security Correspondent at the time, Tom McCaughren, as "an execution". The sergeant was pursuing two men following the Ardee Employment Exchange robbery in 1985. Morrissey's murderers, Noel Callan and Michael McHugh, were the last two men sentenced to death in Ireland. However, their sentence was commuted to forty years incarceration, with neither qualifying for release under the provisions of the Good Friday Agreement
Belfast Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement or Belfast Agreement , sometimes called the Stormont Agreement, was a major political development in the Northern Ireland peace process...
and both men are still in prison.
Programme two
The second programme of the second season examined the case of Garda Seamus Quaid and was broadcast on26 January 2009. Quaid, from a hurling
Hurling
Hurling is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic origin, administered by the Gaelic Athletic Association, and played with sticks called hurleys and a ball called a sliotar. Hurling is the national game of Ireland. The game has prehistoric origins, has been played for at least 3,000 years, and...
background in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
, was a member of the Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
hurling team
Wexford GAA
The Wexford County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association or Wexford GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Wexford. The county board is also responsible for the Wexford inter-county teams.-History:Hurling has been played in...
since his arrival in the town in October 1958. He befriended the hurler Ned Wheeler
Ned Wheeler
Ned Wheeler is a retired Irish sportsperson. He played hurling with his local club Faythe Harriers and with the Wexford senior inter-county team from 1949 until 1965.-Club:...
and both competed in the 1960 All Ireland Senior Hurling Final, famously winning. In January 1972, seven men, including Peter Rogers, escaped from the prison ship Maidstone
HMS Maidstone (1937)
HMS Maidstone was a submarine depot ship of the Royal Navy.-Facilities:She was built to support the increasing numbers of submarines, especially on distant stations, such as the Mediterranean and the Pacific Far East...
, moored in Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough
Belfast Lough is a large, natural intertidal sea lough at the mouth of the River Lagan on the east coast of Northern Ireland. The inner part of the lough comprises a series of mudflats and lagoons. The outer lough is restricted to mainly rocky shores with some small sandy bays...
, by darkening their bodies, sawing through a ship port hole and swimming to shore. The magnificent seven, as they were later referred to, appeared at a press conference in Dublin the following morning. Rogers later moved to Wexford, marrying but still participating in republican activities. On 13 October 1980, Rogers was moving a large amount of arms and explosives via his vegetable van. Earlier that day, a bank robbery had taken place in Callan
Callan
-People:Callan is the birth place of some famous people, namely:* Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Irish Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers* Callan also has links with Asa Griggs Candler's family and the Coca-Cola company....
, County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny
County Kilkenny is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. The territory of the county was the core part of the ancient Irish Kingdom of Osraige which in turn was the core of the Diocese of...
; Seamus Quaid and a colleague, Donal Lyttleton, were sent to monitor Rogers's movements. Unable to locate him, they set off back for Wexford that night, only to pass his van on a lonely Wexford road. Both men were familiar with Rogers and Lyttleton left his gun in the police car. But, whilst searching the van, Rogers pulled his gun on the pair. Lyttleton managed to escape, whereas Rogers was injured and made his way to a neighbour's house, the Kellys'. Seamus Quaid was left lying badly injured on the ground; he was dead within fifteen minutes. The death caused major division in the Wexford community.
Programme three
The third programme of the second season examined the case of Garda Patrick Gerard Reynolds and was broadcast on2 February 2009. The case of Reynolds's murder lasted for eighteen years. Reynolds grew up in rural County Sligo, joining the Gardaí in 1978. As a young recruit he was stationed at Tallaght
Tallaght
Tallaght is the largest town, and county town, of South Dublin County, Ireland. The village area, dating from at least the 17th century, held one of the earliest settlements known in the southern part of the island, and one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres.Up to the 1960s...
