Jadotville heroes get permanent honour at Columb Barracks

Brian O’Loughlin

Columb Barracks was one of the last things soldiers in A Company 35th Infantry Battalion saw as they left Mullingar for the Congo in the early 1960s, said Cllr Mick Dollard as the Jadotville memorial in their honour was unveiled on Friday.

Cllr Dollard, cathaoirleach of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, and Tom Gunne, last Mullingar survivor of the battle at Jadotville, performed the formal honours in front of guests including members of Post 20 IUNVA and the (Óglaigh Náisiúnta Na hÉireann, the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel (ONE). Cllr Dollard passed on apologies from Col Jim Prendergast, former OC at Columb Barracks, who could not attend, as he thanked all those present at the unveiling, including council officials and outdoor staff.

Mary Goldsberry, district manager, was MC, and historian Jason McKevitt, a former member of the RDF and from a family with a long military history, gave the historical context for the Jadotville Memorial. Acknowledging Declan Power (who was present) whose book ‘Siege at Jadotville’, subtitled ‘The Irish Army’s Forgotten Battle’, brought the story of the men of A Company to prominence (the 2016 film The Siege of Jadotville, based on the book, elevated the story further still in the public consciousness), Jason added that the 14th anniversary of the closure of Columb Barracks was the following day.

He outlined the now well known story of how the 155 Irish soldiers, officers, NCOs and men of A Company, 35th (Irish) Infantry Battalion, who served with the United Nations Peace Keeping Force at Jadotville in the Congo (ONUC) in September 1961 were attacked by superior numbers of Katangese Forces for five days, in what became known as the Siege of Jadotville. When they ran out of ammunition and food, they were taken captive as prisoners of war, and held for five weeks before being released.

All the men returned home safely, but their CO, Commandant Pat Quinlan, was told that their eventual surrender caused shame to the UN, and the story of their heroic actions remained hidden, for political reasons, till in 2005, a review of the incident cleared the soldiers’ reputations.

Cllr Dollard said: “The Jadotville Memorial unveiled here today, outside Colin Barracks, is a fitting tribute to the brave men from Mullingar and the district who served in Jadotville in 1961.”

He said he and the district engineer “selected this location because of its close proximity to Colin Barracks, as it was possibly the last vision of Mullingar those who went off on the back of a Bedford truck to serve in the Congo in the 60s had”.

“It was a commitment I gave to a good friend of mine, the late Billy Keane from Hawthorne Crescent, who passed on to an honourable award only last year, that the first year I became mayor of Mullingar, I’d ensure a commemoration would be put in place for those brave men from Mullingar.”

Cllr Dollard expressed gratitude to Ms Goldsberry, Pat Kavanagh, and the outdoor staff of Westmeath County Council, and the volunteers from Mullingar Tidy Towns who did the groundwork for the memorial during recent inclement weather.

The formalities continued as Revd Ian Horner, All Saints Church, and Fr Andrei Stolnicu, CC, Mullingar Parish said prayers, and Mullingar Parish, and Tom Gunne, who is now 88, and Joe Boyce, IUNVA, laid wreaths. Joe is a veteran of the Congo, though he was not at Jadotville.

Elected representatives present included Minister of State Kevin Boxer Moran, TD, and Sorca Clarke, TD, and county councillors Julie McCourt, Ken Glynn and Bill Collentine.