Gary Sheehan (24 September 1960 – 16 December 1983) was an Irish

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

officer who was killed in an exchange of gun fire with the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) during a hostage rescue operation in County Leitrim in Ireland in 1983.

Early life

A native of

Carrickmacross Carrickmacross () is a town in County Monaghan, Ireland. The town and environs had a population of 5,032 according to the 2016 census, making it the second-largest town in the county. Carrickmacross is a market town which developed around a ca ...

, in County Monaghan, Sheehan had worked as a technician before joining the

in September 1983, being given the service number 23589L. Both his father and grandfather had also been police officers. He was also a member of the Carrick Emmets Gaelic Football team.

Derrada shooting

Sheehan was still a probationary Garda, three months into his service and in training at the Garda College at Templemore, when he was deployed in a joint police and

Irish Defence Forces The Defence Forces ( ga, Fórsaí Cosanta, officially styled ) derives its origins from the Irish Volunteers. Whilst the Irish for ''Defence Forces'' is , as Ó Cearúil (1999) points out, the Defence Forces are officially styled . is used in ...

search for Don Tidey, Managing Director of the Quinnsworth supermarket chain, who had been kidnapped in the southern outskirts of Dublin for

ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

by the IRA to raise finance for its paramilitary activities. A nationwide manhunt of four weeks gained intelligence information which narrowed the search to the area near

Ballinamore Ballinamore (, meaning "mouth of the big ford") is a small town in County Leitrim, Ireland. Etymology , corrupted ''Bellanamore'', means "town at the mouth of the big ford", so named because it was a main crossing (ford) of the Yellow River. T ...

in the south-east of County Leitrim. On the afternoon of 16 December 1983, Sheehan and Private

Kelly Kelly may refer to: Art and entertainment * Kelly (Kelly Price album) * Kelly (Andrea Faustini album) * ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap * "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland * ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...

, a soldier in the Irish Army, were part of a joint forces team searching with dogs through Drumcromin Wood, at Derrada, near Ballinamore, when they found the IRA kidnap gang's hideout location, and were shot dead (Sheehan being hit in the head) in an intense exchange of small arms fire with it, during which hand-grenades were also thrown. Tidey was subsequently found nearby and rescued, the IRA gang fleeing the scene, managing to escape, shooting and wounding another Garda officer in the process.

Burial

The body of Recruit Garda Sheehan was buried at

cemetery. He was 23 years of age.

Suspects and subsequent related prosecutions

Though the IRA paramilitary

Brendan McFarlane Brendan McFarlane (born 1951) is an Irish republican activist. Born into a Roman Catholic family, he was brought up in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast, Northern Ireland. At 16, he left Belfast to train as a priest in a north Wales seminary. He ...

is believed by Garda sources to have led the kidnap gang, no one has been charged with the murders. McFarlane was prosecuted for the kidnapping at Dublin's Special Criminal Court in 2008, but the case collapsed and McFarlane was awarded legal costs and damages.

References

External links