, Dublin, eventually joining the motorcycle division. On 19 February 1982, he was on night duty. Dublin was having a busy weekend; a General Election
Irish general election, 1982
Two general elections were held in the Republic of Ireland in 1982:*Irish general election, February 1982*Irish general election, November 1982...
had been held that week and, in the Five Nations Championship
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
, the Irish rugby union team
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
was competing against the Scottish rugby union team
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
at Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union that has been the location of a number of sports stadiums. It was used primarily for rugby union and for association football matches as well as some music concerts...
on the Saturday in a match Reynolds was due to attend alongside his brother, his sister and some friends. At 01:30, an anonymous phonecall came through to the station, stating that suspicious activity was taking place in a block of flats in Tallaght. Five Gardaí left to investigate and, upon their arrival at 33 Avonbeg Gardens, two of them forced their way inside, where they found a number of armed men counting the proceeds of a bank robbery. Following a struggle, two of the gunmen fled the flat, faced with an unarmed 23-year-old Reynolds, who retreated back down the stairs. However, he was shot in the back and bled to death as his killer escaped. The Irish National Liberation Army
Irish National Liberation Army
The Irish National Liberation Army or INLA is an Irish republican socialist paramilitary group that was formed on 8 December 1974. Its goal is to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and create a socialist united Ireland....
(INLA) were the main suspects, chiefly a Belfast man, Sean "Bap" Hughes. In late 1982, his whereabouts were tracked down to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
with Gardaí who believed they saw him in Tallaght that night being sent to identify him. Extradition proceedings dragged on for a number of years, with the delay resulting in the extradition being refused by the French courts in 1987. Hughes served some time in a French jail on false passport charges, but was then deported and thought to have disappeared to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. In 1997, he was back in Ireland, captured by an off-duty Garda, Michael Noel Canavan
Michael Noel Canavan
Michael Noel Canavan , Garda Síochána 21578C and recipient of the Scott Medal, born 1958.-Background:Canavan was a native of Tuam, County Galway, and joined the force in 1978...
, after he had robbed the Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland
The Bank of Ireland is a commercial bank operation in Ireland, which is one of the 'Big Four' in both parts of the island.Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history...
branch on Main Street in Foxford
Foxford
Foxford, historically called Bellasa , is a small village 16 km south of Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland. The village stands on the N26 national primary route from Swinford to Ballina and has a railway station served by trains between Dublin and Ballina.Situated between the Nephin and Ox...
, County Mayo
County Mayo
County Mayo is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the village of Mayo, which is now generally known as Mayo Abbey. Mayo County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county is 130,552...
. Senior detectives identified him by his tattoos and he was tried for the capital murder of Reynolds in March 2000 – however, the court did not accept the prosecution case against Hughes and he was acquitted of the murder.
Programme four
The fourth programme of the second season examined the dramatic and politically important case of Garda Michael Clerkin and was broadcast on 9 February 2009. On the night of 16 October 1976, Gardaí were deliberately lured to an isolated abandoned farmhouse in County LaoisCounty Laois
County Laois is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Midlands Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It was formerly known as Queen's County until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. The county's name was formerly spelt as Laoighis and Leix. Laois County Council...
. The house had been booby trapped with explosives, and 24-year-old Garda Michael Clerkin, from Monaghan
Monaghan
Monaghan is the county town of County Monaghan in Ireland. Its population at the 2006 census stood at 7,811 . The town is located on the main road, the N2 road, from Dublin north to both Derry and Letterkenny.-Toponym:...
and only four years in the force, was killed. Detective Tom Peters
Tom Peters
Thomas J. "Tom" Peters is an American writer on business management practices, best-known for In Search of Excellence .-Life and career:Peters was born in Baltimore, Maryland...
was also seriously injured and left both deaf and blind, whilst colleagues Jim Cannon
Jim Cannon
James "Jim" Cannon is a retired Scottish footballer.He was, along with several other promising young Scottish players, signed as a junior for Crystal Palace F.C. by then manager Bert Head...
, Ben Thornton and Gerry Bohan survived the attack unscathed. It occurred just after President
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh
Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh served as the fifth President of Ireland, from 1974 to 1976. He resigned in 1976 after a clash with the government. He also had a notable legal career, including serving as Chief Justice of Ireland.- Early life :Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, one of four children, was born on 12 February...
signed the Emergency Powers Bill into law, which during turbulent times aimed to increase the period of detention without charge from two to seven days. Gardaí in Portlaoise received an anonymous phone call stating that subversive activity was ongoing at a disused house at Garryhinch, with a plot to kill local Fine Gael
Fine Gael
Fine Gael is a centre-right to centrist political party in the Republic of Ireland. It is the single largest party in Ireland in the Oireachtas, in local government, and in terms of Members of the European Parliament. The party has a membership of over 35,000...
TD
Teachta Dála
A Teachta Dála , usually abbreviated as TD in English, is a member of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas . It is the equivalent of terms such as "Member of Parliament" or "deputy" used in other states. The official translation of the term is "Deputy to the Dáil", though a more literal...
