Guardians of the Peace

CRYPTIC GARDA REPORT - CONTACT WITH ARMED PIRA

BORDER DUTY 1978/1979 HACKBALLSCROSS AND CASTLEBLANEY STATIONS / ATTACK ON BRITISH SOLDIERS CROSSMAGLEN 3 FEBRUARY 1979/ ONE SOLDIER SERIOUSLY INJURED /

 SUSPECT CAR PURSUED BY CASTLEBLANEY CAR / GARDA PADDY TEEHAN (DRIVER) GARDA BRENDAN BRADY (OBSERVER) / TRAVELLING TOWARDS MCSHANES CROSS EASTWARDLY /

 HBX CAR GARDA LIAM KING (DRIVER) SGT. JOHN O’BRIEN (OBSERVER) TRAVELLING WEST / TOWARDS MCSHANES CROSS /

 SUSPECT CAR WAS DRIVEN IN A LOOP AND HEADED TO BORDER H28 / GARDAÍ LOST CONTACT / FOLLOW UP SEARCH / CAR ABANDONED AT THE END OF COUNTRY LANE IN THE SOUTH / TWO BRITISH HELICOPTERS IN THE SKY / WEATHER GOOD EXCELLENT VISIBILITY / GARDAÍ SUMMONED ARMED ASSISTANCE / WHILE WAITING SGT. O’BRIEN AND GARDA BRADY WENT TO CHECK OUT A FARM BUILDINGS TWO FIELDS AWAY / THEY WERE CONFRONTED BY TWO MEN / ONE ARMED WITH A LONG GUN/

 MEN TURNED AND RAN PURSUED BY THE UNARMED GARDAÍ / GARDAÍ CLOSED RAPIDLY ON THEM/ ARMED MAN FIRED SHOTS AT GARDAÍ AND CONTINUED ESCAPE INTO THE NORTH / HELICOPTERS WERE STILL CLEARLY VISIBLE / SGT. O’BRIEN FOLLOWED THE MEN ON A PARALLEL COURSE AND GARDA BRADY WAS DETAILED TO RETURN TO THE OTHER GARDAÍ AND SUMMON ASSISTANCE /

 SGT O’BRIEN KEPT THE MEN UNDER OBSERVATION FOR SOME TIME AND SAW THEM HIDE IN A FIELD / GARDAÍ DID NOT HAVE PERSONAL RADIOS /

SGT. O’BRIEN THEN RAN TO THE MAIN ROAD STOPPED A LORRY AND WENT TO A NEARBY PUB/ PHONED THE DETAIL’S INTO DUNDALK STATION /

THE SOLDIER INJURED WAS A GRENADIER GUARD / SUBSEQUENTLY MEDICALLY DISCHARGED / SGT. O’BRIEN TRIED OVER THE YEARS TO CONTACT HIM / FELT IT HAD TO BE DONE / EVENTUALLY SPOKE WITH HIM IN 2024 AND SHARED MEMORIES OF THAT DAY / THREE GRENADIER GUARDS HAD BEEN SHOT DEAD IN CROSSMAGLEN ON THE 21 DECEMBER 1978.

The Liddy medal was instituted to recognise retired members of the Force who had engaged in significant duty which had not otherwise been recognised by the authorities despite the obvious merits of the duty undertaken. The Liddy Medal was struck in memory of the late Chief Superintendent Seán Liddy, a founding member of the Garda Síochána Retired Members’ Association (Sean Liddy was the first President of the Garda Pensioners’ Association from 1961 until 1966. He was also a founding member of the Force in 1922. The awards were introduced by the Garda Síochána Retired Members’ Association in 2005.

I was in a group of nine retired gardaí who were honoured to be awarded Liddy Medals at the Annual Delegate Meeting of the GSRMA on the 11 June 2025.

Together with colleagues Eamon Hession (L) and President Joe Dirwan

My colleague Garda Brendan Brady was one of those gardaí. The others were Noel Farrelly (posthumous), Maurice Galvin, Liam Ryan, Michael Higgins, Howard Mahony, John Martin and Gerard O'Donoghue. I did not meet Brendan since 1979 until the medal presentation.

Case Study

Hundreds of Gardaí placed themselves in “harms way” during the Troubles, often unarmed. It was quite common to be caught in crossfire between the British Army and the Provisional IRA and there many incidents of the unexpected contacted with armed members of the PIRA. This is one such story and is dedicated to many colleagues who have gone unnoticed into the forgetful pages of our history.

Volunteers are strictly forbidden to take any military action against 26 County forces under any circumstances whatsoever. The importance of this order in present circumstances especially in the border areas cannot be over-emphasised. Provisional IRA General Army Order No 8, Empty Direction - Honoured in Breach rather than Observance on many occasions. Colleagues were killed by the PIRA or Republican dissidents.

IRA GREEN BOOK 1973 VERSION A historical document outlines restrictions, detailing prohibitions on hunger strikes, funeral rites, committee operations, and military actions within 26 counties, emphasizing adherence, security, and the penalties for disobedience. NB ORDER NO 8

Saturday 3 February 1979 was a clear bright cold day. At about 1pm I was in a patrol car 166 with my colleague Garda Liam King. We were on the Castleblaney Road and heading back to the station. In truth our thoughts were firmly on finishing duty at 2pm and getting ready for the weekend. The radio sprang into life. The suspect car was being pursued by our colleagues from Castleblaney, Garda Paddy Teehan and Garda Brendan Brady in their patrol car. The suspect car was coming in our direction to junction known locally as McShane’s cross otherwise H29C. We were in uniform and unarmed, but we picked up the pace to intercept it.

