Murdered RIC officer honoured in Wicklow THE FAMILY OF CONSTABLE JOHN FITZGERALD, WHO WAS MURDERED ON THE MURROUGH BY THE IRA IN 1921, VISITED WICKLOW GARDA STATION AND DONATED HIS CAP TO THE MEMORIAL DISPLAY
THE niece of a murdered RIC officer visited Wicklow last Thursday where a memorial display to her uncle was unveiled.
Philomena Quinn, the niece of Constable John Fitzgerald, was delighted to see her uncle’s memory preserved so well at Wicklow Garda Station.
Constable Fitzgerald was murdered by the IRA on the Murrough on July 3, 1921, just days before his 19th birthday.
Speaking at the unveiling, Superintendent Paul Hogan welcomed Ms s Quinn and her family to Wicklow, adding that not only was her uncle murdered by the IRA but her husband was also shot and killed by the IRA inn Newry in 1981, some 60 years later.
Philomema’s daughter Ann O’Lough- lin and her husband Paul, who is a serving PSNI officer, also attended thee event last Thursday.
Superintendent Hogan said the family were in Wicklow not only for the display unveiling but also to present Constable Fitzgerald’s RIC Forage cap to the station in his memory.
Also in attendance were Chief Su- perintendent John Quirke from Bray, members of the Historical and Reconciliatory Policing Society (HARP),y serving members of the gardaí and reserve members, members of the Reetired Members Association, representativesti from the AGSI, the GRA, Wicklow Historical Society and garda civilian staff.
The display will be housed in the administration block of Wicklow Garda Station, which had originally been an RIC barracks from the late 1800s until it became Wicklow Garda Station in 1922. The building was abandoned in the mid-1980s when the current station was built.
Last year, the building was refurbished and opened as the administration block of the station by Minister Simon Harris.
Superintendent Hogan said the story of John Fitzgerald wasn’t well known.
‘ ThereTh were many gardaídí whoh servedd ini Wicklow station over the years who were unaware of the murder of Constable John Fitzgerald who lived and worked in the then barracks.’
Retired garda Gerry Lovett then gave a short talk about the background to the RIC and their role in Irish Society at the time to try place the incident in context.
Superintendent Hogan thanked the HARP Society members for bringing these issues to the attention of the public over many years, saying: ‘it is great to see that we have matured as nation and can now commemorate this man and give him the recognition he dedeserves for making the ultimate sasacrifice as many such incidents anand the people involved were airbrbrushed out of our history.’
Stan O’Reilly of the Wicklow Histotorical Society presented a copy of ththe 2016 Wicklow Historical Society JoJournal – which includes an article on the history of the barracks – to Ms Quinn while Vincent O’Reilly presentedr her with a copy of the JuJune 2017 journal which has an ararticle about the shooting on the MMurrough.
‘ This get together was to belatedlyed acknowledge the short life of a brother police officer, Constable JoJohn Fitzgerald, who was serving ththe Wicklow Community when his liflife was cut short, albeit serving under a different flag’, said Superintendentn Hogan.
‘ This cap that has been presesented was the same cap that was placed on his coffin at his funeral andn will serve as a reminder of that part of our history and will have pride of place in a display cabinet.
‘John’s photo and the related infoformation was displayed there and his cap will be kept in the glass display cabinet where it will have pride of place to remind gardai andd visitorsiit of what occurred here in 1921.’
He went on to say that they had named a meeting room the ‘Constable John Fitzgerald Room’ and there is now a brass plate on the door with his name on it as a reminder of his sacrifice.
After the ceremony Vincent O’Reilly brought the family on a brief visit to the location near the old chemical works on the Murrough where the murder took place and the family said a silent prayer
There will be a commemoration service held in Mount Argus Church later this month. Contact Gerry Lovett on 087 8133743 for more info. d ,-,