by Marianne Flood
Reporter
THE father of a Culmore woman has been honoured for the role he played as an Irish solider in a UN peacekeeping operation in the Congo.
Maureen Molloy travelled to Athlone last week where she was presented with ‘the An Bonn Jadotville’ medal on behalf of her late father Sean McEntee.
The ceremony was in recognition of the courageous actions of the 'A' Company, 35th Infantry Battalion during the Siege of Jadotville in 1961.
The Irish UN peacekeepers came under attack in the Congo on 13th September 1961 and managed to defend their post against air and ground attacks for four days, before their eventual capture.
“They were under heavy fire from mercenaries, but not one of the Irish men died,” recalled Maureeen.
“There were 152 of them holding off two to three thousand.”
Mr McEntee and his Battalion were captured at the end of the Siege and held as prisoners of war.
Maureen said a telegram was sent to the house to inform her family what had happened.
“You knew it was bad news. He had either been captured or he was dead,” she explained.
“It said they were prisoners of war, but thank God they were all okay.
“They were kept in wooden bamboo cages.
“I remember daddy telling us that he was poked with sticks by the Congolese.”
Film re-enactment
Monaghan born Sean McEntee joined the Irish Army in Mullingar as a teenager and served in for 36 years.
Due to political tensions at the time the bravery of the Irish soliders only recently came to light and it has now been made into a film starring Belfast born actor Jamie Dornan.
Maureen was invited to the premiere in Dublin where she met the Belfast born actor.
“We were very happy with the film.
“It took a long time for the true story to come out.
“We weren’t taught about it at school.
“Those men were completely forgotten.
Former Jadotville Tiger John Gorman campaigned for 18 years to have their bravery recognised and his private papers and photos formed the basis of Declan Power’s book ‘Siege of Jadotville- The Irish Army’s Forgotten Battle’.
Mr McEntee died over 20 years ago at the age of 77 and did not live to see his bravery rewarded.
“It was very sad,” said Maureen.
“The men that were at the medal ceremony were all in their 80s and 90s had to wait 56 years for their bravery to be rewarded.
“Because I was the youngest in the family I didn’t really hear that much about it growing up.
“My recollections are more of stories that I would have heard my brothers tell.
“My father didn’t talk about it very often. They weren’t allowed and it was very traumatic.”
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