It appeared that there had been an explosion in Crossmaglen and this car a brown Mark 4 Cortina had fled the scene and headed south to the border. We later learned that a foot patrol of Grenadier Guards was patrolling in Crossmaglen when a booby-trapped car exploded with some kind of remote-controlled incendiary device. One soldier received severe 40-degree burns. He was seriously injured and was later transferred by helicopter to Belfast and ultimately to London.

A demolished car, filled with explosives and petrol, lies wrecked after being detonated as a patrol passed by in Crossmaglen

Together with colleagues from Castleblaney we were doing a follow up search. The car involved had been driven south and then had gone in a semi-circle bringing it back close to the Border and in clear view of two British helicopters hovering a short distance to the north. We had found the escape car abandoned a couple of fields away in a farm yard.

This was an important find and we had called for armed backup but while we waited, I decided to do a local area search and Garda Brendan Brady accompanied me. I could see another farmyard a short distance away and there was something about it that invited investigation. Two of us walked towards it in full uniform, wearing caps and greatcoats and all the while looking at the Brits in the air. We approached the boundary of the farmyard and close to a traditional haggard. Just as we came in sight of this place two men suddenly appeared. One carried a long gun, and both seemed to be in battle dress. They turned and ran away into the open fields and we RAN after them. (Later discovered that they had been hiding their guns and ammunition in a dry-stone ditch in the haggard)

We pursued them through the fields and discarded our great coats and caps so we could run faster. We closed on them rapidly and Brendan was a few yards ahead of me, the man with the gun turned and roared at us and fired a few shots. We dived for cover in open ground and hoped he was not going to shoot us as we lay there. He continued on and covered his companion who was running ahead of him. While this was happening, we could clearly see the British Helicopters in the sky a short distance away.

We had no radios so I told Brendan to go back to our colleagues and report the situation. I watched the two guys and followed them on a parallel course. I could not believe that the Brits did not see them from the helicopters. Almost in slow motion they made their way into a field and crawled under a cock of hay (yes, a cock of hay) obviously too exhausted to go any further. I waited and watched for a while, still no reaction from the helicopters and no reaction from my colleagues. I then ran to the nearest road, stopped a lorry and got a lift to a nearby unfriendly pub and called Dundalk station. I was picked up a short while later and got back to the abandoned car.

The whole operation was a bungling dangerous affair evidenced by lousy communication, poor preplanning and half-hearted follow up. The shooting scene was not forensically examined and there was no recovery of spent shell cases. We did discover that the Provos had been discarding their equipment in a dry-stone ditch in the haggard. We arrived a few minutes too soon because they had already offloaded a rifle and magazine in the ditch and given a little time, they would have discarded all their guns.

Every Thursday was hijacking day on the Concession Road or so it seemed. This was the road which runs through the southern tip of Armagh and connects Dundalk to Castleblaney, passing through Cullaville as it does. The car used by the Provos had been hijacked on the Concession Road a few days previously, it had been hand painted and false plates fitted.

Over 300 security force personnel were killed by Provos  in County Armagh between 1969 and 2001. Many civilians also died. I later learned that the two Provos allegedly involved were blown up by their own bomb ten years later. I also was very interested in finding out what became of the injured soldier.

I was determined to find him and last year I eventually got a good lead. I dropped a speculative letter to an address in the UK. Shortly after that I had response and we agreed to talk. I also discovered that his parents were Irish and emigrated to England in search of work. He was badly burned and was medically discharged soon afterwards. He offered a very interesting perspective on what it was like to be based as a soldier in Crossmaglen and before that in Newtownhamilton. Certainly the Provos intended to murder him and it was good fortune or luck that Brendan and I didn’t become collateral victims.

I had no opportunity of complimenting my colleague that day on his undoubted courage and dedication to duty.  He acted in the clear knowledge that he was pursuing an armed and dangerous individual without regard for his own safety. We did not meet or discuss the day until I contacted him last year.

These attacks were not unique in July 1974 at the same location Gardaí were caught in crossfire between the Provisional IRA and the British Army. Their car was riddled with bullets and serious injury or death was narrowly avoided. Garda authorities seemed indifferent to the risks being undertaken by unarmed Gardaí, counselling or welfare were not on the agenda.

Minister Niall Collins attended the ADM and a useful exchage of views took place where our President Joe Dirwan laid out our concerns for the future.

For over sixty years, you have been a strong advocate for the welfare, dignity, and recognition of those who served our State with honour. You have built a community of care, of camaraderie, and of continued public service.

You have carried forward the values of the earliest members of An Garda Síochána, those who helped shape the very fabric of our State. That legacy of service continues today in your advocacy, your community presence, and your commitment to each other.

Through your Síocháin magazine, your welfare services, and your promotion of wellbeing, you have created a vibrant network of support. This is more than an association; it is a community that continues to serve.

John O’Brien is a former Detective Chief Superintendent, in An Garda Síochána. He was formerly head of the International Liaison Protection section in Garda HQ, National Head of Interpol and Europol. He was a Divisional Chief Superintendent in the Louth/Meath and Laois/Offaly Divisions. A former Superintendent, Detective Inspector, Uniform Inspector and Sergeant. He is the holder of an MSc in Public Order Studies. He is the author of four books, A Question of Honour, Politics and Policing (2020) and Securing the Irish State (2022). The Troubles Come South (2023). The Great Deception, Dublin and Monaghan Bombings (2024).