Henry Joy ⚑ Pearse Column member Packie Tierney of Bray, Co. Wicklow, and originally from outside Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, passed away Dec. 18th this year.

Packie Tierney
66 years ago, then not much more than a boy, Packie was involved in the ill-fated ‘Brookeborough Raid’ which resulted in the deaths of the - now immortalised in song - IRA Volunteers Seán Sabhat and Fearghal Ó hAnnluain.

The New Year’s Day mission followed hot on the heels of the first Crown Forces death of the border campaign. Just two days previously a RUC constable had been fatally wounded in an attack carried out by the Teeling Column on Derrylin barracks.

However, unlike the Derrylin attack and a simultaneous one on Lisnaskea RUC barracks, Brookeborough did not go well. According to a retrospective report written by Sean Garland some years before his death and who led the Column on the night, things went awry from the start.

The favoured position for the lorry, directly opposite the barracks, was unavailable and the only option left for the driver was parking alongside the gable of the building. The field of fire for the Bren Gun, manned by Paddy O’Regan and Sabhat was seriously compromised. This was further compounded by the fact that there was an upstairs window in the gable which had not been factored for in the original planning.

One of the RUC men took advantage of the firing position and peppered those in the open back lorry and the cab. Several casualties were taken by the Column and they were forced into a hasty retreat.

According to other reports I’ve read Sabhat was almost certainly fatally wounded in the initial hail of fire but Ó hAnnluain it seems bled to death from thigh wounds on the retreat to the Monaghan border.

After the ending of the Border Campaign, Packie settled down, lived out his life in Bray and, to the best of my knowledge, never returned to his native Fermanagh. 

Patrick (Packie) Tierney was laid to rest in Kilmurray Cemetery, Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow. 

To his wife Joan, to his children Mairead, Cahal, Eilish, Padraig and Sean, and indeed to all who mourn his passing I offer my condolences.

⏩ Henry Joy is a patron of TPQ.

Packie Tierney

Henry Joy ⚑ Pearse Column member Packie Tierney of Bray, Co. Wicklow, and originally from outside Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, passed away Dec. 18th this year.

Packie Tierney
66 years ago, then not much more than a boy, Packie was involved in the ill-fated ‘Brookeborough Raid’ which resulted in the deaths of the - now immortalised in song - IRA Volunteers Seán Sabhat and Fearghal Ó hAnnluain.

The New Year’s Day mission followed hot on the heels of the first Crown Forces death of the border campaign. Just two days previously a RUC constable had been fatally wounded in an attack carried out by the Teeling Column on Derrylin barracks.

However, unlike the Derrylin attack and a simultaneous one on Lisnaskea RUC barracks, Brookeborough did not go well. According to a retrospective report written by Sean Garland some years before his death and who led the Column on the night, things went awry from the start.

The favoured position for the lorry, directly opposite the barracks, was unavailable and the only option left for the driver was parking alongside the gable of the building. The field of fire for the Bren Gun, manned by Paddy O’Regan and Sabhat was seriously compromised. This was further compounded by the fact that there was an upstairs window in the gable which had not been factored for in the original planning.

One of the RUC men took advantage of the firing position and peppered those in the open back lorry and the cab. Several casualties were taken by the Column and they were forced into a hasty retreat.

According to other reports I’ve read Sabhat was almost certainly fatally wounded in the initial hail of fire but Ó hAnnluain it seems bled to death from thigh wounds on the retreat to the Monaghan border.

After the ending of the Border Campaign, Packie settled down, lived out his life in Bray and, to the best of my knowledge, never returned to his native Fermanagh. 

Patrick (Packie) Tierney was laid to rest in Kilmurray Cemetery, Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow. 

To his wife Joan, to his children Mairead, Cahal, Eilish, Padraig and Sean, and indeed to all who mourn his passing I offer my condolences.

⏩ Henry Joy is a patron of TPQ.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for doing that HJ. The anniversary of the raid is today.

    ReplyDelete