Oliver J. Flanagan
Oliver J. Flanagan
Oliver J. Flanagan was an Irish Fine Gael politician who served in Dáil Éireann for 43 years and was Minister for Defence for six months. He was elected to the Dáil fourteen times between 1943 and 1982, topping the poll on almost every occasion...
. Portlaoise phoned the local Portarlington Station, just three miles from Garryhinch and Sergeant Jim Cannon was advised to go to the disused house. Cannon brought two uniformed Gardaí with him, Gerry Bohan and Michael Clerkin, and the two joined forces with Detectives Tom Peters and Ben Thornton on the way. Clerkin used an open rear window to enter the house, opening the front door from the inside to let the others in, triggering the booby trap and killing himself instantaneously. The house had to be demolished in the aftermath. The next day, the Minister for Defence
Minister for Defence (Ireland)
The Minister for Defence is the senior minister at the Department of Defence in the Government of Ireland. Under new arrangements this department is being merged with the Department of Justice over which Mr. Shatter will also preside....
Paddy Donegan
Paddy Donegan
Patrick Sarsfield "Paddy" Donegan was an Irish Fine Gael Party politician.He was educated at a Christian Brothers School in Drogheda and at the Vincentian Castleknock College. Donegan was first elected as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála at the 1954 general election. He lost his seat at the following...
, made what became known as his infamous "thundering disgrace" remarks, aimed at Ó Dálaigh for his actions regarding the Emergency Powers Bill. The President subsequently resigned. Despite many arrests, nobody was ever convicted of the murder. Jim Cannon, Ben Thornton and Gerry Bohan were eventually able to return to work; however, Detective Tom Peters was left deaf and blind by the blast. The survivors were presented with the Liddy Medal by the Garda Síochána Retired Members Association, a special medal for bravery awarded to retired Gardaí who have never received the more prestigious Scott Medal
Scott Medal
The Walter Scott Medal is a medal awarded annually for bravery to Garda Síochána police officers and firemen. It is not a state award, being at the gift of the commissioner, but the medals are awarded by the Minister for Justice. FDNY recipients are also awarded $500, donated by the Fire Foundation...
.
Programme five
The fifth programme of the second season examined the case of Garda Recruit Gary Sheehan and was broadcast on 16 February 2009. On 24 November 1983, EnglishmanEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Don Tidey was delivering his 13-year-old daughter to school when on the road outside his home in south Dublin he was stopped at what appeared to be a Garda checkpoint. However, the bogus gardaí produced guns and kidnapped the Quinnsworth
Quinnsworth
Quinnsworth was a supermarket company in the Republic of Ireland, that was founded by the entrepreneur Pat Quinn.-History:Quinnsworth was founded by Pat Quinn in 1966 and was sold to Powers Supermarkets Limited in the 1970s. During the 1970s, the slogan used was "Let's get it all together at...
supermarket executive, holding him for three weeks. A manhunt ensued and Don Tidey became a household name. The Quinnsworth supermarket chain appealed to the public across all their stores and television appeals by Tidey's three children were even more poignant as their mother had only recently died. Intelligence led to the search returning to North Leitrim and, weeks before Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
, a co-ordinated search code-named Operation Santa Claus was mounted in Ballinamore
Ballinamore
Ballinamore is a small town in County Leitrim, Ireland, from the border with Northern Ireland. It is located on the R202 regional road where it is joined by the R199 and R204. means "mouth of the big ford", and the town is so named because it was the main crossing point of the Yellow River,...
. The operation was treated so highly that the army as well as hundreds of Gardaí and even Garda Recruits, still in training, became involved. On 16 December, Inspector Séamus O'Hanlon's group recommenced their search following lunch in Drumcromin wood, near Derrada a few miles north of Ballinamore. They stumbled upon the kidnappers' hideout in a thicket with low visibility and a gunfight ensued. The kidnappers fired on the searchers and escaped, with several Gardaí and army personnel being taken hostage along the way. Don Tidey was found by Gardaí as he escaped in the gunfight. However, searches of the scene located the bodies of Garda Recruit Gary Sheehan and Private Patrick Kelly (I.D.F.), shot dead within metres of the camouflaged black plastic covered hideout. As the operation to hunt down the killers intensified around Ballinamore, the story quickly went international. The killers escaped and the case remains unsolved.